Highlights

  • Team Ninja's Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty leans on its experience from previous Soulslike games to create what is arguably its best one yet.
  • Fans are hoping for a Ninja Gaiden Soulslike game that incorporates the franchise's DNA, delivering something like the parry-focused gameplay of titles like Sekiro.
  • Wo Long's opening moments draw comparisons to the intense and skill-checking start of the Ninja Gaiden series, making it clear why a Ninja Gaiden Soulslike would be a great fit.

The release of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty represents the culmination of Team Ninja's combined experience over the last several years crafting compelling Soulslikes, taking ideas from each of its previous attempts (both Nioh games, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin) to craft what is perhaps the company's best Soulslike to-date. While the trailers for Team Ninja's latest title, this year's Rise of the Ronin, indicate that the game has plenty of the studio's trademarks intact, what's not known is whether the title is another Soulslike in the same vein as Wo Long. With four excellent Soulslikes that have carved out their own specific niche within the genre, it's time for Team Ninja's flagship franchise to make a return. Players need a Ninja Gaiden Soulslike.

The last official game in the Ninja Gaiden franchise was 2012's Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, and since then, the series has essentially been limited to ports and remasters of the first two games in the series' now-classic character-action revival. Not only is the Ninja Gaiden franchise a perfect fit for the Soulslike genre, but it shares so much DNA with both Wo Long and Nioh that it would practically be a no-brainer for Team Ninja to revive the franchise. Many compared Wo Long to Team Ninja's attempt at crafting Sekiro, but a Ninja Gaiden Soulslike could take that premise to its logical conclusion.

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty Elden Ring Comparison
Related
Comparing Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty to Elden Ring

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty stacks up pretty well against most other Soulslikes, but comparing it to Elden Ring is a completely different matter.

Ninja Gaiden Might Be the Perfect IP for a Parry-Heavy Soulslike

Every game in the Soulsborne/Soulslike subgenre of Action-RPGs tends to feature a parry mechanic that rewards players for deflecting enemy attacks just before they land, but few games revolve their entire gameplay around it in the same way that both FromSoftware's Sekiro and Team Ninja's Wo Long do. In both of these titles, the player is essentially locked into a very specific playstyle where they must learn the correct observational and reactionary technique to counter the different possible attack types that come their way, and mastering the timing for the parry window is a must if players hope to see the end credits.

Interestingly, Ninja Gaiden's character-action trilogy from the 6th and 7th console generations also featured a parry mechanic long before they became commonplace in action games. Just last year there were several games released that incorporated an unexpected parry mechanic where their respective franchises otherwise wouldn't normally feature one, with Resident Evil 4's remake being the primary game that comes to mind. Now that players are more used to the idea of parrying enemy attacks and Team Ninja has already made a game with parrying as the central focus, the prospect of a Sekiro-like purely focused on intricate swordplay and nuanced combat in the Ninja Gaiden universe sounds like a dream match-up.

Wo Long Carries the Spirit of 2004's Ninja Gaiden in its Opening Moments

Much like the Ninja Gaiden reboot from 2004 (which would later re-release as both Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden Sigma), Wo Long drops players right into the heat of battle in the game's introductory tutorial. After working their way through several different combat scenarios that teach players the primary mechanics at work in Wo Long's gameplay, players make their way to a devastatingly brutal tutorial boss that acts as a true trial-by-fire. It's hard not to immediately draw comparisons to Ninja Gaiden's notorious battle against Master Murai and his skill-checking tutorial boss battle.

Beyond these comparisons, Wo Long's inclusion of human AI companions, a mix of natural and supernatural threats, and show-stopping boss battles that push player skill to its absolute limit all combine to beg the question as to why Team Ninja has yet to revive Ninja Gaiden as a Soulslike. All the requisite elements are there, and the recent release of Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection shows that both fans and Koei Tecmo still have interest in the franchise. Perhaps after Rise of the Ronin, Team Ninja has a surprise in store for fans of both Ryu Hayabusa's adventures and Soulslikes.