Not So Long now

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty sequel Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember will release in March next year, devs Koei Tecmo have revealed as they've whipped out an alpha demo that you can give a go right away. Expect plenty of samurai sword slashing and rolling around the mythological or historical Chinese big man, plus some open battlefields to roam.

The alpha demo, which you can find on Steam, will be grabbable from today, September 16th, until September 30th. The devs have noted in a PlayStation Blog post that you'll be playing through "part of the Changban stage, utilising Chinese martial arts that blend offense and defense, traversing the Three Kingdoms battlefield where demons run rampant, and engaging in combat with legendary heroes from history."

Changban's just one of the big fights from China's Three Kingdoms period depicted in the full game, which will be arriving on March 4th, 2027. Koei Tecmo have injected the usual array of demons and creatures inspired by the pages of Chinese literature into proceedings, lest you think an era that, based on a glance at Wikipedia, was chock full of "multiple plagues, widespread famines, and civil war" isn't dangerous enough to survive without the addition of floppy killer monkeys and rock-laden giants wielding stone pillars.

The demo also offers a taste of character creation and co-op multiplayer. Folks who play it and beat a boss called Wuzhiqi will get a Fledgling Phoenix Helmet which carries over to the full game. If you want to double check the demo's system reqs, you can find them in this post. Notably, you will need 95 GB of storage space.

If you're on the fence about giving the first entry in the soulslike series a go before Wo Long 2 drops, check out Ed Thorn (RPS in peace)'s Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty review.