Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s gameplay has finally been revealed in a new trailer. While somewhat similar to Nioh, the combat appears to be much faster with a greater emphasis on dodging and parrying attacks. To learn more about the differences between both games, IGN spoke to producer Fumihiko Yasuda and development producer Masaaki Yamagiwa.
One big difference is the scale of the environments. “Being set in China, we were able to create locations of much greater scale than in Nioh, which was set in Japan. Even something like a castle is much bigger than before, and exploration has become more vertical because the player character in Wo Long can jump,” said Yasuda.
Chinese martial arts are the basis for combat. As such, it’s all about the speed with no stamina gauge. “Gameplay-wise, the biggest difference is an emphasis on speed. There’s no stamina gauge like you had in Nioh, so you’ll constantly be confronted by a multitude of situations in which you need to react immediately. You can choose to play more aggressively, but there are also a lot of new ways to evade enemy attacks.”
The faster pace may remind some of FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, though Yasuda and Yamagiwa felt that the “increased temp” was “only natural” for a Chinese martial arts game. Movements from Chinese martial arts practitioners were also implemented via motion capture and tuned in line with the action.
In terms of weapon types, we’ve seen a spear, longsword and dual swords. The final game will have over ten weapon types. One new feature is Morale, which both the player and enemies possess. Enemies with higher Morale ranks are tougher to beat. Your Morale can be raised by slaying foes and lowered by dying with enemy rankings also impacted when going against the player.
Morale seemingly forms a fundamental part of the level design with Yamagiwa noting, “New Wizardry Spells will be unlocked when you reach a higher rank, which work like magic spells. Divine Beasts can be summoned to aid you during battle as well. In the trailer, you can see the Vermilion Bird being summoned, which is one of China’s legendary beasts. You will befriend more of these divine beasts as you progress through the story.”
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is out in early 2023 for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC, along with launching day one on Game Pass. It will be playable at Tokyo Game Show 2022, though a gameplay trial is also coming in the “near future.” Check out the latest screenshots below in the meantime.
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