Wo Long

Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja's next big game is finally here, and it should come as no surprise that it's...

Team Ninja’s latest action RPG is equal parts challenging and exhilarating, with unique mechanics that help even the odds in even the toughest of battles. Your Morale will never go below that of your current Fortitude, so if you’ve banked up a high Morale Rank, it’s best to hunt out these flags to make sure you don’t lose it, if and when you are defeated. You’ll start each level at 0, and killing enemies along the way will raise this — with higher level enemies raising it much faster, should you manage to slay them — whilst falling to a foe will lower it. It’s frantic, vicious fun, and whilst the story and audio aren’t the best, this is certainly a worthy title for a genre known for its punishing, yet rewarding gameplay. With a wide variety of weapons, Wizardry spells, and more, each player will craft their own character to fit a specific style of play. They summon a mystical beast that deals a tonne of damage and can be a turning point in some of the tougher boss battles. That’s the gameplay loop in its simplest form, and in fact the combat is quite a bit more robust, to the point where it feels like there's almost too much to think about whilst avoiding enemy attacks that will drop you in two or three hits. It follows the usual method of entering a new area, being beaten down by new enemies and bosses whilst trying to learn their attack patterns, before finally getting that oh-so-exhilarating win. [Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice](/directory/game/sekiro-shadows-die-twice/about), you’ll be familiar with the concept, but if not, just know that it is incredibly well-executed and will certainly be your main form of defence. It’s fast-paced, ruthlessly unrelenting, and stylish combat will please long-time fans of the developer, as well as those yearning for a new title to test their gaming prowess (and sanity!). That’s about the long and short of the narrative. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is set in 184 AD, and the once prosperous Han Dynasty is on the brink of collapse.

How to defeat Zhang Liang in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, including how to prepare for the Zhang Liang battle explained.

Nonetheless, defeating Zhang Liang will earn you his General of Man Bandana (2-star) and his weapon Great Club of Polaris (3-star), while you’re also awarded with 3,000 Qi and 3,000 copper. He also has a ranged attack where he thrusts his club down into the ground, which then unleashes a trail of spikes to shoot out in front. In the stress of the fight, as well as if you’re playing with non-English audio, it’s easy to actually miss this prompt while you continue struggling. He’s referring to the Divine Beast mechanic that unlocks during this phase, which is represented by a gauge on the bottom right corner, above the Wizardry Spells. His club consists of a combo of two swings, with a short pause before the second swing, as well as a charged thrust that also has a wind-up animation. If you manage to deflect these, he can still wind up the previous unblockable attack with his demon arm. For his unblockable attack, he’ll wind his club back to power up, while there’s also a red glow coming from within his chest so that it’s very clear you should be anticipating this. As this is the first mission of Wo Long, there’s not a whole lot of preparation you can do apart from the basic weapons you have and the three uses of the dragon’s cure pot for healing. Once you punish him with a fatal strike, his morale will drop by one point, although the spirit gauge also resets. What you should ensure you do is plant flags on all possible locations on your way to the boss, which raises your Fortitude Rank, the value which your Morale will not fall below should you die. This will end the fight early and save you much wailing and gnashing of teeth. You should also have been practising the deflecting mechanic that is going to be important to surviving this fight, since your only assistance comes from the Blindfolded Boy, who unfortunately isn’t much help at all.

In 2017, Team Ninja showcased their Soulslike chops with Nioh: a samurai-themed adventure that implemented dungeon crawler loot to the mix.

Speaking of unlocks, Wo Long includes some pre-order bonuses in the form of armor. And did you qualify for the Crouching Dragon helmet yet? Moreover, anyone who clears the first chapter will unlock the “Crouching Dragon Helmet” in their copy of Wo Long. While gamers who purchased a physical copy will have to wait until stores open on March 3rd (or hope their retailer holds a midnight release party), anyone who bought the game digitally or has an active Xbox Game Pass subscription can start playing at midnight on the dot. Anyone who wants the helmet will have to act fast since the demo will only be available until March 27th. Audiences won’t get to start playing Wo Long until midnight in their respective regions, with the exception of gamers on the West Coast, who get to start at 9 pm PST.

Our Wo Long Five Phases guide will explain the strengths and weaknesses of each element (with a chart) and teach you how to master the five elements in ...

Increasing your Metal Virtue, for example, increases the power of your Metal magic attacks and your defense against Wood magic attacks (like in the chart above). Where you can use the Five Phases offensively is with your Wizardry Spells. Those Five Phases Virtue Points aren’t the same as the elemental damage of the Five Phases. This is where the Five Phases are most important to your character. This does not mean your melee weapons will deal elemental damage based on your Five Phases Virtue Points — they won’t. These Phases come up most prominently in the game’s Wizardry Spells, but they’re also involved in all of your armor as Resistances.

Fans of Nioh, Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro won't want to miss grabbing a copy of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty for cheap on its release date.

[Xbox ($84.99)](https://www.amazon.com.au/Wo-Long-Fallen-Dynasty-Xbox/dp/B0BCHQPYCR?keywords=wo+long+fallen+dynasty&qid=1677803034&sr=8-3&linkCode=ll1&tag=pgkot-22&linkId=5edc541efc2d21fd18aa3d84421ecaea&language=en_AU&ref_=as_li_ss_tl) [PS5 ($79.99)](https://www.amazon.com.au/Wo-Long-Fallen-Dynasty-PlayStation/dp/B0BCJ2PTJ3?keywords=wo+long+fallen+dynasty&qid=1673827693&sprefix=wo+long+fallen+%2Caps%2C262&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=pgkot-22&linkId=bc3e5e9070cbbf743ea5ff881c2e7aa1&language=en_AU&ref_=as_li_ss_tl) [Souls-like game](https://www.kotaku.com.au/2023/02/this-week-in-games-australia-wo-long/) pretty favourably. [PS4 ($96.95)](https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/325555135265?hash=item4bcc992321:g:aJAAAOSwJ8Bj~loO&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsHFAnFZVVBw5yKmg6rQeVKdVxOB201MoAzLsTlPirC5jsdczv%2FZiBHy%2FCtBf0Y1ebLoajk6fQBVdfAvsD%2Ffw4ldGKYH%2BIboIXUqv2hv75QU13tR%2FQt%2BaLiiaw%2BN1QKTMeFoesGdsLpPwtTTbz3MHe2IsBUTsWCafTsKgo%2FN9SQAEoHKAW8EGUwNYLnNv6InN%2BdDhvox6MNMC0532HsI%2FpVYWdnOZeED8JwVseTzI2p3R%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7i6sM_UYQ&mkcid=1&mkrid=705-53470-19255-0&siteid=15&campid=5338685928&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1) [Xbox ($99)](https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/xbox-series-x-wo-long-fallen-dynasty?queryID=72c7919515aa63c1496c69e4e744b1d3&objectID=610278) [PS4 ($99)](https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/playstation-4-wo-long-fallen-dynasty?ab_version=B&gclid=CjwKCAiA5Y6eBhAbEiwA_2ZWISf4XbVL_m0xhIm-HR7spFPKlIjHxJncgJMXz2SPC6oPRDPA8CWYDxoC4XwQAvD_BwE) [PS5 ($99)](https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/playstation-5-wo-long-fallen-dynasty?queryID=72c7919515aa63c1496c69e4e744b1d3&objectID=610277) It blends the dark fantasy of Souls with the fast-paced, aggressive combat we witnessed in Sekiro, making for an intoxicating [Chinese-mythology inspired world](https://www.kotaku.com.au/2021/03/immortals-new-dlc-taught-me-a-lot-about-chinese-mythology/). Right now, the cheapest copy of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty can be found at Amazon Australia for $79.99 on PlayStation 5 and $84.99 on both PS4 and Xbox. But if you want to pivot away from Feudal Japan for a slight change of pace, look to Team Ninja’s [Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty](https://www.kotaku.com.au/2023/01/31-of-the-biggest-games-coming-in-2023/), which has just come out. In [our review](https://www.kotaku.com.au/2023/03/wo-long-fallen-dynasty-the-kotaku-review/), we were impressed with its accessibility and aggressive combat. Without revealing too much about the storyline for this action RPG, you get to play as a nameless soldier traversing a war-torn world plagued by a demonic infestation.