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Wuchang: Fallen Feathers particulars
(Picture credit score: Leenzee / 505 Video games)
Writer 505 Video games
Developer Leenzee
Platforms PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Home windows PC (Steam & Epic Video games Retailer), and Xbox Sequence X/S
Engine Unreal Engine 5
Launch date 24 July, 2025
It’s onerous to not let loose a heavy sigh when a brand new Soulslike seems. FromSoftware’s affect runs deep, and we’ve seen numerous imitators stumble of their shadow, not least as a result of they not often add one thing new and as an alternative riff on the identical tried and true concepts. However Wuchang: Fallen Feathers enters the fray with confidence, swagger, and a few significantly sharp tech.
Powered by Unreal Engine 5 and brimming with sinister creativity, this Chinese language motion RPG comes out swinging, slicing, and somersaulting with fluid fight, grotesque boss battles, and a setting dripping with persona and intrigue. There’s lots right here to like, even for seasoned Soulsborne followers.
Wuchang is quick, it’s brutal, and it’s typically gorgeous. It is also very grindy, repetitive, and, nicely… it is one other Soulslike. For all its blood-drenched magnificence and intelligent, surprisingly deep mechanics, Wuchang by no means totally escapes the gravity or the trimmings of its style. It is a robust addition to the Soulslike lineage, little question, and followers of FromSoftware’s distinct tackle the style will get a kick out of Wuchang, however this is not a reinvention.
(Picture credit score: Leenzee / 505 Video games)
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is a visible feast
- Sony PlayStation 5 at Amazon for £419.99
From the very first moments, Wuchang makes an impression. Fog creeps by means of desolate villages, whereas temples burn underneath greying skies. The sport’s Ming Dynasty-inspired setting is delivered to life with outstanding consideration to element; each stone pathway, tattered scroll, and flickering lantern feels intentional and alive. The developer has taken full benefit of Unreal Engine 5, creating environments that really feel layered, immersive, and lived in – there is a real-world put on and tear at play that makes each temple and village really feel grounded, even when trolls are hurling marble slabs at me.
This isn’t simply technical know-how; there’s real artistry right here. The sport leans into its folklore roots with scenes that mix horror and mysticism: contaminated shrines overrun with feathered rot, twisted idols bathed in eerie moonlight, piles of burnt skulls trace at a horror you’ve got but to totally realise, and enemy designs which might be as theatrical as they’re terrifying. In a style typically trapped in gloomy castles and medieval tropes, Wuchang stands out for its setting alone.
Later Chapter environments make full use of Chinese language delusion, legend, and surroundings to evoke a way of marvel and unease in equal measure. Mist settles over radiant swimming pools that sit beneath towering Buddha statues, flickering in candlelight – stunning. But it surely additionally reveals the directed nature of Wuchang, you may typically really feel the hand of the developer over the motion, framing a scene, blocking a boss entry or just providing an enormous vista for the attention to linger on; the draw of Wuchang for anybody not a Soulsborne fan, lies within the moments between the motion, the place you are merely inspired to benefit from the world.
(Picture credit score: Leenzee / 505 Video games)
However struggle you have to…
Between lingering on the placement design, you are going to should struggle, and fight in Wuchang is surprisingly pleasurable. Surprisingly, as a result of video games on this style could be torture. Not like slower, extra methodical video games within the style, akin to Demon’s Souls, this sport encourages aggression. A lot so, I used to be shocked within the first fights, as I waited to counter, solely to find, early within the sport, that no such factor exists.
Dodging is your lifeline, you see, and offensive strain is commonly the perfect protection. The rhythm of battle in Wuchang is quicker, snappier, and extra fluid than I anticipated, nearer in fashion and circulate to Sekiro than Darkish Souls, however with a really feel all its personal. In fact, there are ultimately counter strikes, however these are unlocked as you degree up, spending earned ‘Purple Mercury’ on a weapons talent tree – together with distinctive counter assaults, swirling combos, and extra, in addition to upgrading vitality, power, and so forth.
Essential to all the pieces is Skyborn May, a magical vitality that powers distinctive weapon strategies and abilities. Skyborn May is earned by completely dodging, parrying, or timing assaults, and so once more, enjoying extra aggressively yields better rewards. Even in defence, you are being inspired to be on the offensive.
(Picture credit score: Leenzee / 505 Video games)
Every weapon feels distinct, and also you’re not locked into only one. Switching between two loadouts mid-fight is seamless and satisfying, providing new combo choices and tactical approaches. Blades are swift and exact, whereas heavier weapons like axes demand dedication, however as you’d count on, land with a devastating crunch. My choice early on is a ‘steampowered polearm’, partly as a result of it will possibly simply shut the gap on enemies, however largely as a result of I purchased it off a panda for the worth of a sentient corncob.
Crucially, each strike and dodge feels responsive; there’s little or no friction between your inputs and the on-screen motion. In case you mess up, it feels truthful. Although sometimes you will get trapped on a random bamboo tree, fence, or environmental junk.
Boss battles, specifically, are the place the fight system impresses. These aren’t merely grotesque prolonged well being bars with flamboyant strikes; they’re multi-stage duels, every demanding timing, statement, and adaptation. On multiple event, I felt the necessity to rethink my weapon and transfer loadout, in addition to magic alternative, and even wiped my abilities progress and rebuilt to play with new techniques.
And visually? They’re body-horror wonders, maybe not as memorable as FromSoftware’s greatest, like Guardian Ape and Woman Butterfly, however Wuchang’s huge bads have their moments. Decaying generals and howling spirits clad in ritual armor, all unforgettable, all uniquely grotesque, but in addition all characteristic a linking theme of bony, earthy, fleshy design that makes every new encounter really feel linked to the broader world design.
(Picture credit score: Leenzee / 505 Video games)
Trapped by its personal design
However for all of the adrenaline and artistry, Wuchang can’t fully escape the style’s well-worn system. Regardless of a compelling backdrop and elaborate world design, the precise construction feels overly acquainted. You discover interconnected areas, unlock shortcuts, defeat towering bosses, and return to hubs to degree up. You may typically have to grind and rerun areas to degree up and stand a greater likelihood at defeating that boss, which simply will not die. The fight holds up, however operating the identical gauntlets a number of instances does put on skinny, significantly as you turn out to be overpowered for the fodder however nonetheless cannot fairly break the boss.
Some good touches elevate the grind. For instance, the ‘Insanity’ mechanic provides a brand new problem all your personal making. Taking injury, dying, or overusing Feathering assaults will increase your Insanity degree, which in flip boosts your injury dealt but in addition makes you extra weak. Dying releases your ‘Interior Demon’ that may hang-out your Purple Mercury drop, however defeating it lowers your Insanity. In case you succumb to your Interior Demon, the Purple Mercury is misplaced for good. Oh-hum.
You may have observed I’ve not but actually talked about with the protagonist is and what Wuchang is all about, as a result of, largely, it by no means feels that essential. For the document, you play as Bai Wuchang, a talented feminine pirate warrior. She begins the sport troubled by the unusual Feathering curse and amnesia, and… that’s type of the place her arc stalls. Characters you meet trace at better lore and previous conflicts, a misplaced sister, however Wuchang herself is a silent vessel, a Chad-appealing clean canvas to decorate up in an array of bizarre and revealing armours.
(Picture credit score: Leenzee /. 505 Video games)
Extra of the identical
Fallen Feathers works onerous to outline its personal id. It’s set in a recent interval, it faucets into wealthy folklore, and it presents quicker, extra aggressive fight than its friends, sitting someplace between Sekiro and Ninja Gaiden Black. Its use of Unreal Engine 5 is not any gimmick both; the sport is technically stable, superbly designed, and largely freed from efficiency hiccups on trendy methods (I am enjoying on a base PS5, and it is a easy expertise, thus far).
And but, pluck the feathers, so to talk, and what stays is a really acquainted skeleton. Bonfire-equivalents, dying penalties, restricted therapeutic, environmental storytelling, threat and reward; these are well-trodden mechanics that the sport not often subverts. In case you’ve performed Lies of P, Sekiro, or Nioh 2, you’ll know the rhythm by coronary heart.
That’s to not say it doesn’t ship. The moment-to-moment gameplay and fight are wonderful, and the deal with aggressive, magic-boosting assaults lends Wuchang a definite really feel; one thing followers of the style will love. However for gamers craving one thing that breaks the mould, or tells a extra gripping private story, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers simply fails to fly.
(Picture credit score: Leenzee / 505 Video games)
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