Wachang has upset a confusion of review scores. I mean, literally, 9s and 4s sat uncomfortably next to one another. What in the world is going on here? The game holds a 76 at Metacritic and a 74 at OpenCritic, and yet, these numbers do not even begin to stifle the clamour. Some regard it as a masterpiece; some utterly condemn it. So what is all the fuss about this polarizing Souls-like? Let’s get into it.
First and foremost, the worthy 9s came from TechRadar, ButWhyTho, and DualShockers, praising the combat, atmosphere, and Chinese lore unique to the game. Then there would be the 8s from IGN, LevelUp, and Shacknews, appreciating it as a new take on the genre albeit with some rough edges. Then… oh my Lord… TheSixthAxis gave a 4 as unbalanced and frustrating. Then came CGM, TheGamer, and Push Square: “Not much kinder” gave it 6s instead. Talk about an excruciatingly wide range!
The online reaction is as varied as the scores. Players hype each other up, like @ps_shots1993 tweeting, “I hope for this game to be wildly successful š.” Others are sloping about the low scorers. @LongJawnSilva outright laughed at the fours, tweeting, “Damn I see a 4?! š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£.” Then @DBattoru went off on the critics complaining about difficulty, saying, “The negatives are almost exclusively shitters pissing and moaning about how crap they are at games.” Yeesh.
One major hot-potato? The nomenclature of “Soulslike,” which strategically pops up anytime someone wants to criticize how hard something is or how much it resembles a FromSoftware game, yet oddly does so whenever some praise it for being worthy of shaking up the genre. @nocurlyfries30 called the lazy comparisons out by saying, “Watching the comments just accept the broad definition of Soulslike is funny.” Meanwhile, @No_Offence008 took a scorchingly heated shot at the purists: “Dark Souls is the same game every release, I’m actually thankful there are Devs out there playing around with the formula.”
Then there is the… cultural perspective. @GalaxyDog_x admitted, “Looks great although not a fan of the Chinese lore tbh.” Which is fair enough if it is just not your thing, but others are fully on board for the fresh setting. The review debate, of course, ignited once againā@UmbraInfinite reckoned some outlets should be biased, while @clips_ken retorted with, “They simply donāt like Wuchang.” Classic gamer drama.
What is the verdict now? Well, if challenging action games with deep lore and a little jank are your thing, Wuchang might just do it for you. For polished perfection, though, maybe wait for a sale. Or just ignore the scores and give it a try for yourselfāthere is only one thing everyone agrees on at this point: that there is nothing to agree on.
And hey, at least it’s got the gooner seal of approval. Thanks for that, @Emperor_Of_Dune. Stay weird, internet.
