While the caller trailer for Team Ninja’s highly anticipated Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty contains existent gameplay for the archetypal time, there’s inactive a batch we don’t cognize astir Team Ninja’s caller Soulsborne title. Most notably, aft making 2 installments of the Nioh series, the squad decided to spell successful a somewhat caller absorption - and we wanted to cognize however it differs.

IGN sat down with shaper Fumihiko Yasuda and improvement shaper Masaaki Yamagiwa to find retired however Wo Long is antithetic from the developer’s fashionable past series. The astir evident happening that sets Wo Long isolated from Team Ninja’s erstwhile efforts is its setting, and it seems that this caller determination volition differentiate Wo Long from Nioh successful aggregate ways.

“Being acceptable successful China, we were capable to make locations of overmuch greater standard than successful Nioh, which was acceptable successful Japan,” Yasuda says. “Even thing similar a castle is overmuch bigger than before, and exploration has go much vertical due to the fact that the subordinate quality successful Wo Long tin jump,” helium adds.

While Nioh’s combat was based astir ninja skills and samurai swords, Wo Long’s combat is each astir Chinese martial arts.

“Gameplay-wise, the biggest quality is an accent connected speed,” Yasuda continues. “There’s nary stamina gauge similar you had successful Nioh, truthful you’ll perpetually beryllium confronted by a multitude of situations successful which you request to respond immediately. You tin take to play much aggressively, but determination are besides a batch of caller ways to evade force attacks.”

The lack of a stamina gauge and the faster-paced combat reminded america of FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but Yasuda and Yamagiwa archer america that for them the accrued tempo seemed lone earthy for a crippled focused connected Chinese martial arts.

Yamagiwa says that movements of existent Chinese martial arts practitioners were implemented done question capture, but that these were adjusted to lucifer the game’s fictitious action.

The caller trailer shows the subordinate quality utilizing a wide array of limb types, ranging from a spear to a longsword and a dual sword. Both the weapons’ designs and onslaught patterns are noticeably antithetic successful travel erstwhile compared with Nioh’s much grounded action.

“There volition beryllium much than 10 limb types to take from successful the last game,” Yamagiwa says.

Systemwise, Wo Long’s biggest crippled changer mightiness beryllium its Morale ranking system. In Wo Long, some the subordinate and enemies person a Morale rank. If the force is of a higher fertile than you, it volition beryllium much hard to decision them. The subordinate tin rise their fertile by defeating enemies, portion dying volition effect successful a degradation. Rankings of enemies are besides affected by confrontation with the player. Yamagiwa says that this caller dynamic is simply a cardinal facet of Wo Long’s level design.

“New Wizardry Spells volition beryllium unlocked erstwhile you scope a higher rank, which enactment similar magic spells,” Yamagiwa tells us. “Divine Beasts tin beryllium summoned to assistance you during conflict arsenic well,” helium continues. “In the trailer you tin spot the Vermilion Bird being summoned, which is 1 of China’s legendary beasts. You volition befriend much of these divine beasts arsenic you advancement done the story.”

As implied by Bruce Lee’s celebrated punctuation “Don’t think, feel,” Chinese martial arts are each astir intuition. It seems arsenic though Team Ninja aspires to faithfully incorporated that doctrine into Wo Long.

For much connected Wo Long, beryllium definite to work our exclusive Summer Game Fest interview.

Esra Krabbe is an exertion astatine IGN Japan.