No, you aren’t seeing things, I am going to review Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty again!
I must be a sucker for punishment as I’ve taken in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty previously. But here we are, concentrating on Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Complete Edition. Given that the game was so hard it nearly made me cry when I reviewed it the first time, are things any better this time around. And is the first boss still an absolute nightmare? What new stuff is included in the Complete Edition?
All these questions and maybe more will be answered in the course of this review, so let’s pop off to Ancient China again and get our asses handed to us, shall we?
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Complete Edition still looks first rate, with the world suitably ruined by the demonic Qi on display. The visuals are bang on, with the enemies ranging from shambling corpses that are surprisingly handy with a sword all the way up to massive screen filling creatures, with all sizes in between. The design of the creatures we fight, the NPCs we fight alongside and the general world is still very good indeed. And the sound is also bang on, with great, fully voiced cutscenes and brilliant fighting sword effects. I particularly love the “ching” noise that you get when you successfully parry an attack, although I am far more used to hearing the squishy thump as I completely mistime the parry and get nailed instead!
Now, I’m not going to bother with focusing on the story as this is pretty much unchanged from the last time around. There are new battlegrounds to access at various points in the game, but these are pretty much self contained and don’t impact on the main story line. Obviously each of the new chapters has a story to it, but they happen in parallel to the main storyline and don’t impinge upon it. So, in an attempt to make this review different from my first one, I’m going to concentrate on what is new in this Complete Edition over the base game, and also in the differences that I have noticed playing later in the game’s lifecycle. So take the base game as read and from here on out, this is all the new stuff. All clear?
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Complete Edition starts with three new episodes that test us. A word of caution – these chapters are aimed at high level players, with a recommended level of 79 to try them. It is worth listening to this advice because things can be properly hard. In fact, finishing the game before trying these battlegrounds might be a good plan!
The first of the expansions, which appears in the travel menu at the Battle Flags as EX1, is called Battle of Zhongyuan, and focuses on the Yellow Turbans organising themselves again in order to cause trouble again. We are tasked with getting rid of the remnants of their forces, and the level itself, whilst not enormous, is absolutely packed with high level enemies to try and take down. In these extra chapters, we are able to meet new allies to fight alongside, and these new guys have the same amount of personality as the rest of the allies we meet in the main campaign. The level is hard, there’s no two ways about it, and while it is challenging, it is like the rest of Wo Long – hard but ultimately fair, with a real emphasis on parrying attacks to be successful.
The second level is called Conqueror of Jiangdong, set after the death (minor spoiler alert!) of Sun Jian, which happened in the main story arc. His two sons are transporting his body home by sea when they are attacked by pirates. This expansion is much lengthier, surprisingly so in fact, and has a lot of things to do and creatures to kill, including ones I hadn’t met before. You may find Conqueror of Jiangdong to be a real test, relying on recruiting allies to help.
The third and final expansion is that of Upheaval in Jingxiang. This mission is all about Liu Bei, as we attempt to aid his forces in ridding the Jing region of the elixir once and for all. Again, a lengthy expansion filled with challenging foes, this is by far the hardest of the three. It is also by far the biggest, with many sub battlegrounds to try out. You’ll really want to have your A game for this set of battles, believe me!
What else is included in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Complete Edition, I hear you ask? Well, there are all the small crossover items included from the various collaborations that have taken place. Weapons from Lies of P, Nioh 2 and Naraka: Bladepoint, which is always nice to get for free. The Complete Edition also adds three new Divine Beasts, one for each new expansion, and there are also three new classes of weapons – long swords, whips and cestus, which is basically a way of fighting by just punching your foes. If you’ve ever wanted to punch a giant crocodile, this is the weapon for you!
We also get three new sets of armour that are gifted as soon as we start, which look great and have surprisingly good stats.
There is a real glut of new content included in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Complete Edition and so should you have not played the game before, this is the edition to go for. If you want a much more action oriented Souls-like, with the emphasis on timing and learning the tells of a million different enemies, who are not above ganging up on you in an attempt to stomp you into the ground, this is the game for you. I have thoroughly enjoyed playing through Wo Long again even though it is still tough, especially now that the online community is up, running and able to help. In fact, if you find a player that can help you out, you can even play the whole game in co-op mode, which adds a whole new dimension to the gameplay.
The Complete Edition may not be a vast improvement over the original base game, but it all still comes together really well. Dive in, if you want a test…
