Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Is Soulslike Set in Feudal China – An Exclusive Interview with Team NINJA
Imagine a game by Team NINJA (famous for stellar action games like Nioh and NINJA GAIDEN) set in a dark fantasy version of China’s Three Kingdoms period. When Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty was announced at the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase 2022, the idea of slashing warlords and demons alike with a new combat system based on Chinese martial arts made us pretty excited. But the teaser trailer left us wondering how it will actually play. Luckily, IGN was able to sit down with Team NINJA’s key members to find out more.
“As a studio, we’ve always been known for games that challenge the player, but that can’t be done without responsive controls and high playability. In that regard, Wo Long is no different from our previous titles, but this time we’ve turned to Chinese martial arts as a new style of combat,” producer Fumihiko Yasuda explained.
According to Yasuda, Wo Long is a Soulslike game similar to Nioh, the studio’s recent biggest success.
With titles like NINJA GAIDEN and Nioh, Team NINJA have become known for games set in feudal Japan, so a game set in China’s Three Kingdoms period might come as a surprise for some. That being said, with series like Dynasty Warriors and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Koei Tecmo (Team NINJA’s parent company) has been specializing in this setting for over three decades.
“While the Three Kingdoms period is iconic for Koei Tecmo, Team NINJA itself has never tackled it before. By merging Team NINJA’s action with Koei Tecmo’s most popular setting, you could say that Wo Long shares DNA from both sides. But Koei Tecmo has actually never made a dark fantasy version of the Three Kingdoms setting,” development producer Masaaki Yamagiwa said.
Yamagiwa published two FromSoftware titles – Bloodborne and Déraciné –
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