Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember Hides New Mechanics Under Layers of Familiarity (Preview)
Team Ninja can’t stop or won’t stop — it’s not clear — but, regardless of the impetus, the result is an onslaught of Soulslikes. With each new release and the expansions that trickle out in the follwow, something from this side of the esteemed action game developer is never too far out of reach. It’s a gift and curse and something Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember is already grappling with months before its release.
Even with parts from all different kinds of games, Wo Long 2 is built off the foundation laid by Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Parries are the name of the game here and make for Team Ninja’s most Sekiro-like series in its lineup of action RPGs. However, Wo Long‘s parry is more of a blend of a dodge and a parry, since deflecting physically moves players around in addition to mitigating an incoming slash if timed correctly. In essence, deflecting an attack means dodging right into it.
It was a relatively novel take in 2023 and is still quite effective three years later. The meaty clang and amount of sparks that fly after each successful parry both give the appropriate amount of audiovisual feedback necessary for a central mechanic like this; it needs to sound and look great if it’s going to be so ubiquitous. Pulling off multiple deflections in quick succession can be tricky, but it pays off. Wo Long 2 requires this kind of careful play, because chipping away at a boss’ health bar the old fashioned way would take too long without using deflections to wear down their stamina bar first. They’re not as tanky as they seem once they’ve been worn down and de-leveled via parries, a satisfying process that rewards mastery.
Wo Long 2 Has Three New Parry Types
This much was true in the first Wo Long and is still fundamentally sound, if yet slightly unexciting because of how many parry-centric games that have come out over the past three or so years. Thankfully, Wo Long 2 doubles down on parries and expands upon in ways that go beyond simply blocking in time.
Wo Long 2 adds three new types of parries into the mix: one that scuttles rushes toward the player on the ground (Insight Jump), one designed to do the same for aerial Critical Blows (Insight Aerial Skill), and another meant to redirect more powerful regular attacks (Insight Deflect), all of which have their own type of telltale red glint. The regular parry will work against these moves, but the reward for quickly choosing the more apt special parry pays off. Insight Jumps are the trickiest ones to pull off, because they are the rarest and most unique attacks, but nailing one grounds the aerial assailant and makes them much less annoying to fight against (and they are significantly more annoying here in Wo Long 2).
Insight Aerial Skills play out similarly on grounded opponents, but Insight Deflects are the most interesting of the three and aren’t just meant for red-glinted Critical Blows. Having to plant in place, spend stamina (and not get any back if successful), and press more buttons makes this more of a skill-based parry, and landing it does more damage, can redirect the attacker into walls and others for increased damage, and return projectiles back to their senders. It’s not unlike how deflecting and parries work in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, since the two games have players weigh risk and reward within a split second. It’s a little strange these parries can mostly be used interchangeably and don’t punish players for using the “wrong” one — doing so won’t yield the same benefits, though — but the complexity they bring is welcome and means Wo Long 2 isn’t exclusively just a reskinned version of its predecessor.
Team Ninja Can’t Seem to Reinvent Itself
These new parries are critical because so much of Wo Long 2 does feel like it has been copied from the first game, if not other Team Ninja titles. There are specifics from Nioh 3 like the new map and wall-running, but, by and large, it follows the strict formula seen in every other Team Ninja action RPGs. This includes the bland characters, passable visuals, commitment to ancient East Asian conflicts tinged with supernatural elements, the recycling of old grunts and bosses, and an absolute avalanche of junk loot. Even in just the preview stage, it’s possible to bump up against the inventory’s upper limit. So with a five-hour demo and 500 gear slots, that’s over one gear item per minute.
Sifting through all this trash for the few morsels of gold is as ridiculous as it ever was, since the randomized miniscule stat boosts are nearly impossible to feel; no one ever exclaimed over taking 2.6% less damage while attacking. But it’s more emblematic of a wider issue that gives the strong impression that Wo Long 2 will be a relatively safe game that adheres to an established blueprint to a fault. There are additions here and there like a mechanic that lets players assign allies to territories for stat boosts, new adorable Shitieshou bears that eat different kind of gear, another currency type, and a slightly tweaked Battle Flag system, but all of these are mere flourishes that are easy to overlook or outright ignore when looking at the broader picture. The problem here is how Wo Long 2 generally isn’t breaking from the formula Team Ninja has repeatedly gone back to since the first Nioh.
This stubbornness is promising in some aspects because it undoubtedly yields some strengths. Wo Long 2 has fluid controls and a combat system with a few intriguing new enhancements — most notable its trio of parry types — like all the recent Team Ninja action RPGs. But it’s also a little difficult to swallow all this when just about everything else is so similar to what has come before. Wo Long 2 is slated for early 2027, and, coincidentally, Nioh 3‘s final expansion is also being released near that same time slot. It’s a lot of Team Ninja and symbolic of the issue here. In a sense, it’s reassuring that there will be a few action RPGs that are likely to be solid, yet it’s hard to get too enthusiastic over titles this predictable that come out so often.
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