Dynasty, be gone: The Wuchang action video game was unexpectedly a hit
One of the most notable Chinese games of the year, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, has started selling in Russia. It continues the traditions started by the projects "Wukong" (Black Myth: Wukong) and "Wulong" (Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty), the project has already been named among the most challenging action games of the year. Despite the high entry threshold, users queue up for the release, and experts are amazed to diagnose the geopolitical changes in the world of video game manufacturers. It looks like China is there in earnest and for a long time. In Russia, the game is available without any restrictions from the copyright holder - studio 505 Games.
Fighters of the "Wu" category
For those who follow the Asian games industry, three projects with similar names — Wuchang, Wukong, Wo Long — certainly did not go unnoticed. All of them were created by different studios from China, but they share a common trend: the outright borrowing of the "soul" From Software. Everything went smoothly with Wukong, and Wukong made a splash. Wuchang became the most controversial of the three. Let's make a reservation right away that this is a soundly executed project with a number of unique features that distinguish it from its analogues. A copy of the game was provided by Achivka, the largest distributor of consoles and video games in the Russian Federation.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, positioned as a game about the Ming Dynasty, but with fantasy elements, poorly fulfills its promises: the locations are indistinguishable from many Souls projects, and the plot requires collecting hints bit by bit. The main character is Wuchang, a pirate with feathers growing on her body and holes in her skull (the exact reason is not important, the main thing is the creepy look); her goal is to find the culprits of the epidemic and regain her lost memory.
The beginning of the game seems to be a banal "go there, I don't know where." Wuchang wakes up at the foot of a Buddha statue, receives a sword from a ragged woman in rags, and sets off to "cleanse Shu Province" of infection. There is devastation around, people are going crazy and turning into monsters (golems, trolls, vampires, coffin-like creatures with legs, insane centipedes, etc.), while the aggression of the creatures is growing: They attack from around corners or break through walls, forcing the player to run to the altars to restore health.
The gameplay with mazes, bosses and a continuous cycle of deaths and rebirths is familiar to fans of the genre. At the same time, it has nuances: instead of bonfires, there are altars, instead of "estus" there is a flask with "mana", souls are called "red mercury", and enemies restore health until the player rests. Leveling system: there is no choice of class, you need to spend "red mercury" on skills in the talent tree, while you can change the distribution of points at any time without loss — a rarity for the genre, giving freedom to experiment.
The combat system also has surprises: if players in Wo Long and Wukong are used to parrying, in Wuchang the lack of block and parry scares them at first, but later it turns out that these are separate skills for each weapon (for example, for a long sword, you can unlock a powerful piercing blow that cuts through armor). Later, dodges, a combination of weapons and magic are revealed (spells depend on the "heavenly power" earned by dodging and blocking). There are enough tactical opportunities.
Bosses cause mixed feelings: first, the disappointment of the weakness of the opponents, then the real challenges (for example, a giant centipede, which you need to fight for half an hour, or a mad pig with two swords, releasing water attacks). The battles are multiphase: the first phase is simple, the second is a nightmare; if there is no health left by the end, you will have to reset the save. Gamers who lack perseverance and discipline are unlikely to see more than 20% of the content, as they will quit the game after the first difficult boss.
The genre remains popular
As noted by the head of the department of "Development of games and the gaming community" of the company "M.Video – Eldorado" by Sergey Mezin, a genre of so-called soulslike games known for their complexity, has long been particularly popular with Russian buyers.
— Over the past 10 years, we have sold through our sales channels more than 100 thousand discs with games of the founder of the genre, From Software, the undisputed leader among them is Bloodborne. Games From Software have developed their own special visual style, so it's interesting to see what new third-party developers can offer in a genre well-known and beloved by many gamers. In early August, Wuchang Fallen Feathers for the PlayStation 5 console will arrive in our sales channels," he added.
The editors tested the PlayStation 5 and PC versions. The console version works stably with a frame rate of 60 FPS, feels comfortable. The PC version has a lot of performance issues. The more beautiful the location, the worse the game works, but even at average FPS settings it does not fall below 40. Visually, the project looks nice, especially the main character, a pirate, but technical flaws spoil the impression.
But all of this should not detract from the important trend that Wuchang has very clearly outlined. The Chinese gaming industry is increasingly imposing competition on other powerful game dev regions every year: the United States and Europe. Among the biggest releases from China are the hit Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, gacha games with an audience of tens of millions. And not only Chinese residents. At the same time, the direction of AAA gaming is also slowly but surely developing: Black Myth: Wukong is frozen one step away from winning the "Best Game of 2024" at the gaming Oscar, and ahead of it are big and ambitious products: the role-playing action game Lost Soul Aside, the historical adventure Where Winds Meet and the sequel to the mobile superhit Honor of Kings: World. The Chinese cartoon "Nezha" has already led the world box office of the year in cinema. Now it's up to the games.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
