Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty will not have difficulty options

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty will only have one difficulty level.

As with Team Ninja’s previous Nioh games, Wo Long is a Soulslike game that thrives on challenge. Many gamers subsequently find the games to be too difficult and inaccessible.

Speaking to MP1st, producer Masaaki Yamagiwa defended Team Ninja’s decision to stick with one difficulty.

“We think it’s ‘nice’ to have difficulty set so everyone has the same experience of overcoming a really intense obstacle and they all have that sense of accomplishment, like I did. But the caveat is giving players all different ways they can do that,” he said.

“It’s really important to keep the challenge the same and give players different ways to overcome it. Wo Long is by no means an easy game, but we’re working to give players as much freedom and agency to play it. as they wish, overcoming obstacles in their own way.”

Yamagiwa notes the options given to players to play in their own way.

For example, the game features a morale system where players get stronger as they kill enemies and can then choose which enemy’s morale level to face next.

There’s also online multiplayer, where players can summon friends to help out, as well as level up like in RPGs.

“We’re really giving players their own ways to tackle all of these things, it’s really important to Wo Long’s game design,” Yamagiwa said.

While Dark Souls games have long been criticized for their lack of difficulty and accessibility options, the open-world design and variety of playstyles in FromSoftware’s Elden Ring was seen as a positive step forward.

Still, players yearn for an accessible Soulslike.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is due out next year for PlayStation and Xbox consoles, as well as PC. Also check out Martin’s impressions of the game.