Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a new upcoming action RPG by Team Ninja, the same minds behind the excellent Nioh series. While Nioh was based on Japanese folklore, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty focuses on Chinese mythology which will give it a new refreshing approach compared to Team Ninja’s other game. The studio confirmed this week the game would get a playable demo ahead of its early 2023 release date and now a new leak has detailed some of the gameplay elements you can look forward to.

As with most leaks, take this with a pinch of salt for now. Most of the details seem quite believable and the gameplay details are intricately described enough to make this leak sound real. However, someone could be really bored out there so you have been warned not to get excited just yet.

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According to the leak, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty focuses on five elements including wood, water, fire and earth. These elements play into the game’s combat style and each element type changes the way you fight. For example, fire makes the player more aggressive, water is a parrying style and earth focuses on defence. Switching styles raises your morale in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty similar to how Ki was increased in Nioh.

Morale in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty plays a large role in the overall game too. The more enemies you kill and the more successful your attacks/counterattacks and parries are, the more morale you obtain. Higher morale means that low-level enemies will flee when they see you. They will either cower in fear or run away giving your the opportunity to attack. However, Elite enemies and bosses require a much higher morale level to be affected the same way. Getting hit also drops your morale level making enemies more aggressive towards you.

The morale system also allows players to go into the area and fight weaker enemies to gain morale making upcoming fights easier. Certain high-skill attacks and abilities also require certain morale to pull off. While Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty doesn’t have difficulty setting, the morale system will try and create a balance for players.

Players can also lean into Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s defensive systems. According to the report, players can defend against most attacks in the game and depending on your weapon type will depend on how the defence works. Some weapons will transition your guard to a counterattack while others will stagger the enemy. Depending on the enemy’s health, you can also perform an execution move which is described as “very brutal”.

Some moves are detailed as fluid and dynamic. Players can jump on the head of an enemy to leap in the air. This can be done to attack enemies behind the group or even reach higher areas to take our archers that might be shooting you from above.

Outside of the combat, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty reportedly focuses on the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Ten Attendants and the story of the campaign against Dong Zhuo. However, these are reportedly only the first few chapters of the game. The leak continues:

• You can fight many famous characters. The one in the trailer who took the pill is Zhang Jue, the leader of the yellow turban army, and the Yokai shift is his second phase. He can use various spells.
• Lu Bu is really challenging, he is the boss of Hulao pass, his weapon and armour can be obtained after defeating him.
• Other main bosses include Dong Zhuo, Zhang Rang, Hua Xiong, Li Jue & Guo Si (double boss fight). Sub bosses include Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
• Many yokai/demon bosses in this game and four perils from Chinese mythology will also make an appearance.
• Human bosses drop unique weapons and armor which have different skills or effects; Demon bosses drop spells and other skills.
• Spells are based on the eight trigrams and Yin Yang. Your spell master is Zuo Ci (a famous Fangshi from the three kingdoms period), the items used to cast spells are talismans and pills.
• Weapons include Jian (sword), dual swords, Dao (single-edged sword, also includes ring-pommel dao), Zhanmadao (great sword), Guduo (hammer and the mace is caled Jili, Tie bian is there too), Guandao (glaive), long rod, spear, halberd, shield, Yue (axe), meteor hammer & rope dart, dagger, bow and crossbow. There is no rifle & cannon or anything like that, because gunpowder had not been invented in the three kingdoms period.
• Bow has a skill tree now, it is no longer limited to normal attacks in Nioh. You can learn skills by fighting characters who are good with bow, but melee combat is still important.
• The dragon in the trailer (below) is a boss in the fire of Luoyang city mission.
• The loot system still exists, it’s simpler than Nioh, but there are still various builds.
• Character creation is similar to Nioh, seems like you can share character appearance via code.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is set to launch in early 2023 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Source: 4Chan