Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Review

As I watched the credits roll on Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, the thought that occurred to be was simple – China be cookin’. Titles like Genshin Impact, Marvel Rivals and of course Black Myth: Wukong are captivating large audiences worldwide and earning no small amount of critical acclaim in the process. This relatively recent phenomenon has many craning their necks to see what might be coming out of the country next, and while Leenzee’s debut hardcore action RPG isn’t a complete homerun, it is a strong continuation of a recent trend of Chinese developers knowing how to appeal to both homeland audiences and Western appetites.

Draw me like one of your French pandas

I will preface this review by admitting that at first I did not like Fallen Feathers at all. It felt like it was desperately copying other titles in the now well established genre, but flailing with its execution and lacking a sense of identity. But as I divorced myself from preconceived notions (the result of having played so many of these types of games), I found that Fallen Feathers does actually have a (dark) soul of its own.

In a very familiar setup, at the game’s outset you wake up with no memory who you are. Setting you apart from other amnesiacs however is the fact your arm has sprouted some ethereal feathers. With a setting inspired by the late Ming Dynasty, you have awakened in a time of violent rebellion, not helped by the fact that a devastating illness is also giving some people feathery appendages, which slowly progresses to them forgetting their humanity and eventually transforming into hideous beasts. Rebelling against the government is hard enough, doing it with feathers on random parts of your body kicks it up a notch. Your goal is to rediscover your past, carve out your place in history and potentially find a cure for this mysterious malady, aptly named the Feathering.

Feels like Isshin The Sword Saint could pop out at any moment

I will freely admit that there are several things I am not good at, and following the vague storylines of hardcore action RPGs is one of them. Between the exotic character names and random exposition dumps given in small sprays of NPC dialogue or item descriptions, I just find it impossible to focus on the narratives of these sorts of games. It’s not a slight on Wuchang’s story, it could be fantastic for all I know, but like that lawyer from The Castle I don’t get bogged down in the details, it’s all about the vibe – and Wuchang has plenty of that. The beguiling beauty of the vaguely familiar historical setting that mixes real places and Chinese mythology is compelling in its own right, and I usually had a sense of where to go next, so the impetus was there even if the motivation for me doing it wasn’t always clear.

The hardcore action RPG genre has several kings that will never be dethroned, and they are all FromSoft games – Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring – these are all near-perfect masterpieces against which all are measured. The Nioh series and smaller players like Mortal Shell prove you can successfully play with the big boys, but you’ve got to bring your A-game. Fallen Feathers is very content with aping many of the mechanics that are staple to these experiences. You have a currency called Red Mercury dropped by enemies that you can level up with and lose if you die. You pray at Shrines which serve as checkpoints. You battle through semi-linear environments and open up shortcuts to make the going easier. You are brought to a halt by shin-high barriers. A lot of my initial misgivings with Wuchang were based on how derivative it felt, but once I properly grasped its defining mechanics the experience opened up and I started playing a different game entirely.

Extraordinarily slow lifts were an important mode of transport in the late Ming Dynasty

A lot of my initial misgivings with Wuchang were based on how derivative it felt, but once I properly grasped its defining mechanics the experience opened up and I started playing a different game entirely.

There is not really a functional block button in Wuchang (as a turtle build Dark Souls coward this often throws me at first), rather you have to dodge at just the right time. With some weapons you can time your pseudo-block to parry certain attacks, but I found the timing gauche and unsatisfying. Dodging at an opportune moment grants you a sliver of Skyward Might, which can be used to trigger anything from a skill associated with your weapon of choice to a magic spell. It sounds simple on paper, and I initially didn’t think much of it as I didn’t find the skills or spells mind-bendingly useful. But when you start acquiring useful skills and new ways of obtaining Skyward Might, plus new effects triggered by it, you start relishing each new chance to flex your skill. I started off favouring a heavy greataxe as it reminded me of Bloodborne’s spin-to-win starting weapon and staggered enemies reliably. But after getting my arse kicked by a boss a thousand times, I ditched the clunky axe for some zippier Dual Blades and never looked back. This came down to the fact that although I couldn’t block or parry, I could in many cases leverage the Clash mechanic where if I was attacking an enemy at the same time as they were attacking me I would mitigate most of the damage and get to continue my combo. Speccing further into Dual Blades allowed me to gain Skyward Might and stamina for every successful clash, turning me into a whirling dervish of spells and instant heavy attacks that decimated garden variety enemies and even some bosses, handily softening them up for highly satisfying Obliterate attacks.

Once I fully engaged with the Clash and Skyward Might mechanic there was a greater sense of freedom that made me forget the dreary opening slog of the first ten or so hours. This was greatly helped along by the fact that at any point you can completely respec into any of the sprawling skill trees, so if something isn’t working for a particular encounter you can easily change your approach and are never punished for experimentation. Another mechanic that allows some customisation is Temperance, an item that can be used once per life which significantly buffs your weapon (if only temporarily) with elemental effects by slotting in bone needles. The mechanic is fairly poorly explained at the outset (it’s not made clear that it is linked to item usage for instance), but is super handy in boss fights where you can use it to exploit elemental weaknesses.

A mechanic I was less compelled to intersect with was Madness, which you gain when you die or kill certain humanoid enemies. The amount of Madness you have dictates how much Red Mercury you lose on death, and at full Madness you hit harder but take more damage. If you die at full Madness and go to retrieve your Red Mercury you have to fight the literal manifestation of your Inner Demon. You can make builds that rely on increased Madness for various status effects, but I found it more of an annoyance than something I wanted to jive with. Again, the mechanic is not entirely well explained, and curing yourself of Madness (if you don’t want to face your Inner Demon) involves praying at some obscure altars which I initially failed to grasp (I got pretty good at slaying Inner Demons though).

Make the male gaze great again

Visually Wuchang starts off with a pretty if fairly typical Ming Dynasty vibe, with carbon-copy humanoid enemies and very little variation, but the more it leans into its fantastical setting the more beautiful it becomes.

Wuchang is a hardcore action RPG, and it should come as little surprise that it’s quite difficult at times. Mostly this difficulty is fun because you know it’s your skill or build that’s the problem, but a few overtuned bosses really push the friendship and tip into cheap territory. There is a skill check boss early doors just prior to which you are vaguely informed you of the Clash and Deflect (parry) mechanics, but without much fanfare or instruction. I ended up speccing into a ranged magic build that was slow and tedious but got the job done – let this be a warning that for whatever weapon you favour you have to be aware of how Clash works. My other main gripe with the difficulty is related to the convoluted level design and poor Shrine placement. Complex level design is pulled straight from the FromSoft playbook, but in those games there’s a great sense of connectedness to the spaces that makes navigation without a map a mostly organic experience. Wuchang’s layouts can be extremely wonky and shortcuts sometimes make little sense, still requiring you to run through large areas or take a series of the world’s slowest lifts to get back to where you were. Labyrinthine layouts can also make finding questline NPCs tricky, even with an indicator of which Shrine they’re closest to and all shortcuts opened. Despite the difficulties in tracking some of these bastards down it is still highly recommended as they can be summoned in some boss fights if you’ve appeased them.

Visually Wuchang starts off with a pretty if fairly typical Ming Dynasty vibe, with carbon-copy humanoid enemies and very little variation, but the more it leans into its fantastical setting the more beautiful it becomes. We’ve all seen forests and caves aplenty, and Wuchang shines more brightly when it’s taking risks with some of its more unique biomes. Playing on PS5 the game ran smoothly (there are reports that PC is not enjoying the same) but featured some environments that felt a little sterile, especially towards the beginning. Once the flashier bosses and enemies turn up things pick up significantly from a visual standpoint, and some of the armour sets in particular were beautifully designed. My favourite was the Centipede armour headpiece with mandibles that subtly moved in mandible-like fashion. There is a gooneresque slant to the armour design (there are a plethora of battle panties for instance) that’s unashamedly designed to titillate, but clearly Leenzee believe that if you’ve got it you’re honour-bound to flaunt it.

Serenity now

Final Thoughts

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers may not be overly impressive out of the gates, and could at first glance appear like just another Soulsborne ripoff. But persist and the game will open up and demonstrate its true character, with plenty of freedom to build and customise your skillset and exploit some of the unique mechanics at the core of the experience. Some of the level design is a little obtuse for its own good, and a handful of bosses need to calm the fuck down, but this is a competent and mostly confident opening foray from a development outfit that should now firmly be in the gaming’s public eye.

Reviewed on PS5 // Review code supplied by publisher

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