Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty - Team Ninja's take on Romance of the Three Kingdoms

[Ferine]

I hope they patch in more granular control customisation, assuming nothing's changed from the demo. Having parry on L1 feels so much better to me, but that also means dodge is on double-tapping L1 and one of your Wizardry spells is then on R2+L1 rather than using a face button. Ideally I'd like to specify button sub-functions, such as having parry on tapping L1 and blocking on holding it.

 

Based on the demo Wo Long feels like Diet Nioh, which isn't necessarily bad but they seem to have stripped out a lot of the complexity around weapons yet kept the very granular loot system, which is definitely the part I'd have simplified. Importantly it still feels good to play, though, so I'm sure it'll be a good time.

[Keyboard Koala]

First reviews are coming in, and seems it's a good'un:

 

IGN - 8 out of 10

GameSpot - 8 out of 10

GamesRadar - 8 out of 10

Jeuxvideo - 8.5 out of 10

Game Informer - 8.8 out of 10

Destructoid - 9 out of 10

[jonamok]

Got the demo running on Deck via proton experimental, though it does hard crash the Deck if you try to buy the Wizard spells!

 

Everything else seems fine, though it’s very stuttery, and maxes at 30fps, and that’s with the lowest possible settings for everything. Still, it’s a world I like being in, even in that state, and got up to the second phase of the 1st boss first try.

[jonamok]

Double trouble.

[Rayn]

This game wasn't really on my radar but after watching the video review by IGN I'm intrgued. I'll give it a shot on game pass over the weekend, hoping it'll fill the void left by completing Hogswarts Legacy. 

[Hamus]

Apparently this is 2k and 60fps on the Series S?! Sounds awesome.

 

Grabbing this now on Gamepass :D

[Timmo]

I wouldn’t get excited for this game if you’re looking for great visuals…

 

That said, I’ve really enjoyed my time with it so far. It’s definitely way easier than other Souls-likes (after that first, tricky boss) but it’s way more enjoyable to just wonder around in when compared to NioH, even if the combat seems a lot, lot more simplistic so far.

[shirubagan]

Almost had the first boss down. 
 

Spoiler

That second form is a real dick move

 

[Timmo]

This is really damn addictive. I’m quite enjoying the simplicity of the structure so far, it feels very videogamey without compromising its atmosphere too much. 

[Curtis]

The current boss I'm on is 1-shotting me if each and every parry isn't bang on perfection. Doesn't help he has maybe 8 different moves and he never does them in the same order. 

 

I'm not under-levelled and I've upgraded my gear best I can with the materials available at this point in the game, it's just feels a little too harsh.

 

I'm taking a breather and having a beer cause I'm not having fun.

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

It's flippin ace. It's like we've got Onimusha back.

[Uzi]

3 minutes ago, Curtis said:

The current boss I'm on is 1-shotting me if each and every parry isn't bang on perfection. Doesn't help he has maybe 8 different moves and he never does them in the same order. 

 

I'm not under-levelled and I've upgraded my gear best I can with the materials available at this point in the game, it's just feels a little too harsh.

 

I'm taking a breather and having a beer cause I'm not having fun.

If you're struggling,  I'm screwed

[Timmo]

24 minutes ago, Curtis said:

The current boss I'm on is 1-shotting me if each and every parry isn't bang on perfection. Doesn't help he has maybe 8 different moves and he never does them in the same order. 

 

I'm not under-levelled and I've upgraded my gear best I can with the materials available at this point in the game, it's just feels a little too harsh.

 

I'm taking a breather and having a beer cause I'm not having fun.

Which boss?

[Curtis]

5 minutes ago, Timmo said:

Which boss?

Spoiler

Tentacle Bull

 

[Curtis]

26 minutes ago, Uzi said:

If you're struggling,  I'm screwed

You'll be alright, i'm just not big on parry-centric games like this and Sekiro. The tight timing and insta-death failure puts me off.

 

I'll stick with it. A few beers'll calm me down. 

[Timmo]

Definitely something weird going on because I killed that boss earlier with level 1 armour and the only one hit kills were the red moves which are pretty rare.

[Curtis]

Yeah, I kept fucking up the red counter. 🤣 I'll try again shortly.🍺😁

[Timmo]

Definitely the trickiest boss yet! Extremely satisfying to kill though.

[jonamok]

Playing it on PCGP streaming on Deck. This is hard mode on my connection.
 

Solid 60 fps but the lag basically means I have to preemptively guess the deflect timing way before normal. Getting twatted by boss 1.2. Not super fun.

[Mitchell]

Quick Q, when it says to counter "press O or a direciton and O" does it matter?  Do you have to press the direction the attack comes from or something?  

[jonamok]

18 minutes ago, Curtis said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Tentacle Bull

 

Which number boss is that?

[jonamok]

1 minute ago, Mitchell said:

Quick Q, when it says to counter "press O or a direciton and O" does it matter?  Do you have to press the direction the attack comes from or something?  

No. But it lets you reposition to change attack angle etc.

[Timmo]

1 minute ago, Mitchell said:

Quick Q, when it says to counter "press O or a direciton and O" does it matter?  Do you have to press the direction the attack comes from or something?  

Doesn’t matter, the direction just moves you a little for repositioning as you deflect.

[Timmo]

46 minutes ago, Uzi said:

If you're struggling,  I'm screwed

Game strongly encourages the use of ‘reinforcements’ which are AI helpers and then on top of that you can summon. Definitely feels friendlier than the average Souls-like. 

[dreamylittledream]

57 minutes ago, Opinionated Ham Scarecrow said:

It's flippin ace. It's like we've got Onimusha back.

 

Sold

 

(As its on Gamepass I was going to play it anyway but that comment means its definitely moved up the list - I really miss Onimusha)

[Curtis]

10 minutes ago, Timmo said:

Doesn’t matter, the direction just moves you a little for repositioning as you deflect.

I always use RB+O for regular counters because it's a counter attack which gives you the immediate advantage and it revives all your Spirit from orange to zero.

 

You can also combo into this after a regular string of attacks because it triggers a weapon swap. It helps if you have the same weapon type in both slots so you don't have to worry about different attack patterns.

[BadgerFarmer]

1 hour ago, Curtis said:

The current boss I'm on is 1-shotting me if each and every parry isn't bang on perfection. Doesn't help he has maybe 8 different moves and he never does them in the same order. 

 

I'm not under-levelled and I've upgraded my gear best I can with the materials available at this point in the game, it's just feels a little too harsh.

 

I'm taking a breather and having a beer cause I'm not having fun.

Have you got all the flags in the level to start at 20 morale each time?

 

Or maybe use the earth spell that boosts defence if it's one-shotting you.

 

That was also one of the bosses that I found easier to do solo.

[HarryBizzle]

Can someone please explain the morale/fortitude and spirit bar? What are they on about with “lowest part of the spirit bar?”
 

The game says a lot about them but it looks like it was written in Japanese and then put back and forth through Google Translate a few times. 

[Timmo]

8 minutes ago, HarryBizzle said:

Can someone please explain the morale/fortitude and spirit bar? The game says a lot about them but it looks like it was written in Japanese and then put back and forth through Google Translate a few times. 

Morale is the number just under your character. The higher the better - it improves your defence for the level. As a general rule you don’t want to be facing enemies with significantly higher numbers than you, although rules can be broken of course.

 

Fortitude is the figure that your morale will drop to when you die. Again, higher the better, and you are encouraged to find “marking flags” off the beaten track, because these effectively make the rest of the level easier. Fortitude is raised by battle flags (fortitude boosters, checkpoints) and marking flags (fortitude boosters, NOT checkpoints). 

The spirit bar mainly governs two things, your ability to block/deflect, and your ability to use magic/martial arts/strong attacks that leave an outline around your weapon. Martial arts and outline moves tend to be a lot more powerful than basic attacks, and they tend to stagger the enemies a lot more.

 

Regarding the blocking, try standing still and hammering the deflect button. You’ll see the red bar fill up. This is bad, because with a full red bar your next blocked attack will leave you winded and very vulnerable.

 

[HarryBizzle]

2 minutes ago, Timmo said:

Morale is the number just under your character. The higher the better - it improves your defence for the level. As a general rule you don’t want to be facing enemies with significantly higher numbers than you, although rules can be broken of course.

 

Fortitude is the figure that your morale will drop to when you die. Again, higher the better, and you are encouraged to find “marking flags” off the beaten track, because these effectively make the rest of the level easier. It’s raised by battle flags (fortitude boosters, checkpoints) and marking flags (fortitude boosters, NOT checkpoints). 

The spirit bar mainly governs two things, your ability to block/deflect, and your ability to use magic/martial arts/strong attacks that leave an outline around your weapon. Martial arts and outline moves tend to be a lot more powerful than basic attacks, and they tend to stagger the enemies a lot more.

 

Regarding the blocking, try standing still and hammering the deflect button. You’ll see the red bar fill up. This is bad, because with a full red bar your next blocked attack will leave you winded and very vulnerable.

 

Thanks, that makes way more sense than anything in the game so far. 
 

I seem to be able to make my spirit bar go into the red/to the left. How do I fill it the other way?