Verdict
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers exceeds all expectations as this yr’s GOTY-level soulslike. Leenzee finds new treatments for the power pains endemic within the style, and its semi-open world is enriched by Chinese language tradition and masterful stage design. Nonetheless, framerate drops and acquainted UE5 optimization issues cannot be ignored.
I will allow you to in on a secret: I do not play soulslikes for the bosses. Whereas there are some apparent outliers, most resolve into the identical routine of dodges and parries, a DDR-style studying curve of tactile rhythm designed to check your muscle reminiscence. The euphoria of beating a boss reaches its zenith in soulslikes, but it surely’s a fleeting satisfaction. As an alternative, it is every part between bosses that sustains me. Fortunate for me, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers seizes the soulslike custom of wealthy and numerous world presentation and runs.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers joins Black Fantasy: Wukong and Wo Lengthy: Fallen Dynasty within the rising cavalcade of soulslikes video games based mostly on Chinese language historical past and mythology. Whereas the latter two happen in the course of the perennially fashionable Three Kingdoms interval, Wuchang attracts its inspiration from the Nice Plague within the late Ming dynasty. Its protagonist is the titular Wuchang, a pirate warrior stricken with amnesia, an avian affliction, and a misplaced sister. Like Recreation Science earlier than it, Chengdu-based developer Leenzee is a next-to-unknown amount, however the pitch alone is sufficient to show its potential.
Soulslikes are historically lonely affairs – a bid to emulate FromSoftware’s moody ambiance, most of the time. Wuchang embarks on a solo expedition, but she’s removed from alone. From the mellifluous He Youzai to the genial Nian Suichang, there’s a sense of neighborhood and society right here. Usually, the enemies I encounter aren’t undead, demonic, or in any other case corrupted. They’re human; Wuchang is the monster right here. Foragers with bamboo baskets cower in concern at my method, whereas despairing girls in army tents huddle on straw mats. In contrast to Elden Ring, Lords of the Fallen, and numerous different soulslikes, we do not start on the finish of the world. As an alternative, the stakes are increased as a result of Shu is teetering on the brink.
To make clear, Wuchang is much from a status TV-style recreation. Nonetheless, its story inarguably advantages from the verisimilitude of historical past. You are not killing god as a result of a bizarre snake with human enamel informed you to; you are looking for your sister in a war-torn and plague-stricken province. It is darkish fantasy grounded in Ming philosophy and the archaeological remnants of Sanxingdui, fastidiously drip-fed to a Western viewers. If Darkish Souls was attempting to convey Western folkloric custom to the East, then Wuchang is the opposite means round. Sekiro followers can be properly conscious of how efficient this worldbuilding technique may be, and it holds true for Wuchang.
Echoes of FromSoftware’s works are endemic all through Wuchang. The voices of disembodied villagers condole, lament, and jeer at me from inside their dwellings. A younger woman entreats me to trace down her household, then dissolves into sobs after I return with proof of her father’s demise – a lifeless ringer to Father Gascoigne’s daughter in Bloodborne. Even Nian Suichang, an bold warrior perpetually thwarted by obstacles that require my serving to hand, is a throwback to Siegmeyer of Catarina in Darkish Souls. After I cross a rope bridge suspended throughout a chasm in Wuchang, I half-expect a facsimile of Sekiro’s Nice Serpent to strike it down. I suppose these flashes of familiarity are supposed to tweak my nostalgia, or no less than guarantee me that Leenzee is aware of its historical past; all it does is make Wuchang appear extra by-product than it really is.
Wuchang’s semi-open world construction strikes a cheerful medium between tight stage design and freedom of exploration. Leenzee has a transparent fondness for the often-coveted Darkish Souls “aha!” second. I’ve misplaced rely of the variety of instances I’ve unlocked a door, solely to search out it results in an space I handed by means of hours in the past. As in Darkish Souls, my notion of Wuchang’s Shu area dilates as I discover. I labour to maintain a psychological observe of paths not taken and doorways that proclaim they “don’t open from this facet,” marveling at every space’s scale because it unfolds. Then, I attain certainly one of these shortcuts, and my notion contracts with familiarity. The result’s a world that feels concurrently huge but intimate.
FromSoftware is a grasp at this impression of house, but it surely’s uncommon to see it reproduced by one other studio to such nice impact. If I am getting pissed off with a selected space or boss, I am not condemned to bang my head towards a brick wall till I lastly break by means of to the opposite facet. There’s usually one other highway to take, one which lets me rack up some level-up forex, choose up a brand new weapon, or additional a questline, earlier than lastly coming again for an additional try at bringing that wall down. Wuchang’s scale is mirrored in its size, which is frankly absurd, nudging up towards Elden Ring’s innings. Regardless, it manages to maintain itself with its assorted places, even when the enemy selection isn’t as intensive as FromSoftware’s epic.
Forged by means of the lens of recent soulslikes, I think about Wuchang the antithesis to Black Fantasy Wukong. Recreation Science wore its 100+ bosses like a badge of honor, a problem issued to any would-be soulslike fan. Wuchang kicks off with the normal FromSoftware construction, even tossing in a traditional hopeless boss battle tutorial that spells doom for the overwhelming majority of first-time gamers – assume Elden Ring’s Grafted Scion dressed up as Bloodborne’s Orphan of Kos. Nonetheless, it quickly deviates from expectation.
As an alternative, Leenzee employs boss encounters like punctuation marks. They’re a puzzle to be solved, not a talent examine to be brute-forced by means of copious trial and error. Do not get me improper, there’s nonetheless ample problem to be discovered right here, however the instances that Wuchang drives me to frustration are exceedingly uncommon. Response-based strikes, resembling dodges and counters, all have an exceptionally beneficiant window, giving the general impression that Leenzee is much less inclined to reward gamers for the pace at which they press a button, however for the way properly they reply to conditions.
The spine of Wuchang’s fight system is Skyborn May, a fight forex initially earned by means of pulling off good dodges, you could expend to execute highly effective expertise and spells. Leenzee has taken mana out of the equation fully, folding its magic system into the rhythm of fight movement. Stamina administration is minimal, and strikes me as token prevention towards Wuchang turning into an all-out hack-and-slash. It turns into even much less of a problem the extra I spend money on Wuchang’s endurance stat.
Soulslikes usually nook me into committing to my early-game construct for the lengthy haul, whether or not that is because of a restricted capability to respec or the hours invested in a selected weapon sort. Lies of P and Black Fantasy Wukong took large steps in direction of shaking off this lingering Darkish Souls hangover, however Wuchang casts it off fully. At any level, I can hop into the talent tree and refund each level in a weapon department, after which reinvest it elsewhere.
Ability bushes are a late addition to soulslike conference, ushered into widespread parlance by the likes of Sekiro and Wukong. In comparison with their compact construction, Wuchang’s talent tree is a large constellation. Minor stat nodes are the stepping stones to well being upgrades and new weapon expertise, offering latent progress with out agonizing over level distribution at bonfires or websites of grace. Don’t love dodging for Skyborn May? That is okay – there are many various means to earn it lurking in these branches.
Historically, the argument towards this freedom is you could simply spec into no matter can exploit a tricky enemy’s weaknesses. Leenzee does not simply embrace this risk – it actively promotes it. Wuchang is a glass-cannon sorceress, an axe-wielding berserker, a parry-happy swordswoman, and an elemental rogue, all in a single playthrough. The one downside to all this alternative is the sheer period of time spent in menus to restructure your construct. You have determined to drop your trusty spear and take a one-handed sword for a spin? Be ready to manually rearrange your benedictions, expertise, spells, pendants, even merchandise slots.
This extends to Wuchang’s tools loadout. I will at all times sacrifice superior armor stats for the sake of vogue, however Leenzee calls for cautious deliberation. I can mix-and-match my outfits to stave off frostbite whereas climbing up a frigid mountainside, stymy the corruptive excretions from a cave-dwelling centipede, and even reinforce myself towards the onslaught of a army commander’s longsword. It helps that Wuchang has a transmog system; I by no means should accept a mish-mash of gooner bait and bandit stylish after I’ve bought a stable Lautrec cosplay on standby.
I am as responsible as the subsequent individual of hoarding gadgets in RPGs, however for me, consumables are nigh-on opposite to the soulslike expertise. Their rarity and one-time utilization make all of it too straightforward for them to go to waste in unfamiliar conditions, and they also’re usually left to assemble mud in my stock till new recreation plus. Once more, Leenzee understands this impulse implicitly. Wuchang usually throws consumables at me from all quarters, and I by no means really feel the necessity to ration. Temperance is a direct reply for these of us who stockpile resin, grease, and comparable weapon buffs. It capabilities equally to Elden Ring’s Flask of Wondrous Physick: infinitely replenishable, customizable, with the bonus of additional upgrades within the talent tree.
Wuchang is not fully free from consequence, however failure is blunted sufficient that it is uncommon to really feel really backed right into a nook. Like Sekiro, you lose a fraction of pink mercury upon demise, but it surely’s free from the old-school sting of dropping every part in a single fell swoop. It additionally liberates gamers from the infinite loop of soul retrieval. Certain, you would possibly retrace your steps anyway, but it surely’s not a complete loss in case you’d somewhat go and do one thing else. I do not really feel a urgent want to trace my forex counter; most of the time, I am shocked at how a lot pink mercury I’ve accrued for the reason that final time I checked out it.
Within the face of insurmountable odds, Wuchang’s Inside Demon system is a breath of contemporary air. Relatively than kick you when you’re down like most soulslikes, Leenzee gives a leg up with out diminishing the problem fully. Each demise ticks up Wuchang’s insanity till you attain a threshold the place she each offers and receives extra harm. This clear-cut trade-off offers you simply sufficient of an edge to clear no matter hurdle you are caught on, then gives a quick and free method to dispel it afterwards. Certain, this entails combating a demonic clone that invades at random, besides, it is onerous to think about FromSoftware doling out harm buffs without spending a dime. It is even attainable to pit your manifest demon towards elite enemies, which makes for a enjoyable spectator sport as you watch them duke it out, then tag again in to complete off the victor. In Wuchang, even demise itself is a chance.
As soon as once more, Unreal Engine 5 is the fly within the upscaled ointment of recent recreation design. Wuchang’s system necessities are properly inside my rig’s attain, and but I am plagued with framerate drops in any case opportune moments. My heart-in-throat confrontation with Commander Honglan is beset by stop-motion intervals which have me lacking dodge home windows and counters – in an enclosed area, no much less. These efficiency hiccups lengthen to particular loading factors basically exploration, although they’re fortunately much less egregious. Wuchang’s world is gorgeous, however I would commerce all of the visible constancy on the earth for a constant framerate.
With so many soulslikes flooding the market in recent times, it is easy to conclude that we have hit the ceiling for what the style can provide. Nonetheless, Wuchang proves that there is but extra iteration to carve out from its well-worn facade, if to not the identical magnitude as FromSoftware managed with Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring. Wuchang’s myriad deviations and treatments for the ache factors endemic all through soulslikes converse to a studio that is not content material to accept a pale imitation of FromSoftware. Leenzee pays its respects, however does not think about it an infallible arbiter. I referred to as Wukong a GOTY contender final yr; Wuchang is simply nearly as good, if not higher.
