If you’ve played the demo then you already know this, but Team Ninja’s upcoming game Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is, well, hard! With a focus on acrobatic Chinese martial arts, wielding weapons in Wo Long may make you feel like a badass, but enemies will quickly bring you back down to earth. To help you gear up for the battle ahead, IGN spoke with Team Ninja to learn about the strengths and disadvantages of some of the game’s weapon types. While Wo Long is still two months away from release (it’s out on March 3, including on Xbox Game Pass), it’s never too early to start preparing.
Wo Long has a total of 13 melee weapon types, as well as three long-range weapon types. In the gallery below, director Masakazu Hirayama explains the characteristics of seven of these, including the Staff that was first shown in our IGN First gameplay video.
“We chose weapons that were the best match for Chinese martial arts,” Hirayama-san said about the team’s general approach towards Wo Long’s weapon selection. “The motions for each weapon type were based on motion-captured forms performed by real martial artists specialized in these weapons. Then we tuned things here and there to make them feel good as an action game.”
Tactically switch weapons, or stick with your favorite?
Producer Fumihiko Yasuda recommends the Dual Swords as the best weapon for beginners.
“I think that Dual Swords feel the best to play,” he says. “I use them myself too. We have made each of the weapon types feel better to use than in the first demo we released, but I think that the Dual Swords are a great match for the speedier nature of Chinese martial arts. They are also quite tactical.
“On the other hand, heavy weapons like the Glaive are more difficult to master. Actually, I’m still having trouble with it myself! It’s the kind of weapon that demands you to wait for openings and deal a huge amount of damage at once,” Yasuda says.
Yasuda goes on to say that while some weapon types take more time to get used to than others, the team made sure that players can tackle the game with any weapon type they want. The game has been balanced so that no weapon type is too difficult to use.
Wo Long allows the player to equip two melee weapon times at the same time, and weapons can be quickly switched while parrying an attack with the game’s Deflect Counterattack. However, the game can be played without switching weapons as well. Using the same weapon type throughout the game is a valid tactic too.
“If you master the combos of a weapon type and get used to the Martial Arts of your weapon, you should be able to beat the game without switching weapons. However, from a game design perspective we do advise the player to switch weapons depending on the enemy’s attack patterns,” Yasuda explains.
As you progress, you will become able to upgrade and arrange your weapons at the game’s Blacksmith.
“If you are especially fond of one of your weapons, you can keep upgrading it at the Blacksmith. Actually, I have been using the same weapon during testplays myself,” development producer Masaaki Yamagiwa admits.
“At the Blacksmith, you can upgrade your weapons and armor in exchange for money and materials,” Hirayama explains. “But that’s not all. It’s also possible to attach the passive status effects of one weapon to another. By examining the weapons you collected and attaching their status effects to your favorite weapon, you can build weapons that are specialized in all sorts of things, ranging from big damage dealers to healing-focused weapons.”
Hirayama assures us that Wo Long has a wide array of individual weapons available. Within the same weapon type, each individual weapon has its own design, different stats, passive status effects and Martial Arts. There are also over 40 series of armors to be found, and Set Bonuses will be gained if you equip multiple parts of the same armor type, like in Nioh. Luckily, the Blacksmith allows you to separate an armor’s stats from its looks, so you can enjoy fashion without having to face the risks.
“Fans of the Three Kingdoms period can look forward to finding iconic weapons and armor from their favorite warlords too. For example, you can roleplay as Guan Yu by wearing his armor while upgrading the Azure Dragon Crescent Glaive to make it super strong,” Yamagiwa tells us.
“Some bosses drop their weapons too, which you can equip after defeating them. The Martial Arts of some of these weapons are based on the attacks of that boss, so with these weapons you might become able to perform those same attacks,” Hirayama says.
Check back in all January long for more exclusive IGN First coverage of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.
Esra Krabbe is an editor at IGN Japan. He wants to master Wo Long’s Staff.
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