This is the first Chinese-made single-player game worth buying this year. I’m ready to step into the world of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. This Chinese single-player ARPG built on the ancient Shu civilization has me hyped.
My wallet has already set aside budget this year for Wuchang and Phantom Blade Zero, and with the British-flavored Tides of Annihilation and the neon-soaked Showa American Story also on my radar, it feels like Chinese games are about to take off this year 🛫.
Story Background Trailer and February Devlog Update
Over Chinese New Year this year I happened to catch the Sanxingdui exhibition, and right after that I learned about the story background of Wuchang. It turned out the game’s setting overlaps quite a bit with the ancient Shu kingdom and the Sanxingdui civilization — what a strange and wonderful coincidence.
Traditional Chinese culture is being woven into games in ever richer forms. That fusion is heartening, and it makes me look forward even more to the ways cultural heritage gets passed on.
Pre-order Edition + Pre-order Deluxe Edition Bundle Showcase
The Deluxe Edition and pre-order bonuses announced at the end of April are pretty tempting. For the “Jinhu Xiangrui” outfit, and for “Jiuzhuan Jinqian,” the Ming-dynasty piece of black tech that can actually fire a cannon — the Deluxe Edition pre-order is a must.
Summer Game Fest Trailer
Life and death are overturned, the living wither; how long will the tangle of karma last? Fallen feathers and dying embers vanish as smoke; when Heaven issues its decree, all becomes clear. July 24 — See Through Impermanence 【All things are impermanent; the wheel of karma turns on, enduring forever】
7.28 Addendum:
I’m not disappointed in Wuchang — I’ve just come to terms with the fact that Souls-likes aren’t for me.
The combat is no fun at all; turn the graphics up and it stutters, turn them down and it’s pure misery, and walking is absurdly slow. Watching other people play, there’s plenty of variety in the combat, but once I’m in there all I feel is me getting stunned in every possible way while mobs take me out in two or three hits. The gap between someone who knows how to play and someone who doesn’t is night and day.
You say I’m not cut out for Souls-likes — fine, sure. But back when Black Myth: Wukong came out, you all said that was a Souls-like too. And I had a blast with Black Myth: Wukong.
This game, though — I went in and was completely lost. So many terms; with the skill tree, aside from reading the impenetrable text descriptions, you can’t tell what any of the icons are. Sorry, but for players who’ve never touched a Souls game, the barrier to entry is still way too high. A game with that high a barrier shouldn’t be marketed with the kind of hype you’d give a game for everyone. I’m just an ordinary casual player — tricking me into buying this game really overestimated me.
And with the current visuals and frame rate — blurry graphics and stiff animations — it’s pure misery. Even if I turn on a health-lock cheat, I still can’t bring myself to keep playing.
On top of that, I happened to hit the unlucky situation where everyone online is trashing it and there are far too few guides. So now I don’t even have anywhere to learn “how to open this game the right way.”
I’ll come back and suffer once there are more guides online for “newbies who’ve never played a Souls game” and after I’ve upgraded my PC.
Waiting for Phantom Blade Zero to launch.