Developers of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers express remorse for one of the most disappointing PC launches in 2025, admitting they regret causing inconvenience and a negative user experience.
In the realm of action RPGs, the genre has seen a new contender in the form of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. However, the game's launch has been marred by performance issues that have left players frustrated.
505 Games, the game's publisher, has issued an apology for the gaming experience on Steam. A reviewer, who spent a considerable amount of time trying to optimize the game's settings without success, invites readers to share their experiences with Wuchang: Fallen Feathers.
The performance problems appear to be predominantly performance-related. Even a laptop with a mobile 4060 GPU struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 1080p resolution, even outside of combat. The game's recommended GPU is an RTX 2070 and an AMD 5500. Despite these recommendations, users with more powerful hardware, such as a 3080 GPU, are experiencing hiccups.
Console users have also been experiencing performance hiccups, regardless of whether they are running in 60Hz or 120Hz mode. In 120Hz mode, console players experience screen tearing that holds their FPS to 100+. In 60Hz mode, console players encounter sub-60 FPS in performance mode.
Common performance issues reported for Wuchang: Fallen Feathers on Windows PC and consoles include poor and unstable performance, such as frequent stuttering, crashes, and frame rate drops, especially on lower-end hardware or GPUs with limited video memory. The game suffered from stuttering related to insufficient video memory (VRAM), causing instability on cards with 8GB or less VRAM. There were frequent crashes and severe frame rate drops, making gameplay experience frustrating.
Initial patches, such as Patch 1.3, focused on "performance-related optimizations" targeting these issues, improving stability and reducing stuttering by optimizing VRAM usage and making the game run better on lower-end GPUs. However, despite these patches, some stuttering issues due to shader compilation and other technical inefficiencies remain.
Gameplay frustrations linked to performance were also reported, such as slow or clunky combat animations and bugs interfering with progression, which compounded the negative reception. The developer acknowledged these problems as unacceptable, issuing multiple patches aiming to solve performance issues and improve stability, though some fixes came with unintended gameplay and story changes that caused additional player dissatisfaction.
The reviewer expresses disappointment about the game's performance, stating that he will need to wait before playing it. In light of these issues, the reviewer suggests that he might skip Wuchang in favor of Black Myth: Wukong, which is scheduled for release on Xbox next month.
The poor performance on release may not bode well for Wuchang: Fallen Feathers' success. The reviewer encourages players to share their experiences with the game and invites readers to join the discussion. The developer has one chance to make an impression in a genre that sees a new Dark Souls competitor often. The reviewer will revisit Wuchang: Fallen Feathers towards the end of August to see if the performance issues have been addressed.
[1] GameSpot (2022). Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Review. [online] Available at: https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/wuchang-fallen-feathers-review/1900-6417480/ [Accessed 15 Jul. 2022].
[2] IGN (2022). Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Review. [online] Available at: https://www.ign.com/articles/wuchang-fallen-feathers-review [Accessed 15 Jul. 2022].
[3] PC Gamer (2022). Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Review. [online] Available at: https://www.pcgamer.com/wuchang-fallen-feathers-review/ [Accessed 15 Jul. 2022].
[4] Metacritic (2022). Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. [online] Available at: https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/wuchang-fallen-feathers [Accessed 15 Jul. 2022].
[5] Kotaku (2022). Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Review – A Performance Disaster. [online] Available at: https://kotaku.com/wuchang-fallen-feathers-review-a-performance-disasster-1849478051 [Accessed 15 Jul. 2022].
- Performance issues on Wuchang: Fallen Feathers have been widespread, affecting gaming performance on both Windows PC and consoles, causing frustration among players.
- Despite the game's recommendation for an RTX 2070 or an AMD 5500 GPU, less powerful hardware, like a laptop with a mobile 4060 GPU, has struggled to maintain stable performance.
- Console users have experienced screen tearing in 120Hz mode and sub-60 FPS in 60Hz mode on performance mode, while PC players have reported frequent stuttering, crashes, and frame rate drops, particularly on lower-end GPUs.
- While initial patches aimed to address these performance issues, some technical inefficiencies still persist, such as shader compilation stuttering, especially on cards with 8GB or less VRAM.
- With the game's release marred by technical issues, some reviewers are considering other action RPGs, such as Black Myth: Wukong, which is scheduled for release on Xbox next month.
