Wuchang: Fallen Feathers review - too generic to be great

In Dark Souls, the average enemy is actually really, really easy to beat. Enemies will often die with fewer sword swings than your Stamina bar caps you at, and unless they’re in a group, minor enemies getting a few hits in on you isn’t going to send you back to the bonfire. There have always been a handful of minor foes that will surprise you – like Elden Ring’s infamous, bugged, bleed-inflicting dog bites – but for the most part you can see a tough foe from a mile off, and as long as you’re not being careless, the smaller rabble can’t touch you.

Every minor enemy in Wuchang is designed to “surprise” you. Oh, a slow-moving, frail old person? Yeah, they will grab and kill you if you’re not fully healed up. Insects that practically blend into the surroundings? They will inflict Blight and murder you if you’re not careful. A literal corpse in a flesh sack hanging from a pole? Yeah, that will scream and paralyze you, signaling for the Blight insects to emerge and finish you off. 

Don’t get me wrong, Dark Souls and Elden Ring alike have foes that will pop out from behind doorways to push you off a ledge, or surprise you with a hasty swing, but those moments are infrequent enough that you can remember when and where each one happened. In Wuchang, that’s every non-boss encounter, and if you dare to farm experience for your next level, you’re probably going to get caught off guard a few times.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is a very traditional Soulslike, evoking the gameplay of early Dark Souls more than later games. Bai Wuchang herself is a grounded protagonist who gets along by swiftly dodging through enemy attacks and striking back when the moment is right. There’s no jump or a Sekiro-style deflect, this is primarily about learning attack patterns and dodging when the time is right.

Using your dodge iframes to avoid taking damage is a Soulslike staple, but purposely using and abusing those iframes here rewards you with Skyborn energy that can be spent on special attacks and spells that are often much more powerful than basic strikes. This essentially gives you resources that you can replenish by playing well, and allows you to stay on the offensive with a variety of moves at your disposal. 

Wuchang gets off on the right foot, easing players through a handful of bosses of varying difficulty, and layering areas with shortcuts and elevators that allow you to speed through to wherever you died on successive runs. Dying is a bit different here too, as each death allows you to descend into Madness. While inflicted with Madness you can deal more damage to enemies, but you will take more damage in return. This is a nice double-edged sword, and means that as you learn boss attack patterns – and inevitably die to them – you’ll be able to shave their health down more quickly. 

Madness can be recovered by defeating tough foes or by allowing yourself to be killed by your Inner Demon. This monster appears where you fall once your Madness is maxed out, and will actively try to prevent you from recovering the red mercury you need to level up. It’s by no means an easy fight, and can feel a bit more like Wuchang punishing you than anything else. Which about sums up the experience of moving through the game in general. Since even basic enemies can kill you if you don’t see them coming, moving through areas can feel more frustrating than satisfying. 

Bosses are a much better experience, with (mostly) reasonably high health values and they pose a decent challenge before you learn their patterns. Many of the bosses pose a threat similar to when you first encounter a tough Dark Souls or Elden Ring boss, where each attempt allows you to shave off a little more health and progress a little bit further. It’s satisfying, but the initial difficulty level of each encounter can once again lean more towards frustrating. When a tough boss is beaten, I’m not sure if I’m more pleased to be done or annoyed at how long it took.

Overall, I quite like Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, but when I’m not playing it, I’m not eager to return. Soulslike games are a dime a dozen in 2025, and need a truly unique aesthetic or hook to capture an audience. I’m not sure Wuchang has enough of either, and the changes that are present don’t really elevate Wuchang’s combat and progression above its contemporaries. There are far worse Soulslikes than Wuchang, but there are better ones too.