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00:00:00 – 00:12:38
"Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty," developed by KOEI TECMO and Team Ninja, is a new Souls-like game set in the later Han Dynasty era of China. The game involves battling spirits, monsters, and dragons using a detailed character creator, a spirit-based combat system, and parry mechanics. The combat system, while less polished compared to titles like Sekiro, is characterized by responsiveness, weapon-specific martial arts, divine beasts, and wizardry spells, adding significant variety and engagement.
However, some aspects like occasional button press lag, a subpar dodge roll, and generic level designs detract from the experience. Weapons offer unique animations and an extensive upgrade system, though the abundance of loot can feel overwhelming. The game features a linear mission-based progression with a morale system impacting gameplay. Boss fights present an inconsistent challenge, ranging from easy to intense encounters.
The game also includes AI allies and cooperative gameplay, with its total playtime estimated between 25 to 40 hours. Despite dated visuals and performance issues on both Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, the game's combat system remains enjoyable. The story and characters are considered forgettable, though the speaker appreciates the availability of a demo and encourages other developers to adopt this practice, highlighting the consumer benefits of trying before buying. The speaker concludes the review by inviting viewer feedback and expressing gratitude for their support.
00:00:00
In this part of the video, Jake Baldino introduces “Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty,” a new Souls-like game by KOEI TECMO and Team Ninja, the creators behind Dynasty Warriors, Ninja Gaiden, and Nioh. He notes that the game, while fun, is less polished compared to Sekiro. The game features parry mechanics, RPG elements, and complex systems. Players start by creating a character using a detailed character creator with many customization options. Set in the later Han Dynasty era of China, the game involves battling spirits, monsters, and dragons. It employs a spirit-based combat system where players must manage their own spirit levels while depleting enemies’ spirits to deliver powerful attacks. The game also includes a parry mechanism and minimal stealth elements. Jake mentions using a review code from KOEI TECMO and Xbox and discusses playing on both Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
00:03:00
In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the combat mechanics of the game, expressing a desire for more complexity especially when navigating rooftops. They highlight the ability to use special moves called martial arts, which are weapon-specific and satisfying to execute, adding significant variety to combat. The combat system is praised for its responsiveness, except for occasional button press lag and a subpar dodge roll. Despite these minor issues, the combat experience remains enjoyable, especially mastering enemy attacks for successful counterattacks and parries. The speaker mentions other layers to combat, including divine beasts (temporary summons for attacks or buffs) and wizardry spells, which offer flexibility and variety. Spells can provide defense or offensive boosts and are engaging to use. Overall, combat is enriched with multiple tools and weapon-specific abilities, making it enjoyable and diverse.
00:06:00
In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the variety and distinctiveness of the weapons in the game, noting the cool animations and the extensive weapon upgrade system involving a blacksmith. The game offers a plethora of loot, though it can feel overwhelming. It features a linear mission-based progression with selectable sub-missions, and a morale system that affects gameplay by determining the damage you receive and the spells you can cast based on your morale level. Killing enemies and performing actions increases your morale. The system encourages grinding and mastering levels. Additionally, while managing morale is engaging, the level designs are seen as boring and generic, which detracts from the enjoyment. Boss fights in the game are also described as inconsistent in difficulty, with many being quite easy.
00:09:00
In this part of the video, the speaker discusses their experience with a challenging game, emphasizing the difficulty of the first boss, which acts as a learning curve. The game features a mix of intense, engaging bosses alongside more generic ones. AI allies can aid players by drawing enemy fire, although their intelligence improves only after leveling up. Cooperative gameplay is available after the introduction. The game’s duration is estimated between 25 to 40 hours based on player skill. Visuals are dated with flat textures and drab colors. Performance issues were noted on both Series X and PS5, including frame drops and game freezes, though patches are addressing some problems. Despite these issues, the combat system was enjoyable and the speaker had a lot of fun, even though the story and characters were forgettable. There is a positive note on the availability of a demo, advocating for more demos in the gaming industry.
00:12:00
In this segment, the speaker encourages game developers to release demos, as “try before you buy” is beneficial for consumers. The speaker wraps up a “Before You Buy” review, inviting viewers to share their opinions about the game and demo in the comments. They express gratitude to their audience for their continued support and engagement, mentioning the team’s hard work on producing numerous reviews. They also request viewers to like the video if they enjoyed it and conclude with a thank you, promising to see the audience in the next video.