Let’s cut to the chase – if you live and breathe soulslikes, you’re almost certainly going to have a good time with Wuchang Fallen Feathers, which boasts loads of weapons, engaging combat, big bosses, and a vast world to explore. But to make an impression in this increasingly crowded genre and be considered one of the greats, you need to do more than nail the essentials. If you’re keeping your combat experience closely aligned with Fromsoftware’s games, then you probably need a setting that’s new and refreshing. If you’re sticking with a dark fantasy world, then some tweaks to the typical combat formula wouldn’t go amiss. Judging by my first hour of hands-on time with Wuchang Fallen Feathers at Summer Game Fest, it shakes up both of these areas, creating a dynamic and vibrant soulslike that still offers the expected levels of challenge.
Wuchang Fallen Feathers takes place in China during the Ming Dynasty era, but the land of Shu has been corrupted by a mysterious plague known as the Feathering. Leaving patches of feathers on your skin, before turning you into a monstrous being, protagonist Bai Wuchang is infected by the plague but refuses to give up. Given that narrative context and the prior knowledge that this is a soulslike, I was half expecting a relentlessly gloomy, corrupted, dark world. But the scene that met my eyes as I loaded into the starting zone of Wuchang was anything but.
This is one of the most vibrant-looking soulslikes out there (trust me, we’ve played a lot for our best soulslikes list). While there are dark motifs, hostile enemies, and often depressing conversations with NPCs, the actual environments in the section I played are popping with waterfalls, trees, candle-lit shrines, and beautiful temples. The area I freely explored contained a lot of verticality too – from a riverside path, I scaled some wooden scaffolding up the face of a cliff, cutting down enemies as I ascended. The view at the top was worth the climb (and the handful of deaths I racked up). There were some darker moments, for sure, but it seems like Wuchang Fallen Feathers isn’t afraid to add some color and light into a typically shadowy genre.
The protagonist, too, initially feels like a refreshing soulslike heroine. Wuchang is, by trade, a pirate, but with her slender frame and unassuming, almost friendly face, the fury she can unleash comes as a bit of a surprise. In true Stellar Blade style, there’s also a vast wardrobe of outfits to unlock for her, which I think could earn her a similar level of recognition and popularity to Eve.
Wuchang Fallen Feathers certainly gets a big old tick on the aesthetics front, for me. Sure, things will probably get even darker and grimmer as the game progresses and the power of the Feathering curse increases, but the vibrancy and variety of this early slice of the game were a welcome change.
Of course, aesthetics alone can’t carry a game to its genre’s upper echelons – combat must also be of the highest quality. While the core tenets of soulslike action (melee attacks, dodging, parrying, and blocking) are present, Wuchang Fallen Feathers decides to riff on the recipe somewhat. For example, you have a two-weapon loadout that lets you switch between them with a single button press. There’s a huge variety of weapons, all of which felt varied and satisfying to use. Each weapon type has a collection of signature attacks to unlock as you progress through the game, which you’ll unleash in combat after accruing energy through perfect dodges. The animations for some of these attacks were unexpectedly brilliant as well. For example, a special attack with an ax would fling you high into the air before slamming down on an opponent, your blade scorching with flames.
On the defensive side of things, dodging is probably the main area where Wuchang decides to alter the measurements of the aforementioned soulslike recipe. Due to your dynamism and athleticism, dodging seems to be the primary way to counter – it’s a core mechanic in all souslikes, but it seems to be even more prevalent in Wuchang Fallen Feathers.
Parrying and blocking are tied to specific weapon skills, rather than being a universal mechanic that you can use at any time regardless of what you’re wielding. That’s not to say they are worse or inferior ways to counter enemies, but from the outset, you’ll find yourself relying on dodging far more. For some that enjoy tankier, heavier combat where you can absorb attacks and prefer parrying and blocking to create openings, this might be hard to adjust to initially, but you will be catered for later down the line once you’ve got the appropriate weapons unlocked and upgraded.
The final thing to touch on with combat is the Madness Descends feature. After either being slain repeatedly by the same enemy or after having defeated a large number of enemies yourself, the Madness Descends modifier will kick in. This turns Wuchang into a glass cannon. It’s an interesting twist, especially when it comes in during a challenging boss fight where you’ve been pulverized repeatedly. By ramping up both your damage and the amount of damage taken, it doesn’t feel like a hand-hold either. It’s an alternative strategy; a risk-reward that could get you out of jail with a boss, or it could increase your sentence.
Speaking of bosses, the two I got to fight were well-designed and challenging, but I’m unsure if I’d describe them as memorable or boundary-pushing. The first was a bulky, shaman-like monster that would try to create distance, levitate, and fire deadly attacks from a huge staff. This boss required lots of well-timed dodges, and after initially struggling to deal damage, I switched to primarily using my trusty ax. This helped massively as I could deal big damage and dodge attacks simultaneously whenever I used that super jump special attack I mentioned earlier. It took me around 20 minutes of battling to beat the boss, and my heart was certainly pumping.
That buzz was quickly dimmed when I spent the final 15 minutes of my slot up against one of the game’s more difficult bosses. An incredibly fast and unpredictable sword-wielding warrior that would zip around the arena and tie you up in frustrating combos, I probably only landed about a dozen clean attacks on her. Initially concerned that Wuchang Fallen Feathers may be a bit on the easier side, this encounter reassured me that it absolutely isn’t.
The designs of both were great, and from other trailers and previews I’ve watched, there are clearly some very striking bosses. However, neither felt particularly momentous. Their arenas didn’t leave much of an impression either, despite the beauty of the rest of the game’s world. One was a small wooden room with a few pillars, the other was a shallow, circular pool surrounded by stone cliffs.
In most other areas, though, Wuchang Fallen Feathers is doing plenty to stand out from the ever-growing crowd. Its protagonist and more vibrant world design feel like a breath of fresh air, but it still has plenty of room to drill into dark fantasy themes. Combat doesn’t betray the soulslike conventions, but feels more agile than some of its rivals. And, most importantly, teeth-clenching levels of challenge haven’t been abandoned. Wuchang arrives next month on Thursday, July 24, and if the full game can sustain the quality of the SGF demo, it’s on course to be one of the great non-Fromsoft soulslikes.
