Interview with Three Kingdom based masocore game “Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty” producers Fumihiko Yasuda and Masaaki Yamagiwa

Koei Tecmo has announced their new Three Kingdom based masocore game “Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty” on the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022, which is co-produced by  Fumihiko Yasuda (Nioh series) and Masaaki Yamagiwa(Bloodborne). 4Gamers have interviewed them, inquiring more information regarding the new game.

Below are the key points summarised：

・Team NINJA has gained global recognition due to their success with the Nioh series, and Masaaki Yamagiwa who works for Bloodborne and other global titles in SIE believes that he can fully utilise his experiences and cooperate with Fumihiko Yasuda. In the actual operations, Fumihiko Yasuda takes the role of the development person in charge, and Masaaki Yamagiwa helps in the marketing aspect of the title.

・Nioh 3 was also one of the backup choices, but contents such as the Battle of Sekigahara, Battle of Okehazama, Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi has already been done in other titles, and thus Koei Tecmo has decided to use a theme that they are very well versed of, Three Kingdoms. Though most gamers knows KT for their Dynasty Warriors series, but actual Three Kingdoms was actually a chaotic era, and it would make a good theme for hardcore games like this.

・Those who do not know anything about the Three Kingdoms will still know that they will die facing LuBu, not to mention Three Kingdom fans. We hope that the players get to know more about Three Kingdom characters, though they might give them a certain level of trauma.

・The trailer showcases the Yellow Turban Rebellion during Three Kingdoms, “Wo Long” and the player character are both nameless soldiers with the same fate and encounters. Though the Three Kingdoms had quite a number of famous generals, they were all “Wo Long”(Sleeping dragon) before they got famous. To depict such a story, we’ve chosen “Wo Long” as the title of the game.

・The general designs are blended with the dark, wasteland world setting, but it is still easily recognizable and players will be able to differentiate between different generals. Mr Yasuda wants to know which general does the players hope to see in the game.

・The main character is a nameless soldier without leaving his name or mark in history, and he belongs to no country, thus being unable to pick his faction. Like Nioh, Wo Long includes gender selection in their character customization.

・Chinese mythical creatures and demons will also appear in the Wo Long game, and the bosses are not just generals, there are also demons and fusions of demon and human.

・Wo Long utilises the same stage system as Nioh, the game is paced to be combat packed and tense, thus making it an open world game will require a higher level of game design knowledge.

・In comparison to Nioh, the biggest change in action is the addition of the jump move, and removing stances and stamina bar, thus increasing the level of freedom in movement while strengthening the verticality of the map exploration. The actions will be more intense, in Yasuda’s understanding, Chinese Kung Fu and Martial Arts is a fusion of evasion and attacking, a combat style that contains both offensive and defensive aspects. And in the game, they utilised a system that fits the said theme, where player can turn from offense to defense in the blink of an eye.

・The game has only 1 difficulty, but it doesn’t mean that players who are not good with action games cannot clear the game. Players can strengthen themselves and get better gear by defeating enemies and exploring the map, and may seek for help from other players when they cannot defeat the bosses. This aspect is similar to what we’ve seen in Nioh, but in a sense where the enemies won’t drop a lot of loot on the floor when they are defeated,the more loot oriented system but instead want the player to focus on the action itself.

・Weapons include the Da Dao, Dual Swords that links itself towards the Chinese Kung Fu elements. But it is not time yet to announce all the weapon types and amount, but it is confirmed that it has about the similar amount of weapons in the Nioh series. The well known and famous weapons for specific generals will appear.

・The action aspect reenacts the feel of “Flowing Water” in Chinese Martial Arts, while keeping the hits heavy and realistic, thus excluding fantasy movements such as hook swings.

・Wo Long as a masocore game, its main focus on the game is the relentless and merciless enemy AI as well as the great and smooth action controls. The fusion of these 2 elements will create the feeling that the players will die willingly and feel their improvement as they progress through the game. A low quality masocore game is an actual hell and torture, and Yasuda promises that he won’t make such a game.

・The words “Freed from this mortal coil” will appear when players die, and in Wo Long it comes with a different wording.

・The game comes with many new systems, and the developer team is focusing on releasing a demo version.

Link to the original interview can be found here: https://www.4gamer.net/games/637/G063793/20220608016/