WO LONG: FALLEN DYNASTY
Any developer choosing to make a Soulslike action RPG is choosing to enter a race in which the leader not only has a significant head start but was also the one to design the track itself. With the two Nioh games, however, Team Ninja has established itself as a legitimate silver-medal holder. Yet this means that, as it launches a new series in the same mould, the studio finds itself in the unusual position of competing not only with FromSoftware, but also with itself. And indeed, as we get to grips with Wo Long’s brisk swordplay, it becomes apparent that the primary blueprint is Team Ninja’s earlier work, more than any Souls game.
Attacks are positioned on the face buttons, a choice that speaks to the lighter, snappy responsiveness with which moves are traded. Activating specials, meanwhile, requires basic button combinations that seem to speak to Team Ninja’s heritage as a developer of action and fighting games – something that’s also felt in the dramatic flair of your finishing moves, with their brilliantly overblown animations. In other words: so far, so Nioh.
surprise, then, when studio president and producer
