Where Winds Meet Review - The Ultimate Wuxia Experience

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Often, when I play a game, it is easy to categorize it. If it is an RPG, I compare it to others in the genre and go from there to see what it adds and what it brings to the genre. However, there are times, especially lately, when developers take a shot at blending different genres to create a new mix. They don’t pay off most of the time, but Where Winds Meet is an exception. After diving into this epic Wuxia experience, I can tell you it is one of the most unique games out there. Despite its dozens of systems and hundreds of things to do, it feels strangely approachable, and I appreciate that.

Everything, All at Once

As a quick disclaimer, for this review, we played a new account and an end-game account. Score will be updated once we’ve had more time in the live game.

People all over the internet keep asking themselves, “What is Where Winds Meet?” “Is it an MMO, a single-player RPG, a sandbox game, or does it feel like a gacha?” The answer is yes.

I really don’t blame players for feeling confused. After all, the marketing for this ambitious title has been a bit weird. Before seeing its trailer, I had no idea this one was one of the biggest games in China, and after playing it, I can see why.

Where Winds Meet starts with an action-packed sequence where a character carrying a baby dodges arrows, leaps off a horse, and fights against a huge enemy while using tai-chi actions, leaping over the enemy’s head, and then executing the most epic fighting moves without making the baby cry. That’s just a glimpse of what awaits you, however.

After the quick tutorial, which feels a lot like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and something that hooked me instantly, you get to create your character, or as many call them, the Young Master. You get to see one of the deepest character creators in gaming, and after creating your ideal protagonist, the adventure kicks off with yet another epic fight where someone steals your Jade Pendant, and it’s up to you to recover it.

There’s a lot more to the story, but I won’t dive too deep into it for two reasons: one, the build I played still had several translation issues, and some dialogues didn’t play at all, so I can’t judge the whole experience in a build that still had some things to iron out. Two, what I played, despite the few bumps I encountered, was surprising, and I’d rather players experience it firsthand instead of me spoiling some of the gameplay aspects you get by following the narrative.

Still, the plot was surprisingly good, well-paced, and most importantly, it combines action with heavy narrative in an interesting way. In terms of its delivery, it follows the mold of an open-world RPG with some gacha elements on the side. You go from one zone to another, complete quests of different varieties, often involving exploration, acquiring techniques, or defeating enemies, and at that moment, level up your character, martial arts, and gear. Once you hit a cap, you do a quick challenge to break that cap, which allows you to level up your character more, but also makes enemies more challenging in the world. If you’ve played open-world gacha games like Wuthering Waves or Genshin Impact, you’ll see some similarities there.

Fortunately, that’s where the gacha comparisons end. While it has a few systems from that genre, they aren’t the main ones. Where Winds Meet feels more like a sandbox that gives you so many things to do that you’ll just be wondering if you should follow the new side quest, learn how to leap as a frog, follow the main story, or look for a way to join a sect.

Exploration is a huge aspect of Where Winds Meet. Just to give you an example. During the main quest, you get these markers that show you where the next objective is. However, if you like exploration, there are a few things that will captivate you. In my case, I was on my way to a village when I saw a goose frantically screaming at a poor bear. The bear was on the ground, trembling in fear. I approached it and got the prompt to steal a skill. I completed the mini-game and somehow learned the ability to pull a goose out of my pocket, have it scream at enemies, and then throw the poor, feathered animal at them. This is just one example, though.

In another run, I was also following a main story quest when I suddenly discovered a boy who had lost his dog’s toy. I smashed the floor and, out of nowhere, opened the path to a vast underground dungeon. I found the toy but decided to delve deeper, encountering enemies, many chests, and a challenging final boss. Again, the game didn’t lead me to any of these situations. It was all a reward from my drive to explore, and Where Winds Meet is one of those rare cases in gaming where going off the beaten path actually rewards you.

I could ramble on and on about the other things I found, such as a crew of people who were running in bathing towels that gave me a mini-game to steal their cheering prompts. Or that time where I learned how to leap like a frog just by speaking to a man. Or that time when I joined a martial arts tournament and got my butt kicked by a kid. All of these things might sound too good to be true, but guess what? They are good, and they are true. But most importantly, they are just scratching the surface because Where Winds Meet has much more than that.

A True Wuxia Adventure

But that’s enough about exploration. Now, let’s dive into the flashy part of Where Winds Meet: its combat. Where Winds Meet embraces the Wuxia aspect to perfection, and you can see it from its opening sequence, and in every step you take in its open world.

If I were to compare the combat to any recent game we’ve seen, Black Myth: Wukong would be the closest comparison. You have your set of different weapons, ranging from a one-handed sword to dual blades, the rope dart, which is my favorite, and even an umbrella for ranged DPS and a fan for healers. Each of these weapons has its own set of martial arts. Martial Arts are your active skills that you can perform, and they change depending on the weapon. For example, one of the Martial Arts for your one-handed sword lets you leap backwards, and if you press the input again, you can close the gap between you and your enemy with a swing.

Some of these skills unlock after spending points in your Talent Tree. However, even if you find a weapon, you won’t be able to use any of its abilities until you learn them either by finding a master or stealing the skill. If you go for the latter, which is the more fun approach, you’ll have to complete a mini-game, and once you do, you’ll learn the ability. While not all Martial Arts are available at the start, the game tells you where you can find the NPC that has the knowledge, so you can decide when and how to approach it.

Another layer of combat, which also works outside of it, is Mystic Arts. Contrary to Martial Arts, these ones work regardless of the weapon, and you can equip up to four. Mystic Arts are obtainable in the same way as the above ones, but have different uses during a fight and out of one.

For instance, one Mystic Art allows you to steal items from any NPC in the world. However, if you’re facing an enemy, you can steal their weapon for a moment to perform a devastating blow. You can also mix and match these Mystic Arts, and the game even tells you which ones are more useful for a specific situation. Still, there are a lot of character-building opportunities here, which leads me to my next point.

Another genre that gets thrown into the mix when people talk about Where Winds Meet is MMO, and well, it has an MMO-lite mode, but don’t expect WoW or FFXIV levels. Some of the MMO-ish elements it has are the holy trinity of roles. You have DPS, Tank, and Healer. Your weapons will dictate the role you’ll play in any fight inside an instance or out in the world.

Another thing that resembles MMOs is enemy mechanics, especially in some instances. At one point, I entered a fight against an NPC that had a farting mount of sorts, and saw some mechanics like telegraphed attacks, which reminded me of FFXIV. However, there’s an action-oriented approach in Where Winds Meet, so you’ll also have the ability to dodge, parry, and do some other things to avoid the hits.

During an actual fight, you’ll have your set of light attacks, and then unlock heavy attacks by progressing through the story. You can defeat pretty much every enemy by just spamming these moves, but that would take away the beefiest parts of the combat. Where Winds Meet shines when you throw a towering enemy away with your Tai-chi and then use skills to stun them. It is a fighting spectacle that few games can match in its stellar performance.

Beyond that, the game also felt a bit like Sekiro at times. At the beginning, the game lets you pick between several difficulties, some of which include a permadeath mode, and one where the game shows you the perfect dodge and parry inputs, a bit like in Final Fantasy 16. I went with hard difficulty because I like a bit of challenge, and I feel that’s the best way to play. You need to learn enemy movements, attack patterns, and find the best way to parry blows to then land that satisfying and slick-looking finisher.

Also, every character, including yours, has a Qi bar, and once you deplete it, you can land a critical hit of sorts, and in your case, enemies will deal more damage to your character. It was really surprising to see so many elements working so cohesively, and also, in a way that’s easy to understand.

An Unmatched Sandbox

Another vital aspect I want to mention here is the sandbox aspect, which, due to all the currencies, gear, activities, and mechanics, might get lost to some. Yet, it is one of the most alluring parts of Where Winds Meet.

A good sandbox experience is one that lets you experiment and go off the beaten path to see just how much you can do in the game. Where Winds Meet fulfills that requirement and more.

To give you a quick example, most NPCs are interactable. You can open a dialogue box with them, and they’ll reply to you via an AI chat. I’m not a big fan of AI in almost anything related to gaming, but as long as it is for things like this, where it doesn’t affect gameplay too much, that’s fine. Still, I wasn’t able to dive too deep into this system, as it felt wonky with some NPCs, but I imagine that was because of the build I was playing.

In terms of crime and whatnot, there is also a criminal system of sorts. In one scenario, I ended up stealing something from an NPC, but someone saw me. That witness started running to rat me out, so, like any sane player out there, I decided to kill the NPC. I utterly failed at that because a legendary goose (yes, I’m not making that up) killed me. So, I ended up becoming wanted by the authorities and also humiliated by an animal.

This is again a tiny example of the things you can experience, and by the looks of it, I only scratched the surface. Yet, I’m glad to see how the game really puts player experience first, rather than gatekeeping its content or forcing you to pay for an item or weapon to enjoy it. It is accessible in many ways, but most importantly, engaging.

Of course, it isn’t without its issues, as I mentioned, this build needed to iron out some details. The lip sync was off in many cases, and at least on PS5, there were serious texture pop-in issues and occasional frame drops. They weren’t game-breaking, but they are certainly noticeable, hurting immersion.

When Ambition Pays Off

Ultimately, it is incredible to see how Where Winds Meet can pull off this amalgamation without feeling off. There are so many parts in play that one would expect a few of them to fall off, but that doesn’t really happen. Instead, it caters to different types of players, whether they want a single-player experience, some social interactions with other gamers, PvP, instanced PvE, and more.

There are still many things I’ve yet to experience, as some only happen when the game is in its live version, but so far, my experience has been more than pleasant. In truth, it is a game I want to fully dive into because its customization and freedom are beyond anything I’ve seen in a game of this scope, and one that will attract gamers from all kinds.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Where Winds Meet (PC/PS5 Reviewed)

8 Great

Where Winds Meet is an amalgamation of so many systems, that should feel overwhelming, but don't. Instead, they all work cohesively to offer a unique Wuxia experience, and one of the best in the market.