Where Winds Meet is an ambitious free-to-play online game developed by Everstone Studio. It brings players to the world of ancient China and Wuxia literature, offering an unforgettable journey full of action, dangers and tight bonds. As the young master, the protagonist forges their own legacy, trying to uncover the truth about their identity. The winds carry this legend of the epic journey to the East.
In the past few years, we’ve gotten used to seeing quite a few games as nothing but ‘Genshin Killer’ or HoYoverse competitors in many other possible ways. Many titles tried to steal the crown from the famous grand company, either by copying their games or by trying to bring something new to the same base idea. I don’t think it’s necessary to name any of such games, anyone already has several titles in mind. But what about Where Winds Meet?
As a gacha player myself, I could try to compare this open-world game to either Genshin Impact or Wuthering Waves, yet this would be an entirely wrong approach. While the gameplay might seem pretty similar in its core, Where Winds Meet doesn’t fall in the same category as these two big titles. And It’s not only about the absence of the characters’ gacha system or team-building gameplay.
This game is different in its very soul, vibes and developers’ approach to player experience. Now, let’s try to break out why I think so.
Character, Story and Narrative
Perception of any game starts from the main character’s origins and the reasons they start their journey. In the prologue, Where Winds Meet vaguely states that the character we are going to play as is some special baby, carried away by the mysterious swordsman. What exactly is going on there and why some evil forces hunt for this baby – those are answers we are likely supposed to find out along the journey. For now, our character is just a young master, who lives in the small village in the middle of nowhere.
After the prologue, the players are given a chance to customize the character, and the options are actually endless. Not many single player games can offer such detailed character generator, while here we’re dealing with a free-to-play game. Hairstyles, eyes, mouth, nose and facial features – everything has its own slider or various options to choose from, giving the freedom to creativity.
However, there are even more options. The developers team integrated some kind of AI algorithm into the game, which can create the character appearance based on the photo the player uploads. Moreover, the same feature can generate a character after listening to the player’s voice sample, which seems to be a pretty fun option in itself.
Once the character is created, the journey officially begins. However, from the very start the game states clearly that the main character is just a commoner in this world, despite their certainly grand origins. Living in the middle of nowhere, our hero is but a young master and a local troublemaker with a big dream.
Playing hero with the local kid, serving wine at the family drinking house and being scolded by the auntie – those are daily accomplishments of the once very special baby. They are naive and soft-hearted romantic, who thinks that they can do anything and even conquer the world. However, these illusions and dreams are being brutally crushed in no time, forcing the child to mature and face the reality.
To avoid spoiling the experience for those who are yet to play the game, I will avoid any plot details. However, it must be noted that Where Winds Meet isn’t afraid to show ugly sides of the world and humanity. While the prologue and first chapter are pretty tame and cheerful, this light mood doesn’t last long. From the end of the chapter one, the death, suffering and depressive motives become more common.
Class inequality, child abuse, death, war – these might be common themes, but the game treats them in the rawest form its PG12-rating allows. Many fates in the world of Where Winds Meet are tragic, and we are here to witness them. From the personal tragedy, to the authorities’ arbitrariness and crimes against humanity, the events would shake the once naive young master and shape the path they follow.
When it comes to the narrative and the quest design, the developers did a very great job. Aside from the daily commissions and minor random encounters, all side quests add a line or two to the legend we write. Even short side quests have a story behind them, unraveling more mysteries of the game’s world. And there are many of them, one different from another. To be fair, this is what the players would rather expect from a single-player game like Ghost of Tsushima or Yotei, maybe even recent Assassin’s Creed games, but certainly not from a free-to-play title.
While playing in the solo mode, Where Wind Meet feels like a stand-alone single player title, with a grand living world maliciously crafted by the creators. Every dungeon has some story behind it, hidden paths lead to unexpected revelations, and the world reacts to the players actions. Moreover, the developers integrated the AI into the NPC and the players can talk to them and build up some level of relationships. Players can even build their own village and let the NPC live there. However, romance with the AI is not an option.
Gameplay
Where Winds Meet is an open-world ARPG with everything the genre has to offer. However, it starts to shine only after many hours of playing, especially when it comes to the combat system. During the prologue, the game introduces the basics, and the fights look dull and not dynamic at all. By default, we are given the specific skills and a simple sword, with many interruptions if the training mode was chosen.
The first in-game fight doesn’t feel impactful at all, and probably some of the following ones, too. Only when the player gives the game some time and unlocks different types of weapons along with special skills, the fights become more entertaining. Probably the moment when the players meet the first real boss, the game opens the door to the true world of martial arts. From there, the combat system leans closer to the souls-like games, where parry, dodge and reaction define the battle outcome.
Where Wind Meets has six weapon types to offer, with two different styles for each of them. Players can find one that suits them most, or choose based on the role they want to take in the co-op mode. Damage dealer, healer or a tank – the game has all basic play styles. However, the players can create something more universal, combining the martial arts with the different gear sets and passive skills. The possibilities are numerous, but it requires some time to figure all these aspects out.
When talking about special skills and abilities, there are probably way too many at some point. Some can be opened through world exploration, skills stolen from NPC or even animals, some through quests and other through collecting items. One of the most spectacular skills, shown in many promotion trailers, is locked behind the max amount of region exploration points. Basically, the game rewards the player for exploring and learning its secrets, but in the end many of these skills are unnecessary, and serve only as another collectibles.
The character level progression in general is pretty simple and common. While gaining experience, the level rises, the weapon needs upgrading and so on. To upgrade the weapon, we need to gather certain items, then break through the limit and farm more. However, as the game live only for less than two weeks, the developers slow down the character progression.
The breakthrough challenges and main quests are locked behind the timer, and each time it counts down grows in exponent. While at first it would ask to wait for a day, at the 5th or 6th stage the waiting expands up to 8 days. This likely won’t be the case for the more ‘fresh’ players, but these forced stops remind you that this game is created to keep you there for long, not speedrun it and move on.
However, while waiting for days to pass, there are plenty of things to do in the game. One of the motivations to explore is that some stats of the characters are being advanced through completing mini-games and beating the challenges for the first time. The growth of these stats improves the quality of lives, as well as opening of some special passive abilities, yet some of these games appear ridiculously hard at first.
While everything above can be done in both multiplayer or solo mode, the huge amount of gameplay is tied only to the former. The game offers team raids, support system and even interaction with other players that provide special bonuses. The major role in this socializing gameplay is given to the sects’ system. Players can join specific in-game factions, which offer special bonuses, martial arts styles and cosmetics, but require following certain rules in return. Usually these tasks are tied to the interaction with other players, and not all of them are peaceful. For example, Midnight Blades Sect points are tied to PvP, while Silver Needle asks to heal other players.
However, what is truly hard to master is the UI and Menu navigation. The game has so many things integrated and so many things to offer, that navigation through the sea of endless windows is tiresome. It takes quite some time to remember where each menu is, before opening the right one fast without randomly switching between them. There are visual clues for active rewards or tasks, but it still doesn’t help too much.
In other aspects of game experience, Where Winds Meet is pretty user-friendly. There are options for the fight support if the battles are not your forte, as well as an expanded exploration landmarks system. The game is there to assist if you need it, but won’t force it if not asked.
Visuals and Optimization
If you saw any trailers or screenshots, you already know that the game uses a semi-realistic approach to graphics, with the tilt to the Wuxia beauty style. The characters are not entirely realistic, but they are not anime heroes either. Each NPC has its own style and personality, with the beautifully designed clothes to reflect it. For the main character, the game offers many different clothes, each stylish in its own way.
Meanwhile, the world around leans towards the realism we used to seeing in the AAA titles. While exploring, we can step into the mysterious realms or walk into the astonishing temples with huge Buddha statues. From the blooming fields to the high mountains – every landscape holds its own beauty, maliciously crafted by the developers. Views from the high points are simply breathtaking, and what is impressive, this beauty doesn’t come at ridiculous cost.
The optimization of the PC game version is as good as it could be at launch. While there are still occasional FPS drops or low quality textures seeping through in the huge locations, the overall performance still leans to the right side of the bar. For now, the most troublesome location from those that are available is Kaifeng. This city is huge and has many unique NPC and environment models, which slows down the performance drastically.
Walking down the street, I’ve managed to bump into many invisible citizens, walking around like ghosts. Cutscenes there began to fall apart too, often showing off the lowest LOD point possible. At this moment, the game looks ridiculously funny, reminding the creating from the late 90s, with cubic character faces and poorly applied textures. However, the true challenge for the developers is the promised mobile platforms launch, which will show the true state of game optimization.
Gacha System
Actually, there is not much to be said about it, but it’s important to not that the paid content in the game is purely cosmetic. While having separate banners with different rarity and time limits, Where Wind Meets doesn’t sell anything that can change the game balance. To roll on the banner, players can earn currency through world exploration, but this mostly this applies for seasonal common banner. Moreover, the pity system is way less soft than in any other gacha, setting pity on a way higher level than we have gotten used to.
Where Winds Meet is a very ambitious project, which deserves all attention it received since the launch date. The game has features and activities for every kind of players. Those who like to build can create an entire city, while socially active players can form guilds or even marry each other. There are plenty of battle challenges to satisfy the fighters and enough places for explorers to visit. With its unique blend of elements, this game appeals to a wide range of tastes. So everyone should try this free game and find out if it’s the right fit.
For me, Where Wind Meet appears more like a flower bud, which only starts to open, but will it bloom or wither is still a mystery.
