Summary
Wuchang: Fallen Feathershas just been released to the excitement of many fans who were eagerly anticipating the title from Chinese studio Leenzee. The game is a soulslike RPG about an amnesiac pirate infected with a mysterious disease that causes feathers to grow on her body, and her journey through a strange alternate Ming Dynasty China that’s been ravaged by mysterious dark forces. It’s a game that’s got some people excited for its interesting story and worldbuilding. Unfortunately, the soulslike approachmeans it’s not a game that’s going to work for some people.
While soulslike titles have been dominating the video game scene for years, thanks mainly due to the success of FromSoftware, it is a genre that can offer a drastically different impact depending on who is playing. For the hardcore fans, it may be an exciting and worthwhile challenge. To the more casual player, it can be frustrating, tedious, and needlessly convoluted.Wuchang: Fallen Feathersadopts a lot of soulslike conventions, but it could do a lot more to better accommodate a wider audience. Just because it’s inspired by soulslikes doesn’t mean ithasto be played that way. These are some things Leenzee can do to help make the game more accessible to a general audience.
It should be emphasized that these suggestions are proposed with the assumption that they are meant to be included as options. We understand some players enjoy the full soulslike experience, and those who do should be allowed to continue doing so. These suggestions are made with the goal of helping casual players and newcomers who wish to enjoy the game but struggle with some of the more difficult parts of the genre.
1Knockdown Modifications
Knockdowns Have Been Causing Players A Lot Of Grief
As with many soulslike games,Wuchang: Fallen Feathersemphasizes brutal combat. During these encounters, it is possible for enemies to hit hard and knock Wuchang down. This is not necessarily a bad thing on its own. However, the knockdown animation has a fixed duration, during which the player is vulnerable. This means that any time Wuchang is knocked down, the player is forced to watch helplessly for a few seconds while she is struck by enemies, unable to get up or react. Unsurprisingly,this has caused some frustration among players, especially in a game where this can happen quite frequently, even with weaker enemies.
A logical solution to this would be to tone down the impact of going prone. This doesn’t necessarily mean removing the current system entirely, but perhaps noteveryinstance of getting knocked prone has to work this way. They could add variations to this situation, depending on the type of enemy or attack used. Sometimes, Wuchang could be knocked down and vulnerable, but perhaps sometimes there could be instances where the player could either get back up sooner or perform some sort of action while downed, like a surprise parry or being able to throw a knife at someone. Not only would this make things less frustrating, but it would also add a lot more variety to the game’s action.
2Subverting The Format
Just Because It’s A Soulslike Doesn’t Mean It Has To Rigidly Stick With Convention
Wuchang: Fallen Feathersshows clear influence fromDark Soulsand the various games it inspired,and adopts many of the conventions associated with the Soulslike genre. But a lot of those conventions can be frustrating to new or casual players. Let’s face it, it’s hard to appreciate the story and worldbuilding when you’re stuck running the same death gauntlet a million times just trying to move forward. And there’s no real hard set rule that these conventionshaveto be followed in the genre. So why not include options to simplify or even outright remove some of the more frustrating parts of the genre? That way, players who want the full package can still enjoy it, while casual players can still enjoy the lore and setting.
While several aspects could be addressed, the big one in this genre is the system whereby enemies respawn every time the player rests (which is also the only way to save). For hardcore soulslike fans, this is greatas it provides a means of farming XP and therefore getting stronger. However, for the less hardcore fans, it can be tedious dealing with the same enemies over and over again. And saving feels redundant since, unless fans made some major story progress, having every enemy just respawn feels more like a setback. The logical approach here, to better accommodate both the hardcore and casual players, is to make this feature optional. That way, the hardcore soulslike fan can still enjoy the XP farming experience while more casual players can move forward with less tedium from repeatedly dying to the same enemies.
3Clearer Tutorials
Clearer Explanations Of Game Mechanics Will Help Newcomers And Casual Players
While not the most complex RPG,Wuchang: Fallen Feathersdoes feature some mechanics that can be daunting and confusing to a new player. While the basic combat system is pretty straightforward, some of the details could perhaps be better explained. For instance, Wuchang encounters several different types of enemies with their own attacks, but effectively throws players into the deep end when facing them. There is one shorter enemy that jumps on her shoulders and stabs her repeatedly, but the game never advises on how to handle this. A tutorial identifying the enemy and possible options for dealing with them, for instance, if there is a way to shake them off or prevent them from getting on Wuchang’s shoulders, would help a lot with getting started. This wouldn’t need to be done with every single enemy encountered, but a guide to handling the most common ones would help new and casual players find their footing in the world and get better at its combat system.
A particularly egregious example is the mechanic surrounding Wuchang’sInner Demon. Essentially, it’s a personification of her inner psychological issues that manifests and attacks under the right circumstances. However, this isn’t really explained in-game, so when it first appears, it can easily feel like it’s coming out of nowhere. Some players might even be forgiven for mistakenly thinking this is just an enemy who accidentally appeared at the shrine due to a bug. For the casual player, this can be frustrating when it abruptly shows up and easily overpowers Wuchang. A tutorial that properly introduces this enemy and what the player can do when it appears would help a lot with bringing the casual player up to speed.
Clearer tutorials could also be used to better explain some of the other mechanics, like how to use items.Red Mercuryis an important resource in the game, but it’s easy to get confused about how to actually use it.
4Allowing Saves To Be Made Easier
Restricting Save Points Can Cause A Lot Of Frustration
Following in the conventions of the soulslike genre, saving inWuchang: Fallen Feathers' save systemrelies on finding designated shrines, but the game only saves if Wuchang chooses to “enter dream.” This restores her health and saves the game, but also respawns every enemy she’s defeated. The issue here is the shrines being spread so far apart, with lots of deadly obstacles in between. This means often, the player will have to go through tons of enemies with devastating attack damage, and sometimes a boss fight, before they can reach the next save point. And if Wuchang makes one misstep and dies, she suddenly has to start all over again. While the challenge may be appealing to soulslike fans, this can be frustrating for casual players. Even backtracking to save at the last point is useless since it automatically respawns every enemy she just defeated.
With the brutal combat of a soulslike, a good way to make things less frustrating is to make saving a lot easier. A simple way would be to modify shrines so they save automatically regardless of what a player does with them, rather than only doing so when the reset option is used. Additionally, having them appear more frequently would also be a great benefit, since it would allow the player to at least save their location so they don’t have to go back to the start every time they die.
5Clearer Objective Marking
Make It Easier For Players To Set Goals
Between the difficult map and the relentless onslaught of enemies, it can be hard to figure out what exactly one needs to do inWuchang Fallen Feathers. The player can find objectives, but keeping track of them is easier said than done. This is because the game lacks a journal. While going in blind might be a draw for hardcore soulslike fans, it’s more likely to leave casual players confused and unsure of what they should be doing. A simple way to address this would be to implement a journal, a feature that is quite common in a lot of RPGs. This would simply be a record of objectives given to the player, as well as essential information like where they need to go. Without this, players are more or less left to go purely on memory, which makes things a lot harder in a world as unforgiving as this one.
While not essential, an option for map markers would also be a step up. The map ofWuchang: Fallen Featherscan be really disorienting, and it can be easy to miss important pathways. These don’t have to tell everything, but markers that can at least point people in the right direction would be great for navigating. Especially for casual players who are more likely to get frustrated, stumbling around with no idea where they’re going.
6Implementing A Map
Allow Players A Means Of Navigating The World
Giving the playable area(s) a confusing loadout as possible is a staple of the soulslike genre. For hardcore fans, it adds to the challenge. And while there is enjoyment to be found in exploring the world and discovering new places, it’s hard to get anywhere if fans don’t know where they are or where their goal is. This problem has led to many fans asking for a map to be properly introduced into the game. This isn’t even an entirely unreasonable request for the genre. Some Soulslike titles, such asAnother Crab’s Treasure,have found success implementing a map.
Even a map that gets filled in as Wuchang progresses would help with navigation. This would allow players to see where they are, where other locations are, and figure out a route between them. While some of the more hardcore fans might be more interested in wandering around, newcomers and casual players who want to focus on a specific objective can use the map to orient themselves and figure out where they need to go.
7Lore Guide
Add A Database Of Context To Help Players Understand What’s Happening
The world ofWuchang: Fallen Feathersis full of interesting lore and worldbuilding, but like many games of the genre, it relies primarily on environmental storytelling. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the game throws things at Wuchang without any context. They don’t have to spell outeverything, but it would be helpful to include information on some of the basics. For instance, general information about some of the enemies Wuchang encounters, notable characters in the world, and details about the history or setting. It doesn’t have to be a lot of detail. Given Wuchang’s amnesiac state, this database could be restricted entirely to what she currently knows. But there is a lot to keep track of. It’s easy to forget important names, events, or details, but a lore guide could help fill in the blanks.
For instance, let’s say Wuchang finds a letter that mentions a character named Larry. The player might not remember anyone named Larry and therefore doesn’t make a connection. But with a lore guide, they could then check the guide and see if there’s any reference to someone named Larry, and then get a reminder of who he is or at least what Wuchang currently knows about him. This would also be helpful with the game’s historical setting, as a lore guide could provide important context related to its inspiration.
