WO LONG FALLEN DYNASTY

DEVELOPER Team Ninja | PUBLISHER Koei Tecmo | PLATFORM(S)   PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S 

- Jose Alvarez

Games are very educational, if you think about it. Some games are based off of real-life events and the developer’s interpretation of such events. Team Ninja, who has made fighting game classics such as the Dead or Alive series and action-adventure fare such as Ninja Gaiden, caught my attention for blending historical events (with a twist) and an action RPG that had me dodging, parrying, and attacking my way to victory—and learning a little bit more about Chinese history as I went along.

For hardcore history buffs such as myself, I found Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty to take a unique interpretation of an interesting time in history: the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. While rarely discussed in schools, the Three Kingdoms flourished around the same time as the Roman Empire and was characterized by war, and, subsequently, advances in technology. You play as a nameless warrior who is swept into the conflict, with each warring kingdom pursuing an elixir of immortality. You team up with a historically significant warrior in action that reminded me of classic 1990s side-scroller fare: fight enemies, fight a boss battle, and move on to the next level.