Once again, the discourse around a promising action game has been hijacked not by its gameplay, music, or setting, but by debates over its main character’s appearance.

Following the July 24 release of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, Soulslike players rejoiced at the arrival of yet another competent action game to join the repertoire. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers may not rival genre greats like Lies of P (or, well, most of the FromSoftware catalog), but it is mechanically sound. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers has an interesting setting, it tries to do something different with the Soulslike formula through unique mechanics, and it even has a decent implementation of a skill tree for Soulslike progression. But the discussion online isn’t about the game’s bona fides. No, instead, fans and detractors both have dedicated their energies to arguing about Bai Wuchang, the conventionally attractive protagonist of Fallen Feathers.

The small but vocal contingents of the “this game is goonerslop” crowd and the “finally real gaming is back” crowd spent the days leading up to Wuchang’s release arguing on social media. This discussion has continued even after the release, and watching all of it unfold has only reminded me of Stellar Blade, one of the standout Soulslikes of 2024.

Korean developer Shift Up initially revealed Stellar Blade as Project EVE, immediately catching the eye of potential fans in part with the design of its main character. She was stylish and sexy, and people were excited to have........

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