With just over a month to go until the launch of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, we caught up again with the game two producers Fumihiko Yasuda and Masaaki Yamagiwa for an interview to hear about its development and Three Kingdoms inspirations.

Both creators are forerunners in the world of Soulsborne games like Wo-Long. Fumihiko Yasuda acted as the director for both Nioh titles which were previously made by Team Ninja, while Masaaki Yamagiwa was a co-producer for Bloodborne.

In this interview, they told us more about Wo-Long’s Three Kingdoms inspiration and how it will play a part in the game’s design and boss battles.

Players have been comparing Wo Long characters to the Dynasty Warriors series. What is the inspiration for Wo Long’s character design and when designing these characters was there a deliberate effort to differentiate them from Dynasty Warriors?

Yasuda: Of course, we understand that Koei Tecmo has released a lot of games based on the Three Kingdoms so far, whether it’s the Romance of The Three Kingdoms or Dynasty Warriors series. In fact, they have already depicted many Three Kingdoms era warriors so far, so we understand that many players will definitely associate with our past works.

We understand that it is impossible to copy the character designs of the previous series, so when we designed the characters of this game, we focused more on presenting the darker style of the Three Kingdoms worldview. Although not exactly the same as the previous Three Kingdoms warriors, I believe that players can probably see which character is which when they see the personality.

Wo Long is set in the Three Kingdoms. There are so many wonderful stories in the Three Kingdoms, how did you decide which scenes to put in the game? And which scene did you like the most among the ones you chose?

Yasuda: The main reason why the Three Kingdoms background was chosen as the setting for Wo Long is that we know that the Three Kingdoms era has a lot of wonderful stories. The game will still have a lot of Western players however, and they may not be so familiar with what really happened in the Three Kingdoms era, so we chose to set the game during The Yellow Turban Rebellion as it is more suitable for them to enter the setting, being one of the earliest parts of the saga. 

This is also why we chose the title ‘Wo Long’ which symbolizes someone who is not yet famous but will be one day, referring to the different Three Kingdoms heroes who are still in their early days and haven’t made a name for themselves yet. There are quite a few stories we couldn’t include since there are so many but we also hope to make use of subsequent DLC to add more.

I think the most bloodthirsty story of the Three Kingdoms is in the Hulao Pass, the Three warriors fight with Lu Bu. This part always felt very exciting every time I watched it. I also hoped that players will look forward to the Three warriors’ fight with Lu Bu in Wo Long will be presented in a similar way.

You recently showed the latest gameplay of the boss battle with Yan Liang and Wen Chou, in which Wen Chou spun Yan Liang like a flail and threw him out to attack the player. May I ask how you came up with this idea?

Yamagiwa: The boss battle was designed with the idea that since the two warriors are very famous and their relationship with each other is familiar to many players. We used this direction as our concept, and then we wanted to make an action that is exciting and meets the requirements of the game’s design. The final result is that one of them will throw the other as a weapon, and we believe that such an action can bring players great shock.

What is the difference between the design of the monsters in Wo Long and Nioh, and will we see famous monsters more familiar to Chinese players appear in the game?

Yasuda: The design of the monsters is taken from Chinese legends or historical backgrounds. To make sure they’re accurate, we had to check with Koei Tecmo’s internal Chinese staff and try to find the Chinese players that are more familiar with the demons.

In the Nioh some enemies may be from the earliest Chinese legends, but in Wo long, the base story is from China so the designs will also be closer to the original versions found in Chinese legends.

In Wolong, players can fight alongside or face familiar Three Kingdoms warriors as enemies. So we have the opportunity to get, for example, Lu Bu’s Fang Tian Hua halberd, Guan Yu’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade such weapons?

Yamagiwa: We have designed this system of fighting together with the generals in the game, so players can increase their friendship value, similar to the affinity system while taking them along for the battle. After accumulating to a specified value, you can get the equipment of the general, this is the production team designed a way for players to get the equipment of the general.

Wolong adopts the five phases (elements) from Chinese Culture, but Western players who are not familiar with Chinese culture may need a little time to understand this system. How has the team made this system more understandable when designing it?

Yamagiwa: A lot of Western culture and media have also made use of similar elemental attributes, so I think that although the relationship between the five phases of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth may not be completely familiar to them, I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to understand. What we have done is use the interface to clearly show the relationship and changes between the attributes in the game, so that they can players can visually understand the system quickly.

Could you tell us more about the responses you received from the Wo Long demo and if there is anything, in particular, you want to work on based on player feedback?

Yasuda: The development team has been reflecting a lot on the feedback to the game. In the development process, we have reserved time for this. However, we can’t simply add all of the player’s opinions to the game. There was a lot of player feedback that the enemies were too strong for example, but just making the enemies easier is not the correct approach. 

So after receiving the player’s opinions, we will still need to go through an internal evaluation process, why players feel the enemy is too strong, and what aspects make them so strong. We have to think about what way can adjust him so that players will be acceptable. We do a deeper internal evaluation to find the answer and do not just take the players’ opinions as they are. This is the normal development process.

Will the game have any collaboration with other famous characters of Koei Tecmo in the future?

Yasuda: There is no plan for this but the game has a character customization system, so players can use it to create some Koet Tecmo characters if they want. Of course, this is just a look-alike and does not mean that the character has really come to Wolong, but players do love Koei Tecmo’s other characters and they will find a way to share them with players.

Will the game be supported in Steam Deck?

Yamagiwa: Officially, there is no Steam Deck optimization process. We will announce the recommended specifications and minimum specifications of the game in the PC version later. 

Is there anything you want to say to the players?

Yamagiwa: The setting of this game is inspired by the Three Kingdoms era, which I believe is relatively familiar to Chinese and Asian players. We have done our best to present the Three Kingdoms era to players, and hope that you can enjoy the experience, as well as the elements of Chinese martial arts recreated in this game. 

Yasuda: Team Ninja has done Nioh and Final Fantasy Origin, but this might be the largest response we’ve had to a game from an Asian crowd, especially from those who came to the Taipei Game Show today. There was so much enthusiasm and players did not hesitate to wait in long lines to play this game.

I also feel anticipation for the game. Because the game will be released in about a month, we’re making the final sprint, so that the game is in an even better form when launching, I hope that if you are interested in this game, will try out the final demo on February 24th. 

We’re thankful to Fumihiko Yasuda and Masaaki Yamagiwa for telling us more about Wo Long and glad it’s done so well at Tapei Game Show. Hopefully, the anticipation will continue up until its official release.

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: Fallen Dynasty, check out our previous interview with the two producers back at Tokyo Game Show last year.