I'm taking off my shirt to go nunchuck mode and feed swords to a panda in Wo Long 2, Team Ninja's unique blend of Sekiro and Dynasty Warriors

I've just slain a dragon by air-parrying it into the ground and impressed my new boss, Liu Bei – Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember's original but familiar take on the Chinese warlord many of us have come to know across years playing Dynasty Warriors. Set in the same period, in the run-up to the Three Kingdoms conflict, this supernatural take on real warfare sees Liu Bei offering to complete the rest of the mission at my side as he directs me to a bridge to tackle the mission's battlefield, which is scoped like a miniature open world of its own. I immediately take off my shirt, grab some nearby nunchuck-like flails, and prepare to unleash a can of demon whup-ass.

Developed by Team Ninja, it'd be easy to see Wo Long as the Chinese history equivalent of Nioh's equally supernatural take on Japanese history – the developer's Dynasty Warriors to their Samurai Warriors. Especially as, just like Nioh 3, Wo Long 2 is a sequel that shrugs off tighter mission design in pursuit of more open action. Yet, while the DNA they share is obvious – from brutal combat to a horde of loot with detailed stats and buffs – Wo Long and Nioh feel incredibly different to play. Even though both these recent entries are more open, the approach they take is very different. Through my hands-on spending a couple of hours in one large mission, I grow to really appreciate and love how Wo Long 2 sets itself apart from all Team Ninja has done before, while still feeling like a natural evolution from the master of action game development.

Demonic warfare

In the mission I get to play, Wo Long 2's open world puts much more emphasis on the feeling that I'm actually fighting through a contested battlefield as I help push Liu Bei's forces toward Cao Cao's fortress by spinning my flails. From enemy camps to a village in danger, and even a fight up to an occupied shrine, conflict is around every corner.

Though there's a Soulslike level-up mechanic, Wo Long 2 sees the return of the first game's morale system that has you gaining additional, mission-specific boosts to both your and your allies' stats. While it's possible to rush headlong into danger and, most likely, get shredded by enemies with morale far higher than yours, canny navigation of conflicts can see you erecting banners, clearing enemy camps, and completing snappy sidequests to increase your faction's hold on the No Man's Land, while reducing enemy morale in turn.

Be slain, and you'll lose accrued morale levels and your unspent experience points in Soulslike fashion, with one chance to reclaim them. However, these battlefield bonuses will remain, each sub-region affecting your overall minimum amount of morale while also raising the cap, pushing momentum in your favor. It goes a long way to taking the sting out of failure to know your forces are holding position.

While some of these control points are obvious (and can be added to the map if you find enemy strategy maps), some are less so, such as routing out hidden supernatural creatures. Along the way, enemy drops and big shiny chests hide more loot that can further push your advantage, though I keep the wrestler armor type active at all times so foes can see my sweat drip as I box their ears with a flail to the face.

In a way, this battlefield structure does nod to the likes of Dynasty Warriors, but I'll flag that these missions are conquerable through methodic play – once you push forward, enemies won't be claiming their morale back. You'll only be risking losing some of your own if you fall but, even then, you can earn more quite easily over a few respawning encounters.

With several routes to my ultimate goal, there's plenty of points of interest along the way and reasons to explore off the beaten track. One diversion has me clearing an enemy camp on the walls of ancient ruins, which allows me to raise a banner to control the battlefield, deploy a commander to it for a further boost, and kick down some ladders to create shortcuts.

Then, I'm able to optionally descend within the ruins to slay supernatural beasts, which both unlocks a path to a massive chest of shiny, multi-colored loot, and allows me to kill a mini-boss beastie which then boosts my army's morale even further. Elsewhere, I can find baby panda creatures that I can feed my unwanted equipment to in exchange for a new accessory of similar rarity before it has a well-earned snooze. Trading a sword I've outgrown for a new belt buckle is very fashion forward, and the kind of upcycling I could use in my real life.

The ancient ruins chunk of map on the other side of the woods can be avoided if I instead worm my way through to another exit, battling up a tower that spirals upward to give alternative access to the enemy fortress, enabling me to outflank the gates and allow more of my army to penetrate within. Fast travel can be used at any time to jump between banners, making it easy to hop around (though not every checkpoint can be used to level-up and deploy allies).

Two weapons can be equipped at a time, making it worthwhile to score those chunky chests. Even though I love the fast-strikes of my nunchuck-style weapons for throwing enemies off balance, I can supplement that with my longer-reaching spear when the situation demands. On top of that, elemental magic can add buffs to my equipment, or simply allow me to hurl fireballs and icicles at enemies to keep the pressure up at distance. Separately, martial arts skills can be dropped using Spirit energy mid-combo to deliver strikes that will batter an enemy's stagger bar, softening them up for delightfully extra finisher moves.

Spirit, is, essentially, Wo Long 2's stamina system, but rather than be a single bar that refills, it's always represented as a push-pull line with neutral being in the middle. Land clean hits, and it'll fill up in your favor with a blue color, but give too much ground and it'll drop in the other direction, turning red and putting you at risk of being staggered. You can even use special abilities to put yourself deep in the red if you're confident enough you can earn the Spirit back without being knocked about – but you have to be careful not to write a check you can't cash.

Big gains can be made to this meter by parrying and deflecting enemy strikes, which repositions you and the enemy as you redirect incoming blades (you can even punt demonic minions like footballs with an ability upgrade) – there's a sense of finesse to some of Wo Long 2's toughest battles that reminds me of the action in Sekiro. Though, while the first game very much felt like Team Ninja's take on that game, there are more options in combat this time around.

Spirit is one of Wo Long's most inventive systems, and it really helps to sell each individual fight as one where momentum really matters, building on the morale that underscores each mission. By chipping away at the whole battlefield, you can feel the odds shift in your favor as you loop back to previously deadly looking encounters to discover you and your allies can now take your revenge much more easily.

At times, the wider spaces do result in me jogging for a fair bit before getting back into the action. And, it feels like the parries that defined success in the first Wo Long are less vital here, with you and your allies surrounding enemies with big sticks often being perfectly viable instead. Even so, I'm impressed with how distinct Wo Long 2 manages to feel, not only as a 'masocore' Soulslike, but as an entry in Team Ninja's impressive gaming catalog. Despite Nioh's relative success, the original Wo Long felt like an underrated gem – but Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember has what it takes to burn brightly.

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