Wo Long’s fantastic combat does, however, ensure that “more” isn’t a big problem. Deflecting blows is still a brilliant core mechanic since it forces players to pay attention and learn patterns. The window is generous, but it’s empowering to parry blows without the split-second timing that so many games require. Managing the Spirit Meter is also a fantastic core mechanic since it constantly has players assessing risks and rewards and how best to spend each precious bar. It’s great for dealing Spirit damage to opponents, as well as performing spells and special abilities.

Battle of Zhongyuan’s new standard enemies are mostly not noteworthy — the spindly elemental reptiles are a highlight, though — yet the bosses live up to (and sometimes exceed) the standard set by the main campaign. Each is unpredictable and has a wide variety of attacks. Allies still water down some bosses in the story levels like they do in the base campaign by providing unnecessary help, but they’re harder to take down so it isn’t as much of an annoyance.

Aside from the monochromatic secret boss that’s a hard-to-read eyesore, cranking up the dial just a bit means these new battles are more rewarding, especially the ones in the side missions. They’re still nowhere near as tough as the average Nioh boss, but Wo Long’s mechanics are strong enough to withstand even more pressure and they deserve to be put to the test.

Battle of Zhongyuan’s other additions to the combat aren’t as noticeable. The new gear gets lost among the swaths of gear already present in the game. The additional Divine Beast is useful and has a unique feature that lets it strike twice, but it’s a rather small change. The new cestus gauntlets are the most obvious inclusion since they add another layer of depth to the Spirit Meter. Equipping these quick, short-range gloves adds more bars of Spirit Meter that grant up to three buffs when filled, yielding even more depth to this flexible meter. It’s a thoughtful addition to Wo Long’s arsenal since skilled players can stack temporary upgrades or deal more Spirit damage.

The climactic boss battles are thrilling, but, like most of the other combat upgrades, the rest is mostly standard Wo Long fare. The story is full of poorly contextualized cutscenes and well-choreographed action scenes of obscenely strong dudes with giant weapons destroying whole platoons of goons. The level design is straightforward and artistically bland. Loot drops at an alarming pace and clutters up the whole experience. There are cute panda-like creatures called Shitieshou that eat old gear and spit out something new.

Wo Long, while still a great action game, already felt like Team Ninja was getting a little too comfortable. Many of its systems were ripped straight from the Nioh games or, in the art style’s case, carried over from the Ninja Gaiden trilogy. This DLC was naturally going to bring over a lot of the base game’s features because it is an expansion, but Battle of Zhongyuan more clearly points out how iterative Wo Long is since that base game was already a clear iteration.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty: Battle of Zhongyuan DLC Review: The final verdict

Even a somewhat disappointing expansion for Team Ninja, Battle of Zhongyuan is still more gratifying than many of its peers in the genre because of the strength of the core combat. The deflect mechanic at its center is as smooth and responsive as ever, as shown by the many new climactic bouts that require dedication to overcome. It doesn’t set the best precedent for the next two expansions since it seems likely they will also highlight how Team Ninja needs to shake up its formula. But they’ll at least be somewhat successful if they have as many fulfilling fights as Battle of Zhongyuan.

Disclaimer: This Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty: Battle of Zhongyuan review is based on a PS5 copy provided by the publisher. Reviewed on version 1.011.000.

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When will Rise of the Ronin release?

TheSnitch — who’s made quite a name for themselves with accurate leaks — claims that ROTR gameplay will borrow elements from both Assassin’s Creed and Ghost of Tsushima. The latter itself has been likened to Ubisoft’s tentpole franchise from time to time. We’re told to expect some similarities with Dark Souls as well, but it doesn’t look like we’re talking about difficulty here.

According to the leak, Rise of the Ronin will come with multiple difficulty settings, romance options, and s skill and technique tree. A screenshot of the skill and technique tree has also been shared, but we won’t publish that here for obvious reasons. Intrigued souls can check it out on Reddit.

As far as a release window is concerned, TheSnitch claims that Rise of the Ronin is currently planned for Q1 2024, and that Team Ninja is busy improving the game’s fidelity. As we’ve come to expect, Rise of the Ronin will come with both performance and quality modes.

Last but not least, Rise of the Ronin will reportedly come with plenty of side quests and missions for those who love to explore.

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Lies of P and Wo Long will get some crossover DLC

Strangely, the two companies didn’t reveal anything about what this crossover would entail. There’s no word on if it’ll consist of skins, weapons, or something more substantial like bosses. More will be revealed sometime in September, though.

Lies of P is releasing in September, too. Wo Long came out in March, but its second piece of DLC — Upheaval in Jingxiang — is set to release in September, as well. Wo Long’s first piece of DLC — Battle of Zhongyuan — is hitting digital stores at the end of June.

Team Ninja’s games have had crossovers in the past, but it’s mostly been within the team’s own franchises. Ryu from Ninja Gaiden has been a constant character in the Dead or Alive games, and both Nioh titles had various callbacks to both Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive. Spartan-458, a reference to the Halo series, showed up in Dead or Alive 4. Wo Long also crossed over with Naraka Bladepoint near its release.

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When is the Wo Long DLC coming out?

Koei Tecmo tweeted out the news along with the first key art, which is in the above image. Battle of Zhongyuan will have new stages and enemies along with another difficulty and weapon type. Team Ninja was not more specific, but this seems in line with the DLC both Nioh games received.

Wo Long’s season pass includes two other expansions, but little is known about them. Conqueror of Jiangdong is the second DLC and is scheduled for September, while Upheaval in Jingxiang, the third and final expansion, is currently slated for December. The season pass is $24.99 and offers a discount on the DLC, much like the other two Nioh games that had three expansions each with a season pass that was slightly cheaper than buying the trio piecemeal.

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When will the Wo Long x Naraka: Bladepoint crossover DLC be released?

The Naraka: Bladepoint crossover will be included in an upcoming DLC for Wo Long, although there is no release window at the moment. However, as the crossover is live in Naraka already, we’re expecting it to be released fairly soon.

The collaboration DLC will include armor sets based on Naraka’s heroes Viper Ning and Tarka Ji, although we don’t know if there will be limited-time challenges or events involved too. KOEI Tecmo also didn’t clarify whether the crossover would be part of the Season Pass DLC.

Meanwhile, Naraka players can complete challenges to unlock exclusive cosmetic rewards between March 3 and 24. The cosmetics include a new Battlemark, banner, and profile backgrounds, as well as items in the Spectral Silk Shop. There’s even a Wo Long Lu Bu Epic Bubble for completing the Twitter RT challenge, although the ultimate prize is the Wo Long Lu Bu Mask that can be earned during the Scrolls of Cloudsparrow event.

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Big trouble in Three Kingdoms China

Wo Long takes place in Three Kingdoms era China. The Yellow Turban Rebellion is in full force, and you take the role of a simple militiaman defending a village against a horde of raiding bandits. Unfortunately, this version of China has big (evil) Dynasty Warriors energy, so you’re quickly killed.

Luckily, you’re quickly revived through the power of a Divine Beast and sent on your way. You soon find that a forbidden medicine called Elixir has unleashed dark forces across China and caused man and beast alike to mutate into monstrosities. Of course, this is all set against the background of the fall of the Han dynasty, so you’ll meet historical figures like Zhao Yun, Zhang Liang, Lu Bu, and others.

Unlike many Souls-like games, there are no vagarities to the lore here. So if you’re someone who never cared to read item descriptions or chase down vague sidequests, this game is for you.

Han-to-Han combat

Combat in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty feels like a blend of Sekiro and Nioh. Though you have a guard, there’s a lot of emphasis on deflecting and counterattacks, especially in boss battles. Since there’s no stamina gauge, it pays to be aggressive in this game. Almost every foe has some form of unblockable attack, so staying in their face and ensuring they don’t get the chance to unleash their best attacks is a viable strategy.

The game has 17 types of weapons, ranging from one-handed swords to dual-wielded halberds and giant hammers. Each type has a unique move set and Martial Arts, but weapons within a type behave very similarly to one another. For example, two hammers will have the same move set but may have different Martial Arts. Some Souls-like fans might find this disappointing since games like Elden Ring differentiate every single weapon from each other.

There’s also ranged combat, but it’s not great. Something about it feels off, and you never have enough ammo for it to make a difference. Unlike the Souls games, where archery is an incredibly useful alternative to melee fighting, it’s very tacked on in Wo Long. For the most part, I feel the same way about the magic system, but I admittedly didn’t dive into it super deep. There may be a way to optimize your build to make magic more useful.

By the numbers

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty threw everything but the kitchen sink in regarding gameplay systems. You’ve got a traditional leveling system where you spend Genuine Qi (Souls) to raise stats. There are upgradable weapons, armor, and accessories, and each of these pieces of gear has randomized Special Effects and Martial Arts attacks. There’s also a magic system, Divine Beast special attacks, and an NPC recruitment system. So, if you’re into min/maxing, your work is cut out for you. The game’s premier system, though, is the Morale Rank.

Completely different from your character level is your Morale Rank. This number is constantly in flux, restarts at zero on each map, and helps determine your character’s strength and which spells you can cast. Each time you defeat an enemy or plant a Battle Flag (bonfire) or Marking Flag (checkpoint), your Morale Rank increases. You lose all your Morale Points (and half your Genuine Qi) each time you die, but you can get them back. Defeating the enemy that killed you will satisfy your Revenge (capital R gameplay mechanic), and you’ll take back what’s yours.

Morale Rank rewards you for going out of your way to explore each level thoroughly. The extra strength you get from having a high Morale Rank can make bosses easier, and the game tends to be balanced toward you keeping your Morale Points fairly high. Your best spells also require you to have a high Morale Rank to cast, which provides another incentive for reaching for the stars.

Who’s the boss?

Souls-likes are known for their bombastic bosses, and Wo Long has plenty of gigantic and powerful enemies to fight. For the most part, though, I wasn’t a huge fan of the boss battles in this game. When you break down combat in most Souls-likes, it comes down to pattern recognition. Every enemy, bosses included, has a set amount of moves they can draw from, and they’re all choreographed. So, you can study a foe, learn their tells, and use that to avoid or guard against their attacks while hitting them with your own.

The best Souls-likes make the above process invisible to the player. Bosses can switch things up or have access to fringe case moves that can throw you off. However, in Wo Long, most bosses are so rigid in their patterns that there’s only one way to fight them. Each of these foes is intimidating at first glance, but most of the time, it comes down to avoiding their attacks until they charge up a Critical Blow so you can deflect it to drain their Spirit Gauge (stamina) and execute a Fatal Strike.

Not every boss encounter is paint-by-numbers, and there are ones the game hyped up beforehand that had me white-knuckling the controller. FromSoftware’s games certainly have their share of mediocre boss encounters, so Wo Long isn’t setting a precedent here. I would have liked to have seen less quantity and more quality out of these encounters as a whole.

It’s no Lordran

Exploration is my favorite aspect of Souls-likes, and Wo Long disappoints in that regard. The game is split into dozens of levels, each of which takes place on a small map. So, instead of adventuring across a sprawling, interconnected world, each location is roughly the size of a Monster Hunter map.

That’s not to say that there weren’t secrets to find in them. There are hidden areas to discover, with fantastic treasures and powerful foes waiting within. But none of the environments pack the punch of Lordran, Drangleic, Lothric, Ashina, or the Lands Between.

The advantage to this is that you can have bite-sized Souls-like morsels. Each level only takes around 30 minutes to an hour to complete on average, which is excellent for players who want to get into the action quickly.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty review: The final verdict

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a challenging romp through a dark fantasy version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and works well as a Soulslite. Each level is a bite-sized Souls experience to be conquered and moved past. The tight, challenging combat will thrill fans of the genre, but the lack of an interconnected world might turn off those that love the thrill of exploration.

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When will Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty demo leave the PlayStation Store?

The Wo Long: Fallen dynasty demo will be available for just over a month, leaving PS5 and PS4 on March 26, 2023. The demo will be released on February 24 and save data can be transferred to the main game when it is released. KOEI Tecmo is calling this demo the final demo, meaning there won’t be another one after the game is released on March 3.

Two chapters will be included in the demo: Chapter 1: Village of Calamity and Chapter 2: Two Chivalrous Heroes. Both are meant to give players an idea of the game’s combat while taking on demons, monsters, and enemy soldiers in the Three Kingdoms. The Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty demo features online multiplayer, meaning players will be able to play through the chapters with a friend. Neither of these chapters was included in the first demo, although players will still get the same Crouching Dragon Helmet in-game item reward for completing it.

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Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty demo details

While we haven’t been told the contents of the demo, Team Ninja has confirmed that it’ll launch on Friday, February 24th for the PS5 and PS4 among other platforms. As expected, players’ save data will carry over to the full game should they wish to purchase it. And those who complete the demo will receive the “Crouching Dragon Helmet” for use in the full game.

#WoLongFallenDynasty demo is coming February 24! Play it on #PlayStation4 #PlayStation5 #XboxOne, Series X|S, #Steam & Microsoft store!

Save data from this demo will transfer to the final game! Complete the demo to obtain the “Crouching Dragon Helmet” DLC in the full game. pic.twitter.com/oQtKfdqKcw

— Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (@WoLongOfficial) February 5, 2023

From the minds behind Nioh series, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a linear action role-playing game. Although it’s a challenging game that doesn’t feature any difficulty options, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty will be “reasonable” and balanced, according to its developers.

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Watch the Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty story trailer

At 2 minutes 39 seconds in length, the Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty story trailer isn’t just a short tease. No, this video acts as a significant introduction to many different characters, both friendly and not-so-friendly, and showcases many battle sequences.

As seen in the video, the game is set in the Later Han Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms.

The original story follows a nameless militia soldier who is faced with a conspiracy surrounding a potent elixir with mysterious powers. Along the way, the soldier not only encounters countless demons and monsters, but famous warlords and military masterminds from history, including Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian.

The trailer also gives a preview of the English dub with a few voice lines for each character. Subtitles are also clearly supported.

The intense story will be backed up by an equally intense difficulty setting that can’t be changed. Expect a challenge!

Once the March 3 release date has been and gone, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty will continue to be supported by a season pass.

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Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty release date content and editions

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s Digital Deluxe edition will include a Season Pass offering three content packs. The content will include new generals, demons, scenarios, weapons, and much more. Digital Deluxe edition will also come with a bonus “Quinglong Armor,” digital art book, and digital soundtrack.

Then, there will be the limited edition Steelbook that will come in a collectible case and the following bonus content: “Crown of Zhurong” and “Crown of Gonggong.” Pre-ordering or purchasing any of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s editions early will net players the downloadable “Baihu Armor.” Last but not least, all digital pre-orders will get “Zhuque Armor” as well. You’ll probably need all this armor considering Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is supposed to be a challenging game.

If you’re interested in seeing what changes Team Ninja plans to make based on player feedback, check out this report.

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