Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Review – A Challenge Worth the Battle

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty has its ups and downs in areas, but overall the combat experience is pretty damn good. With many similarities to games like Dark Souls, Nioh, and other titles of that variety, the gameplay makes up for what turns out to be a rather poorly executed story. I’m not saying the story is bad by any means; it’s just not the main attraction of this title. Take up arms and battle against historical figures and mythological beings possessed by demonic qi in this hack-and-slash title by Team Ninja.

Introduction – Raw Action, Cool Characters, Ok Story

The intensity of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is nothing to scoff at. The game really focused heavily on action, turning your nameless warrior into a ruthless one-man-army. While the story sort of seems to “just happen” as you play along, the combat really sucks you in. A lack of concrete story can be a turn-off at times, but for a game like Wo Long, they did a decent job at hiding lackluster story-telling with high-adrenaline warfare. Who cares why you’re battling demonic forces when the action is nonstop and the gameplay keeps it fluid.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a double-edged sword in the fact that the difficulty both helps and hinders it’s glory. While a good challenge is welcomed, and really hard boss fights are standard in most eastern-culture inspired games, this title may be a little too hard at times. Couple in the difficulty with the awesome combat mechanics and you got a really good thing going. Throw that same difficult on a not-so-great story delivery and you can run into some pretty aggravating situations. Overall though, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a solid title, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing the game.

Story – It’s Fun But It Could Have Been Better

This game was fun, don’t get me wrong. The action kept it flowing and interesting. The story however could have been a bit more on point. There was definitely a story there. Basically it was just “nameless warrior kills a lot of things, learns some really cool stuff, and saves the day”. There were awesome characters and enemies, but overall the story just didn’t do as well as the other elements of the game.

The begin of the story see you start as a literal nameless warrior. You gain some mystical abilities and wicked sweet weapons along the way. While teaming up with some pretty awesome companions you take the fight to evil people and demonic villains. As far as a real “story” though, I’d say Team Ninja really went for more action than actual linear story-telling.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the story is bad. More-or-less it just never really got me hooked on what was going on. I just liked the fact that it was endless combat with a lot of cool content. Those factors really made it easy to overlook what I would say is an average storyline at it’s very best.

Gameplay – The Best Part Is All The Fighting

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty does not disappoint in the action department. The controls are very easy to get use to and the combos flow endlessly. You can utilize magical abilities with ease while also hacking up nearby baddies. There are plenty of weapons and armor options, and there is no lack of adrenaline-fueled slaying. Combine those elements with flashy spells and some cool martial arts and you got yourself one heck of a slash fest.

The customization aspect of Wo Long is very fun. You can cycle through many types of weapons with ease to find what best suits your playstyle. The skill trees are easy to use and access, and leveling up isn’t very hard at all. The difficulty of the game, at times, can be infuriating but such is usually the case with games at this level of intensity.

With easy to follow video tutorials provided for all aspect of the game, and very simple controls, the fluidity of the gameplay is something to marvel at. The common enemies of the game aren’t overly impressive, though the bosses stand out and could probably rival some of the creatures in Elden Ring. All of these elements of excellent gameplay do a good job of covering up the fact that the story just isn’t that interesting.

Graphics and Sound – A Unique Spectacle Indeed

When a game has a gore factor of any sort I’m automatically more critical towards the graphics score. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty has a gore factor, there is a lot of blood. So naturally the critic in me kicked in. At first I wasn’t overly impressed with the visual situation I was presented with. As the game went on however, the amazement kicked in.

My initial reaction was around an average level of satisfaction with the visuals. The terrain was detailed, the backgrounds were crisp, and the characters looked great. Most games these days can cover those aspects though. What really grabbed my attention as the game progressed were the magical elements. The colors of wizardly spells and demonic qi were all so vibrant and detailed. It turned normal combat sequences into a show of flashy elements and energy.

Overall, the graphics in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty are pretty exception with all things considered. Its vividly detailed, wonderfully flashy, and pretty awesome. There’s really no room for complaints, visually, with this title.

Replay Value – Already Gearing Up For Round Two

I’ve only played through this title one time, but Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty got me ready for round two. The game itself is pretty great, and I think I would revisit it for fun anyways, but it’s not the story that makes me want the smoke a second time. Its the difficulty. I can’t lie this game was tough to beat and that makes me want another crack at it more than anything.

There are also a ton of weapon combos and spells I didn’t get to use on my initial playthrough, so that got me eager to go back as well. I’d say for any average gamer who likes action and a challenge, Wo Long hits pretty well in the replay value department. I’m definitely keeping this game downloaded for a little while. I have a few personal vendetta with some of the bosses to settle.

Conclusion – An Intense Standout From The Average Hack-and-slash

This game made up for whatever it lacked in actual storytelling, with a fierce and dominant combat display. Flashy, fluid, and fantastically furious, this game stands-out amongst the average rabble of video games released in the last year. My overall score for this fun title is a very solid 7 out of 10. It loses points on story, but gains a lot of my respect from visual displays of intense battle. The complete edition of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is available on PlayStation Network for $60 and I would say is worth every dollar.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a dark action-adventure game set in the Three Kingdom period of Chinese history. It was developed by Team Ninja and was released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on March 03, 2023.