by
Issa Maki
, posted 6 hours ago / 455 Views

Like many of our Elden Lord brethren, I’ve eagerly awaited the release of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Team Ninja’s spiritual counterpart to FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice shares most of the traits of its ancestors, bringing innovations that attempt to spruce up an aging formula that’s in need of a makeover. And while no doubt a fine game by modern standards, for longtime players Wo Long comes off as a stopgap between major projects. Despite possessing the potential to do so, it doesn’t nearly re-invent the wheel as much as it could, making what’s new seem more experimental than something that resulted from years of impassioned development.

Taking a much-needed break from the Sengoku period of Japan, Wo Long looks back further in time and travels westward to the Three Kingdoms era of China’s development. Sadly, this potential quickly dissipates into a pastiche of Nioh 2: the Daoist in Black is clearly based on Otakemaru; the silent protagonist derives from the Shiftling; and most significantly, instead of participating in a demon-infested civil war between rival factions, we’ll be engaging in monster-filled battles of secession amongst competing states. Once the whole…