Lies of P had no business being as great as it was. Developer Round8 Studio had only made one game before, Bless Unleashed, a widely panned MMORPG that was a reboot of another MMORPG. That kind of track record does not inspire confidence that the team would be able to make any waves, let alone ones in the highly contentious Soulslike space.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, on the other hand, more or less came out as expected. Leenzee’s first game is a valiant effort, but one filled with amateur mistakes most debut titles of all stripes have. And if anything, Wuchang has made Round8’s first game seem even more impressive.
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Lies of P seemed promising from its initial trailer, but it’s hard not to be at least a little skeptical at these sorts of reveals. A title from an unknown team in a genre with some of the best games of all time is a tough sell, no matter how fancy the visuals are.
But it came out much better than expected. Round8’s action RPG was undoubtedly riding closely on Bloodborne’s frilly coattails before launch, yet it overcame those comparisons and grew into its own when it actually came out. Swordplay was brutal (before all the updates, at least) but fair, as the responsive parry meant death was almost always a result of poor reflexes and not the game pulling a fast one. Combat was further strengthened by its variety, which gave players more power over their build, from their Legion Arms to their customizable weapons. The studio even built a compelling world around an iconic public domain IP, fleshing out an entire universe and telling a coherent tale about humanity in the process.
It even bested FromSoftware’s games in some areas, as it trafficked less in the annoying trickery and prickly design that has partially defined From’s titles. Lies of P grew better over time, too, as its last big recent update added valuable quality-of-life features, in addition to easier difficulties and boss rush modes. It only gets better when considering Overture, its stunning expansion that contains some of Lies of P’s best bosses and levels.
All of this work is endlessly impressive for such a relatively new studio making a title like this for the first time. And those successes are even more noteworthy when juxtaposed against games like Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. Wuchang is not at all bad and has many aspects worth celebrating. Its wonderfully designed levels have multiple paths with plenty to explore, and they all cleverly weave together just before it all starts getting overwhelming. The elegant Skyborn Might system deepens combat by rewarding well-timed dodges with more mana for spellcasting and special moves.
But Wuchang also stumbles in many areas, as is to be expected. A sizable chunk of the bosses rely on cheap tactics and rarely stop swinging. And when every attack sends Wuchang off her feet and onto her inflated ass, just getting up unscathed is a frustrating endeavor. The dodge isn’t always fast enough to weave through such onslaughts even in normal circumstances, so it’s especially ineffective when lying in the dirt. Stages are also full of many tedious traps that are seemingly there just to annoy players. This includes tactics like burying nearly invisible landmines in the snow, hiding grunts around corner after corner, and placing a cannon inside a dark tent so that it immediately blasts players when entering, just to name a few.
When combined with an anemic gear system, troubled PC port, poorly explained status effect mechanic, and multiple smaller headaches — why is the Red Mercury bubble that drops upon death so hard to spot? — it’s clear that Wuchang can’t quite compete with the genre titans at the top of the Soulslike food chain. Leenzee will likely update Wuchang and get it to a better place (it has already tinkered with the irksome landmines), but a decent-to-good foundation can only be improved so much.
It’s still a notable first effort from Leenzee, though. There’s enough respect for the craft here that will hopefully serve as the first decent step to something greater. This also applies to Black Myth: Wukong and might even be applicable to the nigh-uncountable number of upcoming Soulslikes from young studios. But seeing as though Wuchang is not there yet helps contextualize just how staggering it was for Round8 to pull off a game as totemic as Lies of P. It was already clear how fantastic it was when it launched, but sometimes it takes time for a game’s impact to truly sink in.
