Wuchang: Fallen Feathers receives criticism after new ‘censorship’ patch prevents killing historical figures

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers players have reacted negatively to a new update which prevents players from killing many of its historical figures, changing the plot in the process.

The Soulslike, which was released last month, is set during the late Ming Dynasty and tells an alternate history of the period, with the player controlling pirate Bai Wuchang as she attempts to take on the Feathering Disease which is affecting the land.

The game received its version 1.5 patch earlier this week, which fixed numerous bugs and made some gameplay tweaks. However, players were somewhat confused by one patch note, which reads: “Made adjustments to animations, values, and level design for certain NPCs and AI. Added dialogs for some NPCs to complete some plots. We will further optimize the exhaustion animations in the future to improve the plot performance.”

Players who downloaded the new update have found that the patch note refers to a crucial change in the game, which no longer makes it possible to kill certain bosses and other NPCs who are based on real-life historical figures.

Now, instead of dying, these characters collapse in exhaustion. Some of them also speak new dialogue to the player, essentially changing the story, to ensure the plot still makes sense now they’re no longer dead.

In a thread on X, game modder Lance McDonald heavily criticised the new changes, calling it “actual censorship due to pressure from Chinese players who were upset about being able to kill historically significant characters from the end of the Ming Dynasty”.

Citing some examples of the changes made, McDonald pointed out that the game’s fourth chapter “is now insanely easy because 50% of the enemies are now non-hostile to the player and you can’t attack them during the rebellion outbreak”.

“They even added new voiceover dialogue for the protagonist so after you kill (oh sorry, I mean ‘exhaust’) certain historical bosses, she says ‘I will continue your legacy’,” he added.

McDonald stated that these changes don’t just change the story, they also “ruin the entire point of the game’s plot about impermanence”, adding: “The entire plot of the game is about the Ming Dynasty coming to an end, and the folly of refusing to let it end, and the protag’s sister dying and the folly of refusing to accept her death. Then they do this mess and now I don’t even know what.”

One example given is the fight against Zhao Yun. Now, rather than facing  Zhao Yun himself, players appear to be fighting his spirit instead. Previously, when he was defeated he died, saying: “The mortal dream fades, my tale concludes, I understand now, all is as it should be.” Now, however, he laughs and says: “Ha, still set on this path? Good! That was the trial’s purpose all along! Hahaha!”

After you defeat the Dragon Emperor they added an interaction prompt with him and his consort to say “its ok they’re only sleeping” amazing pic.twitter.com/quhW6SDBZk

— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) August 14, 2025

McDonald isn’t the only player annoyed by the changes. The game has been getting numerous negative reviews on Steam in the past day or two, most of which criticise the changed story.

“Improving game performance is welcoming,” said one reviewer with 58 hours of play time logged. “But this must be the first time I’ve heard of story / plot change post-release, as far as I am aware. Plot change made the story completely different, and even makes some of the characters’ motivations pointless.”

“Loved the game all the way until patch 1.5,” added another players with 28 hours logged. “Game definitely has its flaws, but in the end very enjoyable. The story was good, combat was great(ish). Dev single-handed butchered the whole theme of the story by changing plotlines and catering to the idiotic nationalist, who would never touch the game. Would not recommend until dev fix this or give global players a way to revert this themselves.”