Developer: Team Ninja, KOEI TECMO
Publisher: KOEI TECMO
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Complete Edition – Review
It has been slightly over a year since Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty was released, and it has been one hectic ride from start to finish. This so-called Soulslike title offered a fun variation from the more traditional formula and leaned closer to entries in the genre such as Nioh and Sekiro. Even so, the game has somewhat faded to the background during the last few months, except for the few DLCs that have been released. That being said, late adopters can now buy the Complete Edition, which includes the base game and all available DLC. In the following short review, we’ll discuss how relevant this game is one year after its initial release and if you should pick up the Complete Edition (spoiler: the answer is yes).
If you are familiar with other Soulslike titles, you’ll quickly come to grips with the overall gameplay loop of Wo Long. You’ll kill enemies, you’ll gain experience, and you’ll lose said experience if you die and can’t recover it from the enemy that killed you. It’s all fairly standard stuff, but Wo Long does have quite a few original twists and turns that offer a fun deviation from an otherwise overdone formula. We felt as if Wo Long had a bigger multiplayer focus, which was further highlighted by the fact that you can always have an AI companion as well. While these companions don’t have the same skills as an experienced player, they are still useful for drawing the enemies’ attention when getting swarmed. Other than that, you’ll have the Spirit system, which basically ties into your stamina and as a result, how your damage output can potentially be. Add to this that the leveling system is also quite different and that access to skills comes quite a bit easier, and you have yourself a more fast-paced Soulslike title that is fun to play with a friend via co-op. Co-op is only unlocked after beating the first boss, which is quite a lot harder than anything you’d initially expect. We did find the combat to be incredibly fluid, which is also a welcome change from Dark Souls’ clunkier battle mechanics. On top of the base game, you’ll also have all the DLC to play through in the Complete Edition, which means you have your work cut out for you.
Even though the Dark Souls titles also have quite a bit of lore to uncover, it’s still difficult to state the games have a very defined storyline you can follow while playing. Wo Long does have a bigger focus on its narrative, and you’ll gradually go through story segments, even if it’s just to introduce a few new characters in the process. We did find it quite pleasant to have the story more in the foreground, as it created a bigger incentive to keep pressing forward. We were quite motivated to keep going even when that feeling kicked in that some of the mechanics grew a bit stale. This combined with the overall great presentation makes for a pleasant experience. We did notice that this game was still developed with the previous generation in mind, so if you’re playing on a PS5, you’ll notice a few rough edges here and there. The character creator in this title is also almost exactly the same as in some other Koei Tecmo-developed titles, such as Wild Hearts.
If you’re a fan of titles such as Dark Souls and you have been on the fence about getting Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty for a while now, we should probably discuss one big difference compared to the Dark Souls series. In Dark Souls, you can focus heavily on your dodge skill, not caring too much about any other defensive mechanics during your playthroughs. Of course, blocking also comes in useful, but perfectly timed dodges do make the difference between getting killed or coming out on top. In Wo Long, however, parrying is the main defensive mechanic if you want to beat bosses and bigger groups of enemies. Parrying requires precise timing and bosses in the game are brutal as you can only take a few hits before you meet your untimely demise. If you have no issue with timing-based mechanics such as this, you’ll probably get the hang of it fairly quickly, but if you are new to the genre or struggle with precise timing, you’ll have your work cut out for you. Even so, defeating the first boss will already give you the necessary adrenaline rush to keep pressing onward to unlock new skills and companions to tackle bigger and badder foes.
Conclusion
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Complete Edition is a must-play title for fans of Nioh or Sekiro, or Soulslike games as a whole. We did have to come to grips with the parrying mechanics of the game, but once it clicked we were treated to an extremely fluid tough-as-nails action RPG that had us captivated from start to finish. The Complete Edition is amazing for those who have not played this one yet, but those who own the base game are probably best picking up the DLCs separately as we don’t see the need to double-dip here.
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