Video Game / Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

I cannot understand how one as strong as you could have gone unnoticed. Your force was like that of a dragon soaring heavenward.

— Zhao Yun

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a Hack and Slash Action RPG developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo. It was released on March 3, 2023 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox One and the Xbox Series X|S platforms.

A Creator-Driven Successor to the Nioh series, Wo Long is a Souls-like RPG that is set during the early years of the Three Kingdoms of China, with folklore deriving from Taoism and Buddhism. Its plot is based loosely on Romance of the Three Kingdoms, similar to Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors series.

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Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty provides the following tropes:

• Adapted Out: To facilitate the mythical setting and the new story, several historical/novel characters that are important to the story is removed and their roles may be supplanted to existing characters:
  • Liu Biao is absent. Therefore, Yu Ji takes the job of killing Sun Jian, by holding Daqiao hostage and luring him to a trap that turns him into a demon to be killed. However, the DLC "Upheaval in Jiangxiang" reveals what happened to him.
  • Yuan Shu is also absent. Thus, he's combined with his half-brother Yuan Shao. In that after the defeat of Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu, Yuan Shao is prodded to become a tyrannical person thanks to the elixir similar to how Yuan Shu declared himself emperor after getting ahold of the Imperial Seal. Subversion in the last DLC, Upheaval in Jiangxiang, as he comes from his off-screen death to become Big Bad
  • The lack of both Dian Wei and Xu Chu, both Cao Cao's famed bodyguards with their own epithets ("The Coming Evil" and "Raging/Guileless Tiger", respectively) may count as this in the vanilla game, as the battle of Wancheng was not included. However, the DLC Battle of Zhongyuan reveals that this is a subversion: Dian Wei and Xu Chu are present in this timeline and will become the focus of the DLC (though Dian Wei is naturally doomed to die his natural death at Wancheng).
  • Oddly, despite being famed as 'The Two Qiaos' and rarely being separated from each other, the other half, Xiaoqiao, is absent.
• An Adventurer Is You:
  • The Wood virtue leans towards being the Magic Knight or the Red Mage, as the stat improves both HP and improves spell duration. Most of the wizardry skills that aren't offensive spells are utility buffs or healing.
  • The Fire virtue can either be the Fighter or a Squishy Wizard, depending on the second tree. When paired with Earth or Wood in particular, the player becomes a bruiser, while paired with Metal and Water is more akin to a squishy wizard. Fire has most of the damaging Wizardry Spells while their buffs improve potential damage.
  • The Earth virtue is the tank that boosts defensive capabilities, and generally leans towards being a Mighty Glacier that favors heavy armor and weapons. The "tank" part is emphasized with spell buffs that improve defensive capabilities rather than offensive as well as damage spells that causes crowd control.
  • The Metal virtue is a Combat Pragmatist that focuses on debuffing enemies rather than buffing allies. Raising this virtue also lowers wizardry spell costs, making this the most akin to a Squishy Wizard.
  • The Water virtue is a Fragile Speedster that focuses on being an assassin that kills their targets from the shadows, being able to use firearms to much better extent than their counterparts.
• Anti-Frustration Features: A few things from the Nioh games have been simplified:
  • Previous games had randomized attributes that had to be rolled for to the players preferences. While random drops do exist, you can now choose from a much bigger pool while customizing with the blacksmith, albeit with certain restrictions.
  • A common complaint from the previous games was how gear gets changed due to gear having levels. This is no longer a thing as the very first gear can still be upgraded and used long as its rarity level is up to par.
  • All of the wizardry skills associated with the virtues can now be obtained in a single playthrough, while the Nioh series had a much larger pool per weapon classes.
  • Unlike most games that required you to spend a specific item to respec your character, you can do so at a certain point at the hub for free. This is to account for the Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors system so as to not be stuck.
  • For those that dislike invasions, the mechanic can be turned off. NPC invasions will still happen of course, but at least NPC invaders are a lot easier to deal with compared to their player counterparts.
• The Beastmaster: Like the Guardian Spirits of Nioh, the player can summon several Divine Beasts to assist them in battle, including the Qilin, the Baihu, the Qinglong, the Zhuque, and the Xuanwu.
• Book Ends: The first and final boss are set in the same area.
• Casting Gag: The English dub has Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao, the latter of whom gathers a large coalition to engage the former's armies, are voiced by Mike Pollock and Jason Griffith, better known as voices of Dr. Eggman and Sonic, respectively.
• Character Customization: Unlike the first Nioh or the Dynasty Warriors games, where the player character is a real-life historical figure, the protagonist of Wo Long will be the player's customizable avatar.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Even if not a Dynasty Warriors game, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty still has Liu Bei's forces as green, Cao Cao's as blue, and Sun Jian's as red.
• Continuing is Painful: When the player is killed by an enemy, that particular enemy's Morale Rank will increase, making them even stronger than before. The enemy also takes half of the player's Qi, so they must be slain to reclaim it.
• The Cycle of Empires: The subtitle "Fallen Dynasty" refers to the fall of the Han Dynasty's empire after the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
• Darker and Edgier: One of the bleakest versions of Three Kingdoms stories, as literal and figurative demonization happens on and offscreen.
• Dragons Are Divine: One of the Dragon Gods, the Azure Dragon ("Qinglong") can be summoned as an ally in battle.
• Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Present in its magic system, as each elemental phase will negate one and be negated by another one. This works for active projectiles, to buffs and debuffs. It goes Wood > Earth > Water > Fire > Metal > Wood.
• Experience Points: Qi is taken from enemies and used to level up the player's stats. The enemies can do this to the player too, stealing their Qi if they kill them.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: Fire Phase and Earth Phase are both Fighter classes, with Fire focusing on offense and Earth on defense. The Wood and Metal Phases are both Mages, as they buff their allies and de-buff their enemies, respectively. And the Water Phase is a stealth-oriented Thief archetype.
• The Four Gods: Four-fifths of the Divine Beasts are the Four Gods of Chinese astrology, including the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird, the White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise. No mention of the Yellow Dragon yet though.
• From Zero to Hero: The meaning of the title. "Wo Long" means "Crouching Dragon", which refers to how the player character is incredibly powerful and Been There, Shaped History despite the fact that they're a nameless nobody.
• Greater-Scope Villain: While the game takes place in the Three Kingdoms, the conflict about the Elixir is rooted from the Qin Dynasty, as it's a product of Qin Shi Huangdi's attempts to achieve immortality. He failed at that, however. However, without Qin Shi Huangdi's desire for immortality, the conflict involving the Elixir wouldn't happen at all.
• Healing Checkpoint: As with any Soulslike, the levels of Wo Long are scattered with resting places that replenish your health and healing items, and can be used as upgrade stations. They're called Battle Flags, and they're activated by raising them.
• Healing Potion: The player uses Dragon's Cure Pots to heal themselves, which is refilled at every Battle Flag.
• Historical Domain Character: Its supporting cast is mostly made up of real-life Chinese historical figures like Zhao Yun, Zhang Liang and Lü Bu.
• Historical Fantasy: The game can be summarized as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms meets Chinese Mythology".
• Ki Manipulation: The player channels spirit energy called "Genuine Qi" to upgrade their stats with.
• Mana Meter: Once the player's "spirit gauge" is filled, they can cast spells and summon divine beasts.
• Magic Knight: Players have to build their Mana Meter with physical attacks first, encouraging them to alternate back and forth between melee and magic.
• Nintendo Hard: You better expect nothing less from the developers of Ninja Gaiden.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: People and Demons infected with Demonic Qi often end up with Black Draconic skin and Red Auras.
• Sequel Hook: The story ends during the aftermath of the Battle of Guandu and sets up the events leading to the Battle of Chibi.
• Souls-like RPG: A linear Dark Fantasy Action RPG with Hack and Slash combat and Nintendo Hard difficulty.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Zhang Liang, the first boss encountered in the game, is extremely difficult despite being encountered 30 minutes into the game. He serves as a test to see if the player has mastered deflection techniques.