Wuchang Fallen Feathers could become a must-play soulslike game that’s not made by FromSoftware. It has fast smooth combat and a cool fresh look.
The story takes place in China during the Ming Dynasty. The land of Shu has been changed by a strange disease called the Feathering. This plague leaves feathers on your body and eventually turns people into monsters. The main character Bai Wuchang is infected too but she keeps fighting. With that setup and knowing it’s a soulslike I expected the world to be dark gloomy and full of rot. But when I started playing and entered the first area I was surprised the world was full of color and life not just darkness.
This is one of the most colourful and lively Soulslike games we’ve seen in a long time (and we’ve tried a lot for our best Soulslike list). Yes there are dark themes dangerous enemies and some sad conversations with NPCs. But the world I explored in the game looked very bright and full of life. There were pretty waterfalls lots of trees glowing candle-lit shrines and big beautiful temples. The area had many different levels too. I started near a river and climbed up using wooden platforms built into a cliff. I had to fight enemies while going up but the view from the top was amazing even though I died a few times getting there. Sure there were some spooky or gloomy parts but it’s clear that Wuchang Fallen Feathers isn’t afraid to use bright colours and light in a genre that’s usually very dark.
The main character also feels different from other Soulslike heroes. Wuchang is a pirate but she has a slim build and a kind-looking face which makes the powerful attacks she can do even more surprising. Just like in Stellar Blade there’s a big collection of outfits you can unlock for her. I think these outfits and her overall design might make her just as popular as Eve from Stellar Blade.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers looks really good especially in the early parts of the game. The colors and different areas feel fresh and exciting. It’s likely that the game will become darker and more serious later as the Feathering curse grows stronger but for now the visuals are a nice surprise.
But just looking good isn’t enough. For a game like this the combat also has to be fun and well-made. Wuchang includes the usual things like sword fighting, dodging, parrying and blocking. But it also adds some new ideas. You can carry two weapons and switch between them quickly with one button. There are lots of different weapons to use, and they all feel different and fun. Each weapon can unlock special moves as you play and you can use these after doing perfect dodges to build up energy. The special moves look really cool too. For example one move with an axe throws you into the air and then you crash down with fire on your blade it looks amazing.
In Wuchang Fallen Feathers dodging plays a much bigger role than in most other soulslike games. Thanks to your speed and agility dodging is your main way to defend yourself. Almost every soulslike game includes dodging but here it feels even more important and is used all the time.
Parrying and blocking do exist but they are not available with every weapon. You can only use them if your weapon has that skill. That doesn’t mean they are bad or useless but in the beginning you’ll mainly depend on dodging to survive. If you usually like playing with heavier builds that focus on blocking and parrying to find the right moment to attack it might feel a bit strange at first. But don’t worry later in the game you will get access to weapons that support that kind of playstyle especially after some upgrades.
The last thing to talk about in combat is something called the Madness Descends feature. This happens in two situations either when the same enemy kills you many times or when you defeat a lot of enemies one after another. When this kicks in Wuchang becomes very powerful but also very weak at the same time. Your attacks do much more damage but you also take more damage from enemies. It’s like a high-risk high-reward system. This doesn’t feel like the game is making things easier for you instead it gives you another way to win tough fights. For example if you’re stuck on a boss this power-up might help you finally win. But it can also make things worse if you’re not careful.
Talking about bosses I got to fight two of them. They were both tough and nicely designed. Still I’m not sure I’d call them super special or very different from what we’ve seen before. The first one looked like a big shaman and tried to keep its distance while floating in the air and shooting powerful attacks with a giant staff. At first I found it hard to hurt the boss but then I switched to my favorite weapon an ax. That made a big difference because I could deal a lot of damage and still dodge attacks using the super jump move I mentioned earlier. It took me about 20 minutes to finally win the fight and my heart was racing by the end.
At first I was excited to play but that feeling changed during the last 15 minutes when I faced one of the harder bosses in the game. This boss was a fast warrior who used a sword and moved around quickly. She attacked in ways that were hard to predict and often trapped me in combos that were frustrating. Because of that I could only land about twelve good hits on her. At first I thought the game Wuchang Fallen Feathers might be too easy but fighting this boss proved it was definitely challenging.
The boss designs looked really nice and from other trailers and videos I've seen there are some very impressive bosses in the game. But these two bosses I fought didn’t feel very special or exciting. The places where the fights happened didn’t stand out much either even though the rest of the game’s world is very beautiful. One fight took place in a small wooden room with a few pillars and the other was in a shallow round pool surrounded by stone cliffs. Neither arena was very memorable.
Wuchang Fallen Feathers is doing a lot of things differently from many other games. The main character is interesting and the colorful world looks fresh and exciting. Even though the game has a bright look it still explores dark and serious fantasy themes. The fighting style is like other soulslike games but it feels faster and more smooth compared to some others. Most importantly the game is still very hard and will challenge players a lot. Wuchang will be released next month on Thursday, July 24. If the full game is as good as the demo shown at SGF it could become one of the best soulslike games outside of those made by FromSoftware.
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