Released in 2023, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is the latest title to make its way to Switch 2. Renowned for its fast-paced, challenging combat, the game managed to differentiate itself from other Soulslikes, fostering a cult following. Will the Switch 2 manage to faithfully capture this demanding dark-fantasy portrayal of Chinese mythology, or will it buckle under the weight of its own ambition?
Set during the Three Kingdoms era, you play as a nameless warrior who gets caught in the chaos. After fighting off foes to save a young boy, you learn that warring factions are hunting a magical elixir that will grant immortality. Due to this, you must team with historical icons to defeat corrupted enemies and stop China from plunging into a dark future. The game delivers its narrative through cutscenes and conversations with characters. While these are often cinematic, they struggle to deliver an engaging tale with emotional investment, instead serving as a set-up for the next action set piece.
Combat is central to the adventure. Although similar to Sekiro and Nioh, the flow and tempo differ, making this feel unique. Parrying is pivotal and without mastering this, you’ll struggle even at the early stages of the game. Attacks are clearly signalled and you must tap A at the right time to parry them. However, when your opponent steps back for a brutal strike, you must also hit a direction to counter the attack. Doing so will lower their Spirit Gauge and eventually place them in a stunned state, allowing you to unleash a Fatal Strike, causing serious damage.
Basic attacks build your Spirit Gauge, which allows you to inflict more serious damage when you use a heavy Spirit Attack. This adds a nice pace to fights as you must use both to gain the benefits of the heavy strike rather than simply relying on one method of attack. You can also consume some of your Spirit Gauge to perform a Martial Arts attack, which varies depending on the equipped weapon. With range-based weapons, Divine Beast attacks and five elemental forms of magic, the combat is rich with variety.
Differentiating itself from the competition, Wo Long removes stamina, which creates a faster, pressure-focused approach to combat. While still methodical, you can combo an enemy and quickly move on to the next without worry. However, the high challenge is still present and you must continue to dodge and deflect to survive encounters. Although tough, mastering its systems is hugely rewarding. Turning an attack that once seemed impossible to counter into an opportunity is immensely satisfying, making every battle feel like a puzzle to solve rather than an insurmountable challenge.
Each area is tightly designed with linear paths and offshoots that allow you to explore and discover secrets. Items nestle into every corner, making it worth your time to fully scour the environment. Here you’ll come across Battle Flags, which are similar to bonfires, giving you the option to level up and rest. Marking Flags also litter the area, which heal and raise your Fortitude Rank.
Rather confusingly, there are Fortitude and Morale Ranks, and both of which are important when aiming to conquer fierce opposition. Enemies have a Morale level and the higher yours is, the easier these encounters will be. While a Critical Attack or death in battle can reduce it, your Fortitude acts as a baseline, ensuring it never drops below that level. The fact that this encourages you to explore and retry fights without fear of losing all your souls is great, as you become stronger in the process. However, the systems aren’t particularly well explained, making this feature quite confusing at times.
The amount of gear you collect can be overwhelming. It does seem like an endless list of items, and it can be difficult to determine which is best to use. While you can obviously compare stats, the special abilities tied to weapons are what truly make the difference. This bleeds into selecting your choice of armour, as these also include buffs that vary your build. With the ability to alter, fuse and craft your gear, you can spend a lot of time tinkering with everything to perfect your character.
The Complete Edition includes three DLC packs and some end-game content, which adds to the already large package. Even though the Switch 2 version does offer multiplayer, there are compensations for playing on the go. Although the frame rate is stable, the graphical quality takes a hit. Whereas the other versions have wonderful lighting and detailed environments, this version lacks the same visual fidelity, with textures appearing softer and environments noticeably less detailed. Assets pop in at times, while awkward animations further highlight the technical compromises made to get the game running on Switch 2.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Complete Edition is an excellent alternative to FromSoftware’s adventures. While the essence of their titles is baked into its DNA, variations to systems, such as the removal of stamina and the loss of souls, make the familiar feel fresh. Its high difficulty demands precision and adept timing to overcome its enemies, but when you learn the combat, it’s massively rewarding. Unfortunately, the Switch 2 version comes with some compromises, including a lower frame rate and reduced visual quality. Despite these compromises, the game remains an excellent Soulslike that is well worth experiencing on the go.
***A Nintendo Switch 2 code was provided by the publisher***
