Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Gives a Soulslike Staple Center Stage

While the ultimate goal with armor in almost any Soulslike game is to wear something that offers enough damage resistance and mitigation to survive the road ahead, sometimes it’s almost preferable to wear armor that isn’t as effective, simply because of how goofy the right combination of gear items can make players look at times. The end result of this is a delicate dance between style and substance known as “Fashion Souls,” where players do their best to not only outlast their enemies but also look cool doing it. Despite not reinventing the Soulslike formula and mostly playing things safe, this is where Wuchang: Fallen Feathers thrives, as it gives Fashion Souls center stage in the action.

Mechanically, armor in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers still functions the way it always has in the Soulslike genre, although it could be argued that it actually makes armor even more important than it has been known to be. However, when it comes to style, Wuchang is a totally different animal, ensuring that from the early to the late game, players have plenty of options for making Wuchang look like the bosses she fights. With an unbridled transmog system and some of the most intricately designed armor sets in recent memory, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers clearly knows what Fashion Souls means.

7 Things Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Does Better Than Other Soulslikes

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is a brand-new action RPG inspired by Chinese history, and there are a few ways that it improves on the Soulslike genre.

Wuchang’s Fashion-First Armor System Might Be One of Its Smartest Features

Unbridled Transmog Lets Players Mix and Match Without Losing Power

Transmog is often one of the most requested features in the RPG genre, as it means players can customize the look of their character without affecting their stats. The only issue is that, even when games do implement a transmog system, they frequently apply unnecessary limitations that only allow players so much room to personalize their character’s appearance. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, on the other hand, puts almost no boundaries on its transmog system, thereby allowing players to make the protagonist look however they want her too, even if they truly do want her to look like she has no sense of style.

In Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, players can apply the appearance of any gear item they’ve obtained to anything in that armor category. For example, players can equip a specific head armor they’ve obtained and keep it in its default appearance, or they can apply the look of another head armor piece to the item they have equipped without losing its stats in the process. As a result, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers allows players to mix and match their armor to create the damage-mitigation set of their dreams while taking on any appearance they want. Best of all, transmog in Wuchang is absolutely free apart from any armor sets they purchase to obtain the look — unlike some games that make players pay for it for some reason.

Armor Design Becomes Its Own Progression System

What makes this approach to Fashion Souls so refreshing is that it turns armor design itself into a progression system of sorts. All of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers‘ armor sets are extremely detailed, with the late game and deluxe and pre-order sets offering some of the most intricate, elaborate, and sought-after designs. But since it’s so easy to transmog Wuchang’s armor and there are dozens of different pieces to obtain throughout the game, purchasing armor sets from vendors doesn’t even really need to be about the stats that armor provides and instead could simply be because players like the way it looks.

Best of all, transmog in Wuchang is absolutely free apart from any armor sets they purchase to obtain the look — unlike some games that make players pay for it for some reason.

This is especially the case with Wuchang: Fallen Feathers‘ bosses, as defeating them can often unlock a brand-new armor set for players to purchase using a very small amount of red mercury, Wuchang‘s version of souls. It effectively makes Fashion Souls a form of progression rather than just a nice bonus, especially if players consider the way Wuchang looks to be a core part of the experience. And seeing as how the developer evidently put a lot of time and effort into boss and armor design, it’s clear that Fashion Souls truly is a major part of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers‘ gameplay.