Crouching Dragon: Fallen Dynasty Always going to be one of the most interesting games of 2023, even in a year as stacked as this one. It’s the next game from Team Ninja, the makers of Nioh and Ninja Gaiden, so game mechanic freaks like me are always intrigued.
But for the general gaming public who are usually put off by mechanically-intensive action games of the same genre, Crouching Dragon might not even be on their radar. Except, of course, that it was released on Game Pass on day one.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Game Pass is the “Trojan horse” that Wolong entered the homes of many new players. Some may be curious about Souls-like games but have never set foot in them, others may be attracted by the flashy combat and Three Kingdoms setting.
This is a major part of what makes Crouching Dragon one of the most fun games in the genre, as it’s a chance to see what concessions (if any) were made to invite all of these potential players to stick around .
After about five hours of Crouching Dragon, Team Ninja is smart at designing challenging combat, rewarding gameplay, and giving new players a bunch of new options to help them understand why this particular genre is so lovable .
Just like Elden Ring added the option to summon an AI companion to help players through the most challenging moments (even if many newcomers miss it initially), Crouching Dragon is taking a similar approach. In every mission I’ve played, I’ve had an ally with me almost the entire time.
There are narrative reasons for who joins you and why, but gameplay implications are more relevant here. The obvious benefit of having others fight alongside you is that you won’t be easily outnumbered. It also allows you to move around the environment more freely, since ambushes and traps are less likely to end your run.
Pulling the aggro away from you buys you time to heal or catch your breath, all included in the set. But even beyond the standard benefit of not being alone, your allies’ fighting styles can make for some unique pairings.
The faster, saber-wielding buddy behaved differently than the slower, hammer-wielding savage. In a way, the game is almost teasing the other weapons and combat opportunities you might use, but even just playing around with these differences in approach can lead to more varied encounters. For example, if you have a heavy hitter, you’re free to be the nimble glass cannon.
You can also replace the long list of recruitable allies in Crouching Dragon with real human players. Similar to Nioh, you can open the game for random players to join, or set a password and share it with friends to lock it.
Like Nioh (and Elden Ring), Wo Long is fun in co-op, but don’t expect to offer the same level of quality of life as Destiny 2. But there are more options than humans and AI partners.
Adding a jump button gave Team Ninja’s level designers the freedom to inject more verticality into the levels, as well as a lot more freedom with the layering and complexity of each level. This creates more opportunities for you to observe and reflect on your approach. It helps aggressive players find combat, but it works better against stealthy players.
Stealth is far more important in Crouching Dragon than any other Team Ninja item. It’s cliché at this point, but yes, the approach is similar to Elden Ring’s – or even Sekiro’s.
You can’t crouch, but you can walk slowly and surprise your enemies. Depending on your strength, you might not kill them outright, but sneak attacks can still do significant damage. If you really want to be sneaky, you can go one step further and assign a stat that will make it harder for enemies to notice you.
You can also feel the effect in real time, seeing how long it takes for the upper warning bar to fill up as you approach neutral enemies. While this is a pre-release, I’ve seen situations where I should have been clearly seen by enemies, but my high stealth stats kept them from noticing.
It’s fun, but it’s definitely a path you can go down if you want to. Later, you’ll gain spells that make you completely invisible to enemies. Like Nioh, these are useful if you need to get back to where you died without having to go through every grunt along the way, or let you quickly and easily jump to a certain part of a level (such as a boss fight) Fast, with little resistance.
With AI companions, extensive stealth options, and the design of the levels themselves, I can see more players finding it easier to drive Crouching Dragon than any other Souls-like game.
It’s still a challenging game, and some may not stick with it because of it, but those willing to stop halfway and invest some time in learning the intricacies of its gameplay will be rewarded with satisfying combat and all-around rewards . Feeling cool is so important.
Crouching Dragon: Fallen Dynasty will be available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on March 3.
