The historical Three Kingdoms period has been a popular game setting for several decades. In modern gaming it's most often associated with a series where the player controls a single warrior who dominates the battlefield, effortlessly striking down hundreds or thousands of enemies in a single confrontation. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty features the familiar setting, but could not be any more different. This is a tale where the lone warrior is pitted against enemies whose numbers seem much more reasonable on paper, though appearances can be deceiving. Every confrontation has the potential to end the player's journey, but fans of a specific style of RPG would be disappointed if this game were to show mercy.

The year is 184. The Yellow Turban uprising is threatening to bring an end to the Han Dynasty in China. The preview build of Wo Long begins in village engulfed in flames following an attack from the Yellow Turbans. The player, an anonymous soldier, must fight their way through the chaos after finding a blindfolded swordsmen. But in this dark fantasy take on the Three Kingdoms era, enemy soldiers aren't the only threat to content with as demons and other supernatural forces are also at play. Luckily for the player, they'll have more than just a sword and their wits to even the odds.

In addition to having a variety of weapons to choose from, players can select one of Five Phases in which to be affiliated: Fire, Earth, Water, Wood or Metal. Putting Genuine Qi points into these will have different effects on increases of the player's attributes and also factor into the Wizardry Spells that can be acquired. On the battlefield steel is a warrior's best friend, but being able to cast spells that can afflict the enemy with poison or unleash flames to set them ablaze is a nice advantage to have. These Phases are also linked to the Divine Beasts that can provide assistance in battle and also provide more passive benefits through Divine Beast Resonance. The Divine Beasts are inspired by Chinese mythology as their names suggest: Qilin, Baihu, Qinglong, Zhuque and Xuanwu.

Players begin with modest equipment but can start scavenging better gear not long after they've claimed their first victim. There are a variety of melee weapons such as swords and polearms along with ranged weapons such as bows and crossbows. Armed with this equipment and spells, players should feel ready to take on a whole army, but at no point in the preview do you seem overpowered. Enemies range from the typical human miscreant to animals of unusual size to things that may have once been human but are now otherworldly beings. Compared to Nioh and other similar games known for steep difficulty, Wo Long is more accessible. Any encounter can quickly turn deadly for players if they mistime an attack or aren't fully aware of their surroundings. Success in Wo Long is based on understanding the enemies and combat system. Knowing when to attack and defend is crucial to success; wildly button mashing won't get the player anywhere, but well-timed deflections and dodges mixed with perfectly-timed attacks is the approach to use. The boss battles will put skills to the test, but getting to these battles isn't as grueling of a task as some may be expecting.

Like any good game on the higher end of the difficulty scale, victory never seems unobtainable. It just might take several character deaths before it's achieved. The first boss is a prime example of this. Rushing in guns blazing will result in a quick death for players, but taking the time to study his patterns, master the deflect timing and knowing the perfect time to strike can make short work of what was once a formidable adversary. This is good training for the player because as it turns out the first form is meant to be a tutorial in the deflect mechanic as his second is more challenging though not unbeatable if the skills utilized in the first round are properly implemented. Wo Long can't be accused of holding the player's hand, but players who pay attention can see how earlier encounters are designed to train players for the greater challenges that lay ahead.

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Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is challenging, but from what was experienced in the preview, it's a rewarding challenge to conquer. The challenge is based on mastery of the game mechanics and learning the enemy's fighting style. The gameplay mechanics are forgiving with the deflect command, even though it seems weird that there's a designated defend button while the deflection is done with the same button used for dodging. For those familiar with the Three Kingdoms literature and assorted media, it's interesting to see this new interpretation of the Han Dynasty and familiar characters from the book. With any work-in-progress build it's important to keep expectations in check, but there's a lot of potential for this to be an amazing game even if my character died more times than I'd care to admit. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is scheduled to launch on March 3 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.