Don't expect any difficulty options in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is following the long tradition of difficult games not having any difficulty options.

It's a tale as old as time by this point, but difficult games, whether they be Dark Souls, Nioh, or an indie trying its own thing, often don't have any kind of difficulty options. Which isn't even touching on the related but separate issue of accessibility options. And now, Wo Long's producer Masaaki Yamagiwa has explained the decision behind not having any difficulty options in a recent interview.

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Speaking to MP1st, Yamagiwa said "We're thinking it's 'good' to have one set difficulty so that everyone has the same experience of overcoming a really intense obstacle and they all have that feeling of achievement, like I did it. But the caveat there is giving players all different ways that they can do that."

Though Yamagiwa did also point out how there are some options for players to customise their playing experience. "One thing that comes to mind is the morale system. You have a morale rank and as you keep increasing it you get stronger and you can use that to choose which enemies to fight, or raise it up so you can take on a harder enemy and maybe they’ll be a little bit easier now that you’re stronger."

Yamagiwa also noted how online play is an option, so you'll be able to take bosses on as a group, and obviously you can level your character up, though that isn't exactly a difficulty option.

Wo Long might not have any difficulty options, but according to our own Dom Peppiat, the Game Pass hit-in-waiting seems like it's set to be the best of Nioh, and might have a bit of coincidental Elden Ring DNA in there too. It doesn't have a release date just yet, but Wo Long is expected to release sometime in 2023 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.