Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (2023)

Good game, but it ain't 'From software' good. If you haven't played Sekiro, do not even think about playing this one.

+I liked the battle mechanics -the variety of enemies is not too vast +/-boss design is hit'n'miss. Lu Bu is a great boss, but most bosses are quite easy after you are done mastering the main gameplay mechanics.

I will probably buy DLCs anyway.

It's one of those better Soulslike, but only by a small margin

Demo impressions

Combat feels nice. Very deflect-heavy, with both you and enemies having a sort of "posture" meter, so at least somewhat familiar compared to Sekiro and some other games. That deflect/parry being on the same button as the dodge, with block on a totally separate button, feels a bit awkward to me. Otherwise I like the systems of the game, looks pretty nice, and it has a great character creator. Loot seems more tolerable here than in Nioh and Stranger of Paradise (felt especially pointless at times in the latter).

I think the main thing people will be talking about at first with this is the very first boss fight. I found this kinda jarringly difficult for a first boss, as it's a multi-phase fight that really demands use of that parry against things whose timing can be tricky. Your margin of error is pretty low in terms of HP, and you have to endure a lot from the boss until you get an opening to parry their most powerful attacks to actually get anywhere. In the first phase, normal sword swings and parries of basic attacks do very little to the enemy's stagger meter, so it drags on a bit.

This fight is supposed to have a scripted ending, after you've parried the second phase's big attack twice. A button prompt appears in the corner of the screen which ends the fight. I and the only other person I talked to who has played this, plus some other people I saw on Twitter, just did not notice this prompt, and I can say I personally wasted my time getting to that point where I could have finished the fight multiple times and then dying... Pretty frustrated by that.

I'll probably check reviews before diving deep into the actual game, since it will clearly be tough for me and I'll want to be sure it's worth it. While it seems easier to get a grip on than, say, Nioh 2, I still expect the more hardcore side of Soulslike fans will enjoy this more than the casual side.