Why Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty has "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam

Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo's latest soulslike action role-playing game, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, is easily one of the best offerings of 2023 so far, at least in terms of gameplay, combat mechanics, and progression systems. It is a great title that furthers the developer's already established soulslike portfolio with games like those in the Nioh series.

The new title has garnered mostly glowing reviews from critics, with the general consensus being that Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is one of Team Ninja's best works, which bolsters the studio's legacy.

However, at the of writing this article, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty currently has "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam. There are more than 6,500 responses associated with the game on Steam, out of which just a fraction (roughly 37%) are positive.

This is absolutely bizarre for a game that on most fronts is basically a straightforward single-player action RPG offering and a rather good one at that. At first, it might seem like a run-of-mill review bombing situation, which isn't something new on Steam; however, there's much more to it than meets the eye.

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What are the possible reasons for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty's "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty has a higher-than-average metascore, 82, on Metacritic. This makes Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo's latest soulslike action role-playing game one of the most critically well-received titles of 2023. However, when it comes to user reviews, particularly the ones on Steam, those seem to suggest this title isn't doing well. That platform features just 37 positive reviews for this game.

The game's store page on Steam (Image via Valve, Steam)

The negative reception of the game's PC version can be attributed to one huge shortcoming of the title: not having a properly functioning PC port.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty's computer version is anything but acceptable in its current state. Although the game isn't anywhere close to the condition Wild Hearts is in, another one of Koei Tecmo's latest action RPGs of 2023, it is still not in a shape that will please computer gamers. This is why the title has "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam.

The issues in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty include frequent framerate drops, FPS being tied to game physics — which reduces game speed if your PC isn't capable of pushing the target framerate — uneven frame pacing, and the universally despised shader compilation stutters. The game also sees frequent crashing problems and is not at all optimized to be played on a keyboard and mouse.

PC ports have never been Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo's strong suit. Games like Nioh, Nioh 2, and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin — the most recent titles developed by the former studio (before Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty) — have severe performance issues on computers. However, gamers seem to think that is no excuse for releasing a "half-baked" PC port and charging full price for it.

Hopefully, Team Ninja can patch the game to an acceptable state in the near future since, underneath all the title's technical shortcomings, it is a well-crafted and exceptional soulslike experience that fans of the genre should definitely not miss out on. This was mentioned in our Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty review as well.