Team Ninja is revisiting familiar territory with their upcoming Soulslike Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. The release of Nioh opened the door for a new subgenre of Soulslike titles, combining the action heavy influence of games like Ninja Gaiden with the dark fantasy elements of titles like From Software's Dark Souls and Bloodborne. With Nioh, the development team took the formula to the Sengoku Era of Japan, placing players in the midst of Japan's Warring States through the eyes of William Adams and an unnamed, player-created protagonist through both games. For their next project, Team Ninja sought a new setting before landing on one that would be familiar to fans of publisher Koei Tecmo's previous work for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.
Koei Tecmo's history in gaming goes back to the early 1980s as two separate companies before their merger in late 2008. Perhaps Koei's most well-known games prior to the merger are centered around the Three Kingdoms Era of Chinese history, often using the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel by Luo Guanzhong as a launching pad for numerous strategy games as well as the Dynasty Warriors game franchise and creating the musou genre of video game titles. Team Ninja's latest venture of Soulslike games plans to take players to the familiar setting with their own unique twist to the world.
Speaking with IGN, director and producer Fumihiko Yasuda expressed his eagerness in working within the era. He stated, "The years following the fall of the Han dynasty is a setting that Koei Tecmo specializes in, and also one I have personally always been intrigued by. I am a fan of manga and anime based on that era. A game with this setting sounded like an interesting new challenge to take on." This would be Team Ninja's first opportunity working within Koei Tecmo's signature timeline, allowing the company to renew plenty of familiar history.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty - What Is The Three Kingdoms Era?
Historically, the Three Kingdoms Era is the time frame in Chinese history from the year 220-280 when the land was split into the three kingdoms of Wei, Wu, and Shu before being unified under Jin. This era is often expanded to include the entirety of the fall of the Later Han Dynasty beginning in the year 184 with Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban Rebellion as a precursor of the conflict to come. As such, the Three Kingdoms Era has come to define the time frame covered by the Luo Guanzhong novel rather than the historical era, and Wo Long seems to follow this definition.
Yasuda went on to mention, "The game is set during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. As our subtitle Fallen Dynasty implies, the Han dynasty is about to come to an end." This follows the lead of most Three Kingdoms video games that start by using the first chapters of the novel to establish the game's plot. However, Yasuda also states that "the Three Kingdoms period is very long, but we’re only depicting the beginning of it. During this timeframe, the iconic figures of the Three Kingdoms period were not known to the public yet." This focus on the earlier period can offer players a more condensed and focused perspective of the earliest parts of the era.
By keeping the game's timeline within the beginning of the Three Kingdoms, Wo Long will allow players to see the famous figures of the era grow into the legends that fans may be familiar with today from the novel or Koei Tecmo's previous ventures into the realm. Total War: Three Kingdoms and its DLC from Creative Assembly took a similar approach, starting early in the era and allowing players to see the tumultuous era during its most chaotic periods. Team Ninja's Nioh also went this route to great success, showing players the historical figures of Japan's Warring States as their legends began to grow. With previous experience to draw from, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty looks to merge the dark fantasy of Nioh with the vibrant yet chaotic world of the Three Kingdoms into Team Ninja's next masterpiece.
Source: IGN