Wuchang: Fallen Feathers review – A Soulslike masterpiece with Eastern elegance

With Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, Leenzee aims to break into the mainstream gaming space. Soulslike titles are quickly becoming the industry trend, with various developers striving to capture the magic and essence that FromSoftware first introduced with Demon’s Souls. While games like The First Berserker Khazan or Lies of P have been phenomenal, the genre has also seen its fair share of disappointing or mediocre entries.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is one of the most fun experiences I have had in a while. In a genre that's starting to feel stale, this title feels like a breath of fresh air. While I love this category of games, the term "Soulslike" now evokes a sense of dread in me rather than excitement, as it once did.

Despite being enjoyable and arguably one of the best additions to the genre in my opinion, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers isn’t without flaws. Certain cracks show up, some of which are bound to frustrate players. Let’s dig deeper to understand why the game is a standout Soulslike experience — and what might leave you a bit skeptical.

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Wuchang: Fallen Feathers - Atmospheric, ambitious, and absolutely captivating

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is set to rekindle the fire in every old-school Soulslike fan

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers clearly takes inspiration from the old-school FromSoftware formula.

In our exclusive interview with Wuchang: Fallen Feathers' game director, Xia Siyuan, he explained that the team at Leenzee wanted to follow the design philosophy of Dark Souls 1, and it definitely reflects in the game.

Checkpoints will be rare (Image via 505 Games)

One thing you will notice early on in the game is that checkpoints are extremely scarce; you will rarely find them while exploring optional areas. This means exploration is always tense, as you do not know what dangers await you around the corner. You’ll constantly need to ration your healing items carefully and stay prepared.

Many modern Soulslikes generously place checkpoints every few steps, but this is something Leenzee doesn't do with this title. Instead, you can open up certain pathways and doors that will allow you to quickly travel back to previously visited areas after death.

While the level design may feel inconsistent at first, it will feel less frustrating once you get accustomed to it.

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Gorgeous environments woven in Chinese history

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers features some of the most beautiful landscapes and environments you can find. The game offers a variety of biomes for you to explore, each inspired by real-life locations in China’s Sichuan province. From snow-covered mountains and quiet villages to ancient temples and serene, autumn-tinged forests, every setting is a visual treat.

There are a lot of areas inspired by real-life locations around the Sichuan province (Image via 505 Games)

Leenzee took inspiration from landmarks like the Leshan Giant Buddha and the Sichuan cultural opera, which not only enhanced the environment but also set the game apart in a saturated genre.

The developer wanted to represent its culture in its product, and it has done so perfectly, in my opinion.

Even the enemies take heavy inspiration from Chinese culture (Image via 505 Games)

It’s encouraging to see games like Wuchang: Fallen Feathers and 2024’s Black Myth Wukong, which dare to challenge the Soulslike genre’s fixation on medieval fantasy or dystopian post-apocalyptic aesthetics.

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Character and enemy design

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers' Eastern influence extends to its character and costume designs. The outfits you can collect or see on various NPCs are inspired heavily by Chinese folklore and the history of the land.

Wuchang is one of the most beautiful protagonists (Image via 505 Games)

The protagonist, Bai Wuchang, embraces the archetype of a femme fatale. She's gorgeous yet skilled in battle. With the right weapons, she can cut through her enemies with fury.

Even enemies have great design (Image via 505 Games)

The same depth extends to enemy design. You’ll face a wide variety of adversaries, including weird mutated monstrosities who are suffering from the feathering and brutal warriors who have to wake up and battle these evils every day.

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Gameplay and combat

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers follows traditional Soulslike mechanics while introducing new formulas that work in favor of the game. You’ll traverse a series of interconnected linear maps, with additional areas housing side quests, secrets, and even optional bosses.

One of the key features of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is that every boss is different. You will need to change your build and respec your skills accordingly to identify the most effective approach against each enemy. This is something that I found extremely engaging, as I had to rethink my strategies; I not only had to figure out the enemy pattern but also what moves work best against them.

Combat is also fast-paced, as you get a plethora of tools to use against enemies. Each weapon has two skills: a default technique and an additional ability called a discipline, which can be equipped across weapons of the same class.

The game features fun combat (Image via 505 Games)

These techniques and disciplines form the core of melee combat in the game. You can use them to either counter enemy hits or unleash a set of unique attacks upon your foes. While you can use these skills whenever you like, spending a resource called Skyborn Might makes them even more powerful.

So what is Skyborn Might, you may ask? It is basically a resource akin to Mana. You gain it by performing certain actions, like executing perfect dodges or landing hits. It’s used to cast spells or trigger techniques.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers' combat might seem simplistic on a surface level, but there is a deep build system underneath. This allows you to experiment with your skills to find the correct combination of gears and weapons to beat a boss.

The game also features a mechanic called Madness, which is likely to frustrate many players. It is basically a meter represented by Bai Wuchang's silhouette in the bottom-left corner of the screen.

You will gain Madness when you die or kill human enemies. If you are defeated when this meter is full, you will have to face your Inner Demon.

This Inner Demon is a powerful miniboss who can kill you easily and can cause annoyance early on. Defeating this enemy will restore your sanity and give back any Red Mercury (Souls of Runes of this game) that you have dropped on death. If you perish at the hands of the Inner Demon, you will lose your Red Mercury, but it will also restore your sanity.

Madness is also a boon in disguise, as it increases your damage output while also letting you take more damage.

You can unlock certain skills that will allow you to take full advantage of Madness, such as an ability to reduce the amount of Skyborn Might required to cast a Spell.

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Music is great

Music is something that defines a game's overall experience. I can confidently say that Leenzee has nailed it in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. The game's soundtrack features some great OSTs that blend traditional Chinese instruments with dark, atmospheric tones, perfectly complementing each boss and area.

The feel of each area is enhanced by the soundtracks (Image via 505 Games)

When exploring the lush forests, you’ll hear calm and relaxing melodies. Meanwhile, the dead-infested underground area has an ominous, haunting soundtrack that accompanies you as you descend into the deep.

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Performance is the bane of a pirate

I think my biggest criticism of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers right now is its poor performance on certain AMD graphics cards, especially some of the mid-range ones. Despite tweaking the settings each time I play, it seems that the only boss that consistently gives me a hard time is the game's performance issue.

Performance often comes at the cost of visuals (Image via 505 Games)

Even at 720p and the lowest possible settings, I couldn’t maintain a steady 60 FPS on my PC, which I might add, exceeds the recommended specifications. It’s a constant struggle between achieving a stable 50+ FPS and avoiding visuals that look like a blurry mess.

Here are the specifications for my PC in case you're wondering:

• Ryzen 5 5600X
• AMD RX 6600 8GB VRAM
• 32 GB RAM DDR4
• Game is installed on an NVME SSD

I am sorry to say this, but can developers stop making games on Unreal Engine 5 if they are not putting in the effort to optimize their product? Titles like Stellar Blade prove that UE4 is capable of delivering stunning visuals without demanding some type of supercomputer.

I’ve spoken with a few friends, and it seems that most of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers’ performance issues are concentrated around AMD GPUs. Those using NVIDIA cards had fewer problems, except for one of my coworkers. He reported performance struggles on his RTX 4060 and 4070 setups.

There are a few visual bugs that exist, but I won't hold those against Leenzee, as they can be fixed easily.

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Few issues with the game

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is not a perfect game. I honestly loved it, but the abysmal performance has left a bittersweet aftertaste in my mouth.

Firstly, I will state that there are a few minute visual bugs and clipping issues that my team and I discovered. These are minor issues and will be fixed, but I do hope that Leenzee addresses the elephant in the room.

Inconsistent performance on certain cards remains a big issue (Image via 505 Games)

While the game looks beautiful, I cannot see anything that justifies the performance issues. The trend of chasing visuals at the cost of performance on PC needs to go, and developers should put in the work to optimize their product for all types of hardware before releasing it.

I do hope that Leenzee is working to fix these performance issues so that when the game goes live, you won't have to deal with them.

The difficulty of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is also something that you will either love or hate. I don't think the game is too difficult or the hardest Soulslike title I have played, but sometimes, the balancing can feel a little off the chart. Some bosses have extremely high mobility, and hitting them can get a tad bit challenging, but it is not something that breaks the game.

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In conclusion

A great Soulslike that will appease fans (Image via 505 Games)

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is certainly a strong entry from a relatively new studio. Leenzee has been able to craft a game that heavily borrows from old-school Souls games, yet adds a modern flair that allows it to distinguish itself from the latest titles in the genre.

From exhilarating boss fights to a tense adventure through the hauntingly dark land of Shu, the game provides an excellent experience, with tons of replayability added thanks to you being able to directly jump into an NG+ playthrough. One thing that the developer has promised in our interview that I am looking forward to is the Photo Mode.

There are a few hiccups on the road, namely inconsistent performance on certain cards and a few minor bugs. It is quite inexcusable that some users have to deal with these issues, as you cannot even blame it on Unreal Engine 5.

Sandfall Interactive proved with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 that if you put enough effort, UE5 games can run smoothly. Without the performance issues, I can see myself raising the score for Wuchang: Fallen Feathers to an even 9.

Having said that, I have faith that Leenzee will sort out these issues within the coming days.

I don't know about others, but I thoroughly enjoyed Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, which is surprising, given how tired I am of the genre. The game blends dark folklore with tough, rewarding combat to create one of the most memorable Soulslike titles in recent memory.

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Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Review (Image via Sportskeeda)

Reviewed on: PC (Key provided by 505 Games)

Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5

Developer: Leenzee

Publisher: 505 Games

Release Date: July 24, 2025