Every so often, I get the itch to try a Souls-like. I want so badly to like the genre, but currently, Elden Ring and Blasphemous are really the only two that scratch the right itch for me. Part of it is an accessibility problem, but part of it is related to various other issues inherent to each game. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is a decent attempt at the Souls-like formula, but I’ll admit I haven’t had the smoothest experience.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers puts you in the role of Wuchang (the titular heroine), who awakens with amnesia and a mysterious ailment known as The Feathering. The Feathering is a curse that begins by taking the memories of the afflicted and ends with turning them into grotesque, mindless creatures.

The story interweaves a quest for survival, the search for Wuchang’s identity (and loved ones), and the side quests and stories of an array of NPCs. The world of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is set in the land of Shu during the Ming Dynasty, and thus is designed around real-world locations. The environments are beautiful, and even the more fantastical, supernatural elements are crafted with a beautiful sense of detail and artistry.

Combat is complex, involving a mix of weapons, weapon skills, dodging, spells, and something called Skyborn Might. This is an attempt to mimic a sort of Sekiro-style system where if you dodge (or clash) an enemy’s attacks enough, you’ll generate Skyborn Might stacks, which can be used to empower your abilities and attacks.

The problem I found with this was that only some of my attacks had weight and impact. There are a variety of weapon types, but it was a common issue across all the weapons I tried. I enjoyed the Longsword type of weapon the most, but even with the longsword, it felt as though some attacks just didn’t feel impactful.

On the other hand, the Axe weapon type (a heavier weapon) felt so heavy that the fluid combat slowed to a crawl. However, even when I landed a hit, most of the enemies weren’t really fazed. They would be fazed for a (very) short window if I landed a larger combo, but the likelihood of that happening while swinging around a large hunk of metal just didn’t feel feasible (or fun).

I’m not going to go into my usual rant about Souls-likes and difficulty. There are no difficulty options here, and this is just as much of an accessibility problem as it always is. However, another accessibility problem arose almost immediately as I opened up the game. The font size (even at max interface size in the options) was so small on my TV that, even while wearing glasses, I had a hard time reading the text.

This wasn’t as much of an issue with text, such as item descriptions, as it was with things like numbers for stats and other important information. The options menu in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is fairly decent, but the accessibility features surrounding text are severely lacking.

I want to say that Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is an enjoyable experience. The story is interesting. The gameplay is designed to offer a variety of options for character building too, thus intending to provide a variety of choices to players on how they build Wuchang. However, certain options just don’t feel satisfying, and with the combat itself feeling inconsistent and clunky, I don’t know how many people will resonate with it.

On the mention of the story, apparently, the developers of Wuchang changed elements of the storyline due to pressure from various Chinese government officials. I only know of this because of a large swath of Steam reviews I read after the initial draft of this review. These changes have apparently negatively impacted the story, but I can’t say for sure myself. Make of that what you will.

To be fair to Wuchang: Fallen Feathers and its developers, I am not the best Souls-like player. I am not the type to chug “git gud” juice and go take down Malenia twice a week on level one. But the issues I saw with combat, even in the early hours of the game, felt like more mechanical issues than skill-related things. Please sound off in the comments if you disagree (kindly, please.)

If you are a Souls fan, I could see this being something to snag on sale. This isn’t a Lies of P-level experience where the combat is versatile and grows into its jank. The story is interesting, the creature designs and boss fights are interesting, but the combat and accessibility/text issues are a major detractor here.

A PlayStation 5 Review Copy of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers was provided by 505 Games for the purposes of this review.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

$49.99 USD

4

Score

4.0/10

Pros

• Gorgeous Environments and Visuals
• Great Creatures
• Solid Concept

Cons

• Story Altered due to Government Intervention
• No Accessibility for Text
• Attacks don't feel Impactful
• Some weapon and build types just don't feel satisfying