WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers Review (PS5) – Hit And Myth

Whilst I may not have any formal education or degree in ancient Asian mythologies and history, I do like a nice retelling, or reimagining, of one every now and then. Suikoden being my favourite example, as well as Wukong: Black Myth being a more recent iteration. So, colour me intrigued when WUCHANG (yes, it is capitalised, sorry) landed at FGHQ.

Another Soulslike/lite, however you want to spin it, WUCHANG is another hard-to-master, brightly lit romp through a story crafted around one of China’s many dynasties. But in typical Souls style, it’s full of fantasy and massive creatures that will need taking out after many failed attempts and bashing of heads on walls.

So, is it a worthy attempt from a relatively unknown developer, or has the Souls train finally run out of momentum? Will it fly high above the over-saturated market, or be clipped and grounded? Let’s find out.

Roam The Land Like A Pirate, See

As it inevitable with any game with a Souls-esque bent, comparisons will be made. So let’s get one right out there: WUCHANG does the whole “less is more” thing by not giving us very much story to go on.

We, the player, are Bai Wuchang (not capitalised), a pirate who wakes up with a case of plot-convenient amnesia. Awakening in a cave with no knowledge of how she got there, it’s not long before Bai wanders out into the bigger unknown. It doesn’t take long for Bai, and vicariously us, to realise that there is something amiss in this resplendent looking land, in the form of a disease called “The Feathering”.

Whilst it sounds cool, it’s actually quite debilitating over time. In its early stages, it causes memory loss and a few fancies feather on the appendages, but it gets worse. We’re talking full-blown harpies…

Well, winged monsters is the more broad, generalised result. But I really wanted to illicit the same childish laugh that I did when I thought up the above pun. Yes, it’s a very dire situation, one that Bai Wuchang steps up to resolve. Or doesn’t. It’s hard to tell and she emotes about as well as Mark Zuckerberg.

If that all sounds a little vague and more like trailer-bait, then this clearly isn’t your first Souls. Whilst the story is delivered in its usual piecemeal fashion, like any action-adventure of this ilk, story and progression are drip-fed through exploration, talking to randoms and being surprised by boss fights.

Die, Nasty

Now, this particular genre (or sub-genre, whatever) may be light on its story-telling, but the meat is in the combat and the bosses. it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but in broad terms WUCHANG does at least try and offer some slight changes. Not to the usual stamina-based, timed dodges and bullshit cheap enemy attacks gamut, let’s not get too excited.

No, what it does offer is a varied choice of weapons for Wuchang, and with that, an interesting skill and levelling system based around it. Akin to the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X, WUCHANG bases its attribute points for Wuchang (that’s confusing, isn’t it?) down weapon-specific paths. So rather than a simple stat-based level system from the likes of Bloodborne and The First Berzerker: Khazan, a player’s build in this is based on the weapons they use.

What that means is that players using axes are more likely to find strength upgrades on that weapon’s path, whilst those that favour dual blades will see more agility-based points to buy. It reminded me, strangely enough, of Mortal Shell: that was more specific with character builds, rather than an overall levelling system that then catered to weapon choice.

Which is both blessing and curse when it comes to some of these bosses. In standard, cheap Soulslike fashion, they’re not going to care what you’re waving at them. Game director Xia Siyuan has gone on record saying that each boss should feel like a duel, and I believe him. It brings to mind Furi, wherein bosses are individual, rather than just generic bigger enemies, that adds to the variety bowl of the overall WUCHANG experience.

Dodge This

Continuing on with the combat, I will praise it by saying that it does have a nice tied-in magic/skill attack system. Unlike most action games, and not just Souls-types, that utilise melee and magic as two separate attacks, WUCHANG has a neat twist on things.

This is known as Skybound Might, an interchangeable magic/skill attack that can only be powered through combat. There’s a select few items that will replenish it, but mostly it’s a skill-based… err, skill. One of the early spells I picked up was an energy projectile, and you might think, “Ah, I can spam that from a distance and be safe”. Wishful thinking, but also wrong.

Skybound Might can only be earned by dodging attacks within a hair’s breadth, a more risk/reward system. Once used, singularly, players will have to get stuck in and “earn” a usage again. Further down the skill tree line, there are weapon-specific boons that also grant this. But for the initial few hours, it’s a skill-based magic system that doesn’t become one of over-reliance.

As someone who prefers more parry-centric fighting to evasive tumbling in his Souls, I approve. However, it’s probably about the last thing I will approve of in this game.

All Plumage, No Punch

A quick word on the visuals of WUCHANG: it’s very nice to look at. But that’s about as much as a positive as I’m willing to allow, because overall I found the presentation here… lacking. It’s one thing to look pretty, as well as offer several performance/balance options in presentation to sell that razzle dazzle. But it’s not a very well optimised game, and this is after several patches.

It doesn’t help that the voice acting is pretty woeful too. Again yes, I’m very aware of how cheesy the original Dark Souls acting is too, but there’s only so much salt I’m willing to pinch. It could be just down to budgets, and it would be unfair to blast Leenzee for that, but there’s a limit. You’re telling me that nobody in any aspect of Quality Assurance said, “Hey, this sounds pretty lame, even by daytime TV standards”. Or maybe showing dissent in one’s product is a criminal offence in China, who knows.

The problem is that, in an overall sense, it just didn’t keep me engaged. Nothing really made me seek out any motivation for Bai Wuchang, or the surrounding cavalcade of people that need help. Nor did it really give me any major impetus to really pluck this Feathering issue.

Feathered Fatigue

Now, I will preface that this next section is more a reflection on my experiences with Soulslike games recently, but you may find some similarities.

It might be fair to say that since the Dark Souls boom, we have been both blessed and cursed with imitators. Some hit, whilst others don’t understand what makes it magic and equate challenge with just raising the enemy difficulty. The problem is, after both playing and reviewing so many, it’s starting to become a bit stale as a type of game.

For example, there’s a few mechanics in WUCHANG I haven’t gone into. The Madness system, switching weapons on the fly, the many sub-bosses that litter areas to unexpectedly walk in on. The thing is, I could, but they’re all areas that we’re so familiar with now. They’re all variations on a theme, and one that’s been a little bit played out now.

By contrast, I enjoyed Blades of Fire‘s weaponry/crafting mechanic, but it still fell into familiar Souls territory early enough. I’ll get to specific WUCHANG conclusion soon enough, but as a whole, maybe developers need to start mixing it up a bit. The Souls soup has way too many chefs in it right now.

Get Plucked

To conclude… well, this one’s difficult. There’s a part of me that wants to push through with WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers. When the combat clicks, it’s fun. Yet I’m annoyed that parrying, a system I enjoy, is earned through contrivance than just being available from the start.

I can see what Leenzee are going for, with such an ambitious scope in the design and variety of bosses. But again, it’s just the same drum the imitators have been banging over the last few years.

Again, reviews are subjective, and a lot of this is of my own fatigue with the genre/sub-genre. I’m not going to shill like other digit-based sites and be all “This is rare-metal standard” for code over integrity. You may absolutely relish a Souls steeped in Chinese lore and mythology, and for that, WUCHANG does have you covered.

For me, it just doesn’t scratch that itch. To be fair, I did give it the ol’ college try. I have ground my teeth at one too many cheap deaths, or the tired “Surprise enemy around the corner from an obvious treasure chest” trope often seen here. I just wasn’t having fun, and for all I really care for the endgame, Bai Wuchang can go flap herself.

WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers is available now on PlayStation 5 (review platform), Xbox Series S and X and PC via Steam.

Developer: Leenzee
Publisher: 505 Games

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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