Once I performed the open beta for Wo Lengthy: Fallen Dynasty, I might instantly see the potential. I really like soulslikes, however they aren’t essentially identified for having the smoothest fight, so it was superior to see one which aspires to supply rather more intricate and fast-paced martial choices than your common demise display simulator. However the place the demo I performed just a few brief months in the past confirmed promise, the brand new construct I performed lately confirmed a marked enchancment in so many areas that my pleasure went from excessive to counting down the times till launch. The truth that Staff Ninja has taken such swift motion on suggestions from the beta shouldn’t be solely spectacular, but additionally extremely reassuring, and I walked out of the demo champing on the bit to play extra.
One of many primary methods wherein Wo Lengthy instantly felt completely different was with the benefit wherein I used to be capable of pull off the all-important parry maneuver. Any soulslike fan value their salt is aware of how a lot simpler the daunting uphill battles grow to be when you grasp the timing and sample recognition concerned, and Wo Lengthy’s beta might be pretty unforgiving when it got here to timing. That window has been adjusted, so after some preliminary floundering round and a little bit of follow, I used to be ready to achieve countering my opponents much more continuously, which made me really feel much more highly effective.
After all, I wasn’t all the time profitable and received crushed to the bottom various occasions within the try. In these circumstances, although, it was good to have the ability to fall again on one other main adjustment: the time it takes to heal oneself has been dramatically lowered. The place I personally didn’t have as many points as others with the parry timing within the beta, I positively had qualms concerning the extraordinarily lengthy consuming animation that triggered each time I attempted to heal, which received me killed extra occasions than I’d care to confess – particularly throughout boss fights. Now the time it takes to drink up and make the ache go away is virtually instantaneous, which Staff Ninja tells me was explicitly applied upon participant suggestions. Getting killed whereas attempting to heal has by no means been a enjoyable mechanic to me, so this tweak made me extraordinarily joyful.
Past these two huge modifications, fight felt even sooner than the beta, and my choices for doling out punishment throughout it had been much more quite a few. One main one was the addition of the spear to my arsenal, which allowed me to maintain my distance when hanging at enemies, and coincidentally was very acceptable for skewering the enormous boar I confronted on the demo’s conclusion. The brand new martial arts that got here alongside it let me do stuff like juggle my enemies within the air like a Dynasty Warriors badass too, which was a pleasant contact. I actually can’t understate how improbable fight felt on this post-beta construct – smacking enemies round, countering their strikes, and utilizing spells to wreak havoc felt so dang good.
“I do must say that many of those tweaks took the issue edge off a bit.”
With apologies to my mates and coworkers who’re much less masochistic than myself, although, I do must say that many of those tweaks took the issue edge off a bit, which worries me considerably. I’m not saying that each soulslike must make me need to throw my controller right into a microwave, however for me getting my butt kicked and combating to beat a nigh-insurmountable problem is definitely a part of the attraction. With the ability to heal in a flash, making parrying simpler to drag off, and providing so many instruments to show the tide towards one’s opponent meant that, rusty as I used to be, I solely died as soon as in the course of the demo and that was solely as a result of I used to be playing around and virtually begging to be put down. Hopefully Staff Ninja will make enemies extra lethal and clever to offset a few of the modifications that made me really feel extra deadly than I’m used to feeling in a soulslike.
The brand new construct I received to play solely included one small part, however I got here away from it very impressed by how a lot better Wo Lengthy feels now than it did a short while in the past. Right here’s hoping it continues to enhance earlier than it’s launched early subsequent 12 months.
