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Wo Long
First the flaws, it is not perfectly optimized even on theater mode, and it can lag a few times and the loading times are long in comparison to similar games even from the same team ninja, when there are particle effects it tends to lag, specially the last boss of the final two DLC specially Yuan Shu on his second form, I will edit my review if I find something new once I play it again, the lack of participation of your character on dialogues and plot may be a turn off for some, the parry is too powerful so you won't try regular defense unless you are in the final DLC, counters are barely used for the supremacy of the parry, is just on the second DLC when you go deep onto it so the game does not really force you to learn the deep mechanics it has and this play against it since understanding all of your stats, tools and mechanics is what makes it amazing and outstanding, also enemy variety does not feel that great, the loot system gives you too much stuff and finally the stealth is not its strength or going deeper you can tell that the NPCs are not that aware.
Pros
This game is amazing, the game has episodes you can play time and time again with different challenges and interesting NPCs gives tons of additional value, it has a sophisticated combat system, the game is set on the Three Kingdom's History, the creatures do feel each and every single one of them as chinese mythos, the characters are fantastic, the weapons are a clever choice you have double swords or similar, Cimitarres, Glaives, and hammers or axes, now they all have different pros, for example swords tend to get elemental damage with the arts, the double swords when you are doing perfect parry gives you more advantage and a stat call spirit, the warhammers and similar tend to give you balance which mean that you won't be interrupted and can trade a lot staffs also have less openings and allow for incredible combos etc, where weapons really differ is on the arts and that's when the level of the weapons matter also they have affinities with certain phases making your equipment important.
DLC's are great, kind of short for most of the people so I recomend the complete edition where you can get all of them plus the Naraka outfits, the female one is a lot better than the masculine however, also if you have Lies of P you can get the Glaive that plays like on Wo Long plus a cool outfit, regarding DLCs you can play the first DLC after meeting Cao Cao, second one goes after passing the Tiger boss and Sun clan history and the third one I am not sure exactly where, I would say after fighting the Taoist and then go back to the story for the closure, however this should be after the game has been finished once, the DLC weapons are incredible, fists are as amazing as they were on Nioh, long sword has counters and can be charged (probably the best weapon) and the whip is something fantastic (my fav weapon) with two modes one burst mode and one regular mode.
This game has a magic system that influences different skills and also a virtue system, for example water or ice work on Stealth, increases HP, gives you Water Affinity, decreases Spirit Consumption Rate for Deflect, and makes you stronger against fire damage (which is super strong btw) Earth increases petrification making your enemies slower and gives you more HP, Spirit Gain Rate for Deflecting, Max Equipment Weight, and Earth Affinity meaning that you can cast more complex and powerful earth spells etc every system as you have seen is dual like Morale being tied to Fortitude or Elemental Phases and Elemental Virtues.
Magic is part of the fighting system, you can combo into magic and magic into combo so you have an interesting fluid combat system that works a lot better than other games where you are more defensive and reactive, the game works as a paper, scissors rock system with details everywhere.
The Spirit Gauge Bar if depleted makes you unable to defend and your character becomes exhausted for a few second, and when full it gives you more arts and magic attacks, your enemies have those bars too, even minions.
Morale is a system you will see once Rise of the Ronin is on PC it makes your enemy stronger if they kill you and diminishes your power up to the last fortitude, fortitude is a rank you increase by conquering the flags on the map, and it also replenishes your health and more but, this will be enough to start.
Nothing of the aforementioned feels overwhelming and it is almost intuitive to learn, this is
something I admire.
The story is fantastic, however it is not really the best way to present it and if you are not familiar you may get lost at a times because there are so many characters with different backgrounds, plots, expectations..., NPCs like Hong Jing and the three brothers are fantastic, same as Cao Cao, the music is really good, there are invasions of other players or NPC's that fight in a great way, you can get allies on your travel and even gather more which makes it easier against multiple enemies and powerful bosses, you can protect them and increase affinity and heal them as well, you can inspire them to attack with more power also.
You also get divine beasts with interesting stories and really integrated on the plot, honestly I think there are no spirits on Wo Long attacking you like on Nioh but only divine beings and beasts that were corrupted, they all have a unique power that you can use and you get them from defeating bosses, and advancing the plot, they can revive you, heal you, create elemental damage zones, create barriers, attack, even give you mobility with the last one of the DLC, etc, they have great original designs and are really interesting and linked to the human characters in an interesting esoteric way.
There is a lot more for example every DLC not only has new battlefields, divine beasts and weapons but also enemies which is great as some of them make you approach the combat in another way, I definitely recomend this game for its refined combat, plot, lore, mechanics, there is a theater, bestiary, bios, you can fight Nioh's Mezuki, you have a hub which is beautiful and where you can find many NPC's etc, character creator is pretty good also you can receive gifts from allies which includes, weapons, items and outfits etc, there are plenty of other things to explore and enjoy but the multiplayer could have been optimized.
Finally the bosses, they are amazing on both design and experience, great movesets, great designs, great scores, great cinematography etc, they are the cherry at the top there are plenty of them and you barely repeat one, I think is just only on the first DLC when you fight the same boss again, it is a spirit of one of the first bosses, many of the best bosses I have faced on videogames are here on this title, Team Ninja always spite the problems delivers great games and this is one of them.
Currently waiting for Rise of the Ronin on PC and maybe a Wo Long part 2, definitely this franchise is so interesting and if they work on the defense to make the parries less easier to get and more of a resource like on Strangers of Paradise and if it forces you to use other defensive options it would be even more enjoyable, btw while combos are easy to pull up, they do not have that much variety but something benefits the combat flow which is awesome is to counter an option available from the start, this counter changes the weapon and has a parry when used you can also use it on combos to switch weapons as in Wo Long you carry two at once, there are also crossbows and other long distance weapons and some gimmicks on the scenarios, sometimes you start on a level, go through different scenarios turns into a maze, or onto a dungeon, or you go to a castle after going onto surreal scenarios.
The game is an experience of honour, bravery, fight against evil, compassion, destiny and suffering along with tragedy.
This is the game I enjoyed the most in 2023.