Yes - a new stunning and impressionable IP took precedence over a new Dead or Alive or a new Ninja Gaiden from Team NINJA. While it could be viewed as peculiar to some, KOEI TECMO wasn't even planning to be at the show at all, so it was nice to see something from the team ahead of TGS. Plus, Phil Spencer brought up the importance of Japanese development being a part of their systems, and that they missed working with Team NINJA like they did in the past.
Team NINJA's last game was Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin and it was considered a great action-rpg for the fans of Final Fantasy I. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is also being categorized as an action-rpg. We don't know a lot about the game yet, but it's being headed by Fumihiko Yasuda, and he has in some capacity worked on every franchise Team NINJA has at their disposal and is most famous for working on Nioh. To make things even better, Bloodborne producer, Masaaki Yamagiwa will be collaborating with Team NINJA.
The gameplay difficulty from Nioh will definitely return coupled with the historical beauty of the Genesis Three Kingdoms Dynasty and could be harder than ever before with implementation of a Nemesis mechanic. The Nemesis mechanic will make the game progressively harder than Nioh because being defeated in combat results in the enemy having a better understanding of your playstyle and favorite moves which will of course intensify in greater difficulties.
With NINJA Gaiden Black you could get away with using 'Flying Swallow' on most enemies - a dive attack that drives right through the necks of weaker enemies. With this mode an enemy would adapt to that idea and reverse it, or block more often. Your reward for killing them is likely a move or the preset loot, but keep in mind that with greater difficulties the Nemesis mechanic could work against you whether you are doing good or not.
Fallen Dynasty will also not be a looter in the same sense that every enemy will have loot like in Nioh. Loot will still drop from tougher enemies as well as preset loot from bosses more similar to how you unlock things in Elden Ring. As of now there will not be any god rolls to unlock for your favorite weapons. That being said there will be loot unlike the Warriors franchise which is more about unlocking a character for a new weapon.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty will be available for XBOX Series S|X, PC, Game Pass Playstation 4 & 5 arriving in early 2023. It's great to see that it will have an early release window, because this makes them flexible for more projects in 2023-2024.
Last edited: