Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty - Complete Edition
released on Feb 07, 2024
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Overall this is a decent holdover game if you want more sekiro-eqse combat and are tired of replaying sekiro.
jumping/jump attacks, while not integral to the combat, does allow for more movement expression than in nioh 2. Some enemies attacks can be jumped over and there's abilities that do allow for aerial combat.
Wo long gives the player a lot of agency to make a playthrough as easy or as hard as they want. Though I would have preferred different difficulty levels instead of forcing veteran players to not interact with the systems mechanics to make it harder.
A few things that weren't explained is that you can actually jump on top of enemies heads to bail yourself out, and the spirit gauge. the spirit gauge is the bar right below your health bar. Basically it moves either right or left. The worse you’re doing, it goes left, while the better you do it goes right. When it’s on the right your spirit attacks are stronger. When it goes all the way left, a hit from an enemy will stagger you momentarily.
the online has a co-op and an invasion mode, which are just side modes that enhance the campaign. Invasion mode is fun since a human player thinks more creatively than an ai, but ultimately their role is to be a mob that impedes your progress, not fight on equal footing.
it does suffer from being a bit repetitive when your fighting the same trash mobs and mini bosses throughout levels. Also it can feel like a rhythm game rather than a pure action game, like sekiro where as long as you know the deflect timings the fights are relatively easy.
you could reduce the whole game to just deflecting/deflect counters and pressing left click, but weaving in spells with ranged attacks and heavy attacks is satisfying, though some spells are clearly way better than others.
edited there's a lot to do here with the dlc fights and sub missions. It has a wizardry spell level system, that allows you to respec when you want by talking to Zuo Ci in the Hidden village.
90 achievements on steam, but i don't really have the motivation to unlock them all; I also think this is best played if you rely on your skill, since you'll barely have to interact with the rpg elements if you do.
unlike Sekiro this game actually has a 120 fps mode, but some slowdown and frame skipping do often occur. If you want something even more difficult than Sekiro, Wo long has new game plus mode from Rising Dragon to Dragon King, which you can use in tandem with self imposed handicaps.
handicaps:
-don't over-farm gear and levels
-turn off reinforcements
-don't use marking flags to heal
-set the morale cap to 0 after you beat the game once with the inner disciple setting
and if you want to take it a step further
-don't spec in earth, or at least not with the intentions to trivialize the game.
-only use deflects and only block unreadable attacks. (The camera is low to the ground and not smooth)
-nerf your damage output
but these may make the experience more frustrating.
[youtube playthrough coming soon...] I'm also going to recommend some spells too in the comments
I think this game is a good step forward in the melee genre when it comes to finding something for normal and hardcore players. I'm a bit disappointed with the pacing and how the parry and blocking system was handled, you shouldn't be able to deflect out of block, and being able to deflect every attack is excessive. 3 stars with a seal of approval
jumping/jump attacks, while not integral to the combat, does allow for more movement expression than in nioh 2. Some enemies attacks can be jumped over and there's abilities that do allow for aerial combat.
Wo long gives the player a lot of agency to make a playthrough as easy or as hard as they want. Though I would have preferred different difficulty levels instead of forcing veteran players to not interact with the systems mechanics to make it harder.
A few things that weren't explained is that you can actually jump on top of enemies heads to bail yourself out, and the spirit gauge. the spirit gauge is the bar right below your health bar. Basically it moves either right or left. The worse you’re doing, it goes left, while the better you do it goes right. When it’s on the right your spirit attacks are stronger. When it goes all the way left, a hit from an enemy will stagger you momentarily.
the online has a co-op and an invasion mode, which are just side modes that enhance the campaign. Invasion mode is fun since a human player thinks more creatively than an ai, but ultimately their role is to be a mob that impedes your progress, not fight on equal footing.
it does suffer from being a bit repetitive when your fighting the same trash mobs and mini bosses throughout levels. Also it can feel like a rhythm game rather than a pure action game, like sekiro where as long as you know the deflect timings the fights are relatively easy.
you could reduce the whole game to just deflecting/deflect counters and pressing left click, but weaving in spells with ranged attacks and heavy attacks is satisfying, though some spells are clearly way better than others.
edited there's a lot to do here with the dlc fights and sub missions. It has a wizardry spell level system, that allows you to respec when you want by talking to Zuo Ci in the Hidden village.
90 achievements on steam, but i don't really have the motivation to unlock them all; I also think this is best played if you rely on your skill, since you'll barely have to interact with the rpg elements if you do.
unlike Sekiro this game actually has a 120 fps mode, but some slowdown and frame skipping do often occur. If you want something even more difficult than Sekiro, Wo long has new game plus mode from Rising Dragon to Dragon King, which you can use in tandem with self imposed handicaps.
handicaps:
-don't over-farm gear and levels
-turn off reinforcements
-don't use marking flags to heal
-set the morale cap to 0 after you beat the game once with the inner disciple setting
and if you want to take it a step further
-don't spec in earth, or at least not with the intentions to trivialize the game.
-only use deflects and only block unreadable attacks. (The camera is low to the ground and not smooth)
-nerf your damage output
but these may make the experience more frustrating.
[youtube playthrough coming soon...] I'm also going to recommend some spells too in the comments
I think this game is a good step forward in the melee genre when it comes to finding something for normal and hardcore players. I'm a bit disappointed with the pacing and how the parry and blocking system was handled, you shouldn't be able to deflect out of block, and being able to deflect every attack is excessive. 3 stars with a seal of approval
Fans of Souls-like games, especially Nioh, should play Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Complete Edition. It's a lot of fun with an interesting setting and a good combat rhythm. While the difficulty of the base game could have been done better, the DLC more than makes up for it. Having spent about 40 hours with the base game and then just under 15 hours with the DLC packs, this package offers a lot of value with the DLC being a highlight for its challenge. In addition to the main story content, there is a lot to do beyond that with loads of replay value. Despite some limitations, the DLC was one of the best parts of the experience. I highly recommend this game to anyone craving a slightly different experience from what we see in the genre when it comes to combat.
The full review can be read here!
The full review can be read here!
I'm not in a place in life where I want to replay a boss and figure out their every mode and attack in order to beat it. Shelving it for now at 2nd boss (unless I once again think it was a boss if it was avoidable I'm not entirely sure).