“Wo Long Complete Edition” video game play (Team Ninja/Contributed)
Team Ninja has done a great job of carving out their own niche in the “souls-like” genre going back to “Nioh” in 2017. “Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty” is no different. It combines great, fast-paced combat with RPG mechanics and a deep loot system. Now, with the complete edition out, players can experience the game with all the added DLC in one package.
This game is set during a fictional version of the “Three Kingdoms” era of Chinese history. In this retelling, powerful factions fight over a mystical resource called elixir. It’s basically “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” but mixed with magic and demons.
Combat is the core of the game, and similar to past Team Ninja entries, it involves a combination of melee attacks and magic. As players level up, they spec into one of five elements: wood, fire, water, earth and metal. It’s not as straightforward as stats in past games, but once the player gets an understanding of how they work, it makes leveling a lot simpler.
makes combat so great is how it combines flashy animations with deep RPG systems to create something that has both style and substance. Figuring out powerful combos with different weapon types is satisfying, and when combined with a powerful build, it makes for an addictive gameplay loop. It’s not as difficult as “Nioh” or “Dark Souls,” so it could be a good starting point for people who prefer pure action games.
One big addition to combat is the ability to deflect enemy attacks. It’s an extremely valuable defense tool, and mastering it is key to beating the game’s toughest enemies. Deflecting and countering attacks opens up the enemy to devastating attacks, so it’s always worth taking the risk, instead of just blocking or dodging.
One pain point in the game’s combat is that movement can feel stiff and there’s a lack of verticality in combat that would have gone a long way in matching the game’s flashy animations. There’s also a lack of good level design in the game’s main story and side-quests.
While the game has pretty solid graphics and a stable framerate the sound design in the game is a weak part of its presentation. Sound effects like weapon impact and footsteps can come off as muffled. The game’s English dub is also surprisingly bad as many characters have such stilted and awkward delivery, it’s like they tried to make it sound bad on purpose. Playing the game with Chinese or Japanese voices would be a clear improvement if it wasn’t for the fact that the subtitles are hard to keep up with.
This complete edition includes the three DLC campaigns added after the launch. The first one is lackluster, but the second and third ones bring in some of the best boss fights in the whole game. They present a much better challenge than many of the levels in the base game. This edition of the game makes for a great total package, and since the original release was largely overlooked, it’s a great time to take the plunge. It’s not as polished or deep as “Nioh 2,” but that also makes it a better entry point into the genre. “Wo Long Complete Edition” earns four stars out of five.
