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A Slash Shy From Perfection
WO LONG is SEKIRO… except there are thirteen different weapon types, a huge array of spells to choose from and combat arts that actually do something other than make you look cool! Although very iterative of SEKIRO, its formula is fresh and exciting, with a more skill expressive combat system that rewards you for offense and defense in equal measure!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3376950964
Never played SEKIRO? Well, do you like ancient China? Do you like running at the speed of a doped up cheetah? Do you like fighting several enemies at once, all while dishing out magic and awesome looking attacks? Do you like hilariously tough boss fights? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to at least two of those, I guarantee that you will love WO LONG. Though the game went by largely unnoticed after its troubled release, after having played it for over fifty hours I can vouch that the action here is state-of-the-art, and the production values well on par with those seen in From Software titles.

Spirit System (aka Posture But Better)

In SEKIRO, attacks inflict health and posture damage. Reduce enemy’s posture to zero and you can instakill them. In simple terms, both offense and defense bring you closer to defeating your opponent, so long as your timings are right. WO LONG’s combat works in the same way, except you have a lot more offensive options. There’s a light and heavy attack. Attacking with light attacks increases Spirit (the blue bar); blocking and taking damage reduces Spirit (the orange bar). Unlike SEKIRO’s posture, Spirit can be spent on heavy attacks, martial arts and spells.
On top of this, there are plenty of armors and weapons to deck your custom-made character in, and the good ol’ Soulsborne equip load. Whether you would rather lean onto offense or defense, WO LONG gives you tons huge freedom of gameplay expression.

Five Virtues (Excellent Levelling System!)

WO LONG has none of this vitality, strength and endurance gibberish; instead, you put points into five elements: Wood, Fire, Metal, Earth and Water. Rather than being fancy replacements for HP, damage or stamina, these focus on general facets of WO LONG’s gameplay. For instance, Wood reduces posture damage on hit, but also increases the duration of your buffs. Fire, the ‘damage stat’, instead of increasing your DPS in the same boring way as it does in every other RPG, makes it so you gain more Spirit when attacking. My favorite is the Water virtue, which not only makes your block better, but also boosts your stealth stat, as well as ranged damage.
In every action game with loadouts, I always go for the glass cannon build, but in WO LONG I actually preferred levelling Fire and Water, latter of which can be seen as a ‘defensive’ stat. Because of the stealth benefit though, I had good offensive reasons to invest into it! Additionally, the movement spells that Water unlocks eventually made me both fast and silent.
Levelling each element unlocks spells exclusive to that element. You can either specialize in one, or distribute your stats evenly, if you want to be more versatile; both approaches are equally viable! Each element has its fair share of spells that make it worthwhile. For example, Wood has a life steal spell, Fire unlocks a weapon buff that leaves a nasty DOT on enemies, Metal has a damage amplifier curse and so on.
You may think these are gimmicks, but the game rewards the player who does pay attention to these nuances. Enemies frequently attack in groups, which makes the AOE spells so useful. Different elemental buffs synergize with each other, giving you ample reasons to diversify your build. The penultimate boss especially made me realize just how well designed WO LONG’s combat is, with pretty much every single ability on my toolbelt being useful. Whether it was haste that let me close the gap faster, or the spell that protects from the next perilous attack, I felt like all of my mistakes were entirely a result of my stubbornness or neglect.
Damage. Deflect. Dominate.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3377167488
What really takes the combat in WO LONG to another level is its pacing–how the systems work in tandem to create something truly beautiful. First off, get out there and whack enemies with light attacks. This builds up your Spirit. When you find a tougher opponent, you’re going to have enough Spirit to block, giving you time to study their attack patterns. Once you feel confident enough to deflect instead of block, you will switch to offense and go nuts. This is as good as time as any to mention that everything in WO LONG can be parried: sword swings, projectiles, grab attacks and even magic!
Every enemy attack is an opportunity for you to get the upper hand. You dictate the pace of each fight, and depending on how good you are, you can finish fights fast, or take your time. (Additionally, there is a way to parry elements by using an element which counteracts it, but frankly I haven’t experimented with it a whole lot).
I can’t stress enough just how good the controls are. At all times, you have access to two weapons, each decked out with three martial arts (up to six in NG+!) and eight spells split between two hotbars (you hold R2→X,▢,△,O to cast magic). And yet it never feels overwhelming, because the game introduces these concepts at a steady pace. Every dozen or so hours, I was learning a new trick to add into my flowchart, like a choreographed dance that would increase in complexity. Sure, at the start you will only use light attacks and parry, but as your muscle memory develops, so will your moveset library.
Once you get into the right headspace, the experience of ploughing through WO LONG’s world is transcendent. The environments are vast and sprawling, and the haste spell lets you zip from one area to another like a speed demon. A massive improvement on NIOH 2’s yawn-inducing dungeons and hamlets.
By the way, look at these levels. Finally, a Team Ninja game that looks DOWNRIGHT GORGEOUS! We did it, gang!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3377176881

Crouching Tiger…

Unfortunately, there is one issue and it would be remiss of me not to address it. Although WO LONG does have a much better level design than NIOH, and the bosses do provide a challenge, the overall enemy variety is something like a quarter of NIOH 2’s. As a whole, it is a much shorter game than NIOH 2 (roughly the same length as SEKIRO, DLCs included). You can make an argument that a game’s combat system is only as good as the measure to which you are tested on it, and while the bosses will attest to this, you will inevitably dominate the game’s trash mobs.
Keep in mind that WO LONG’s parry makes enemies live and die by the complexity of their attack patterns. That is to say–if you nail your timings, the overall difficulty curve will remain the same, no matter how many NG+ cycles you overcome. I am sure that NG+ alleviates many of the shortcomings caused by reused enemies, but on your first playthrough you might find WO LONG’s difficulty curve very uneven.
Overlooked Dragon
WO LONG is a mere slash away from being a masterpiece. The swordplay is close to perfect. The magic system is one of the best I have seen in any game. The loadout variety puts SEKIRO’s to shame. Though its story may not be gripping on its own, the atmosphere is so thick you could cut it with an axe.
As someone who was obsessed with SEKIRO for like a year or two, I found WO LONG to be hitting nearly all of the marks. If you love challenging, yet fair action titles, WO LONG: Fallen Dynasty was tailor made for you. It does not overstay its welcome, but its sheer brilliance does make me wish there had been more of it.