“Chinese Martial Arts Are At The Forefront” Says Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Producers Fumihiko Yasuda and Masaaki Yamagiwa In Interview

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is the latest Soulslike game to come from Team Ninja following the Nioh duology, and we were lucky enough to interview the game’s two producers: Fumihiko Yasuda and Masaaki Yamagiwa.

Fumihiko Yasuda previously acted as co-director for Nioh and sole director and producer for Nioh 2. Masaaki Yamigawa on the other hand was a co-producer for FromSoftware’s Bloodborne.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty has soulslike pedigree baked into its blood and for this interview, the two of them told us about the setting and new Chinese Martial Arts-inspired combat mechanics of their upcoming game. Wo Long is set in an alternate version of Three Kingdoms Ancient China where the land is ravaged by supernatural forces. As a small-time militia soldier, you’ll have to fight through the various forces and become a legend in your own right. Here’s what they had to say.

The Name “Wo Long”

We started the interview with a simple question: Why was the name “Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty” chosen? Wo Long is actually a nickname for the Three Kingdoms hero Zhuge Liang, also known as Kongming (yes, that Kongming). So will he make an appearance in the game?

According to Yasuda-san, that won’t be the case, rather the title refers to the character starting as a “Sleeping Dragon”.

“The hero you mentioned will not be part of the main story. What we’re going for in terms of the name is that Wo Long refers to a Sleeping Dragon. Your character starts as this nameless militia and they rise up and get stronger, like a dragon going from sleeping to rising into the air.”

“Several Chinese generals and warlords present in the game likewise may not have made a name for themselves at this point in history when the game takes place so they’re also starting out as these sleeping dragons and getting stronger. That’s what we were going for with the name.”

The Setting of The Three Kingdoms

Koei Tecmo has made several titles based on the Chinese Epic The Romance of The Three Kingdoms. However, this will be Team Ninja’s first project based on the setting. We asked the producers to tell us more about the choice of setting:

“The reason for that is that I [Yasuda-san] really like the world of The Three Kingdoms, just that setting and the story behind it. We at Koei Tecmo games have also already made a lot of games based around the three kingdoms so now it felt like the time for Team Ninja to do our take on the Three Kingdoms and produce a new title.”

“Setting it around the Three Kingdoms also lets us depict a different type of actions to what is in Nioh. That was focused on samurai action, this time it focused on Chinese martial arts coming to the forefront as the main aspect of combat.”

The Mobility of Wo Long

A unique aspect of Wo Long compared to past soulslike is the greater amount of verticality in the game. Wo Long feature a jump button, and a dodge button and expect players to be more agile in evading enemies and performing well-timed blows. Yamagiwa-san told us more about the thinking behind the increased mobility:

“As China is the main setting of this game, Chinese martial arts is the focus of combat so we really want to bring all the great elements of Chinese martial arts to light, particularly in combat and battles. For example, the free-flowing, very natural movements of Chinese martial arts are something we really wanted to get across in the game, as also the ability to not only utilize offensive but also defensive maneuvers. Choosing what kind of maneuvers you should use is very important.”

“For example, we have ‘deflect’ which is the parry move. It is a great kind of defensive maneuver you can use. You also have the spirit gauge which is a great way for players to know just how offensive or defensive they’re being, and where they are in a battle if the battle is in their favor.”

“The jump also supports the speedier combat in the game but it also lets you explore more areas and gives you more verticality to each of the stages you go through.”

The Spirit System Compared To The Ki System

One of the latest features introduced in Wo Long is the spirit system. This meter allows you to execute powerful marital arts and magic attacks and will fill based on how well executed your hits are. We thought it sounded pretty similar to the ki system in Nioh. We asked if there were any differences between the Ki system and the spirit system and according to Yasuda, there are quite a few:

“In Nioh there’s more focus on the ki gauge which is a stamina gauge. It alluded to what attacks you could use but in the current situation, the spirit gauge is not a stamina gauge and it’s not used in the same way. It’s meant to show you where you are relative to each battle. It shows you if the battle is going in your favor and if your opponent is more on the offensive relative to you. If this is the case, your gauge will go down.”

If you’ve ever played FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the Spirit System is somewhat similar to that game’s Posture System. It is used to indicate that your character is weakening or advancing against any enemy which can indicate when to give try for a killing blow.

Wizardry Attacks

Wizardy attacks are special all-powerful magic skills that the player can use when they’ve filled out their spirit gauge. The producers told us more about these attacks and how they developed them.

“We initially added the spirit gauge to showcase the defensive or offensive maneuvers all represented in that gauge. We wanted to make sure that Wizardry spells were not overpowered, we wanted to tie it to limited resources which is what we have with the spirit gauge. It makes the game more balanced and keeps a larger focus on combat.”

“We also didn’t want players to just be looking at bars and gauges the whole time. If you have a magic bar and a spirit bar then you’re spending more of your time looking at resources than you are in the action and making decisions. We instead decided to include one easy-to-understand bar which is the spirit gauge. You have both the blue and orange colors indicating where you are in the battle and gives the player an idea of what step they should take next in battle, either offensive or defensive.”

Morale Fortitude

In addition to the spirit system, you also have a sort of leveling system called the morale system which makes your character more powerful through fighting or exploring new areas. When you die however it resets back to level 1. In the demo, the morale cap was level 20.

We asked why the team decided to use this system and whether would we be able to increase the level to higher than 20 in the main game.

“How the morale system works is that you take on bigger enemies, they have a morale rank, you have a morale rank, and defeating tougher enemies can boost your morale rank. Securing parts of the map can also boost your rank and as you raise your rank you get stronger and help players figure out how they want to progress through each stage. That’s a fun aspect they can keep in mind when trying to develop their own strategy. They make their own strategy, utilize it in their own way and find their own unique plan for each level.” 

“We also want to note that in a way, it will also tone down the difficulty for players. If you’re having trouble with a certain enemy, you can start to raise your morale rank by exploring other parts of the stages and come back and try again when you’re stronger. It gives you a lot of freedom in how you want to tackle the game and how you can adjust the game towards your play style.”

Co-Op Multiplayer and NPC Recruitment

It was previously confirmed that Wo Long will have multiplayer elements, allowing you to join up with friends to take on the challenges of Ancient China. Yamagiwa-san gave us more details about how multiplayer. What’s particularly interesting though is that single players can still partake in co-op with NPCs.

“To give a little overview of the multiplayer aspects, this time you’ll be able to have a party of three players, that’s yourself and two friends playing online and you can go through the game that way.” 

“There will also be NPC characters in the game that you can recruit to assist you. We think that this will really change how people play the game and maybe give players that aren’t super adept at action games, perhaps this is even their first action game, they’ll be able to potentially have an easier time using this. We really hope players decide how they want to play the game.

“There will also be PvP elements. You’ll be able to go to another player’s world and fight them, so we hope players look forward to that and enjoy it.”

PvP is a returning feature from the Nioh games. Yasuda says that the game is still first and foremost a single-player experience. They will however be patching and balancing the PvP based on player feedback.

Making The Game Easier

So you’ve probably noticed a couple of times in the interview the producers talked about ‘making the game easier’ or ‘toning down the difficulty’ of Wo Long through systems like morale, recruiting NPCs, and upgrading weapons.

Easy can be a somewhat heretical word when speaking about a soulslike but Yasuda-san clarified that the game will still be tough, but it will give the player more freedom on how to approach the hardship.

“For this game, it’s not necessarily giving you all these options to make the game easier. The options allow players different ways to get through the game, get better at the game, learn how to tackle the game, and discover what they feel is the best way to succeed. On the dev side, we will also be working on balancing the game moving forward.”

The Story

Team Ninja’s past games weren’t known for their in-depth stories, and the Wo Long demo likewise was quick to drop us into its hostile world. The producers did say though that there will be a lot of lore and story elements later on to keep more narrative-driven players satisfied.

“The game is mostly focused on action but that’s not to say there won’t be a lot of stories. It’s just that the demo doesn’t have a lot currently but the full game will have more story and lore to find out more about the world. You’ll be able to meet more real-world Chinese military commanders and find out how you’re developing your relationships with them. Also, there are no multiple endings.”

Partnership With Xbox Gamepass

Wo Long is significant as it’s the first Team Ninja game to come to Xbox Game Pass on the launch date. Yasuda-san told us more about how this partnership came to be and if they’d be willing to put more games on the subscription service in the future.

“Just noting our relationships with first-party companies, with Nioh we worked with Sony to make those games and in the past, we previously partnered with Microsoft for the Ninja Gaiden titles so we have a good working relationship with both of them.”

“This is just another title that we’re working on with Xbox, we’re really looking forward to working with them. Our reasoning for putting the game on Game Pass is that we want to bring Wo Long to as many players as possible, we want it available for as many platforms as possible so they can all enjoy the game. With Game Pass, in particular, it’s not just a first for Team Ninja but a first for Koei Tecmo as a company so this is a great new thing we’re doing.”

“We’re going to look and see how players are enjoying the game and then potentially consider other titles for Game Pass in the future but we don’t currently have anything to comment on that.”

A New Dynasty With Wo Long

The Wo Long Fallen Dynasty interview ended with Yasuda-san giving these final remarks:

“For Team Ninja, this is our first time taking on the challenge of Chinese martial arts so we worked very hard on the combat of the game. We feel we got the backbone for the game complete, that’s what you’re seeing in the demo. We hope that you all enjoy the demo and look forward to seeing your reactions We’ll take any fan feedback into consideration moving forward toward the final release of the game.”

With both Yusuda and Yamagiwa at the helm, Wo Long is the latest in a long line of excellent soulslike games and it seems likely to not only continue this legacy but innovate on it. The greater mobility imbued in Chinese martial arts, and the great freedom to approach the challenge of the game in a way that makes it easier for the player to show a great amount of flexibility could lead to a very unique experience.

The dynasty may have fallen but from what we’ve seen so far, a dragon is going to rise.

Wo: Long Fallen Dynasty will launch for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in early 2023. The pictures used in this interview were taken from the official Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty website.

For more information on Wo Long, check out our thoughts in the now-released preview demo.