It’s been about half a year since I joined the ranks of players of Kuro Games’ ambitious aRPG, Wuthering Waves. It’s been quite a ride, with its own highs and lows—from the reserved plot and design of Huanglong to the dazzling lights of Rinascita Carnivale. Now, the game’s first anniversary approaches, giving everyone a chance to celebrate together.
Anniversary rewards and content are often subjects of dispute and complaints in gacha fandoms. Players love to compare and brag about who got better rewards, laughing at those who received less valuable gifts from the devs. Yet, an anniversary isn’t just about giveaways.
First and foremost, these special versions evoke nostalgia, offering a retrospective on the year’s achievements and events. They remind us of the beautiful world we once stepped into as newcomers, whether we swore to save it for waifus or out of pure intentions.
So what is the anniversary time like in WuWa? Read on to find out!
With Version 2.2 taking the game to new heights, it was risky to expect anything greater from the upcoming V2.3 update. Anyone who pays attention to the size and content quality of each version can spot a clear pattern—one that exists in most live-service games. Whenever we get a major story update with expansive new areas, the next version is almost guaranteed to be mediocre at best, if not outright purely filler content designed to kill time.
The most recent and glaring example is Wuthering Waves’ 2.1 update with its suffocating fishing system. As a short event, this kind of gameplay could have been a refreshing diversion, but when a significant chunk of playtime revolves around it, the design choice feels questionable at best. Some might argue, “Hey, you’re not forced to play it—just skip it!” And they’re not entirely wrong. But ever since I dropped that activity, my progress with Phoebe has been locked behind two quests that can’t be completed without fishing.
Fine, I’m not here to complain about fishing again—but the anniversary V2.3 update shares the same fate as V2.1, arriving right after a massive story expansion and Cantarella’s brilliant character quest. Once you move past the initial excitement from the dev stream—the gifts, the promises of grand adventures—the actual content feels lackluster in comparison.
So are the livestream promises
Version 2.3 finally made Zani playable – a moment I’ve been anticipating since the first time I saw her design, which originally drew me to Wuthering Waves. Her arrival feels like rain after a prolonged drought, not just for me, but for the game’s narrative: here’s a character who maintains professional boundaries with Rover, treating us as just another work obligation rather than the center of her world.
Zani lives her own life, pursues her own goals, and most refreshingly – solves her own problems without needing the mighty Arbiter’s intervention. In her story, we become the sidekick, assisting her mission to transform Rinascita into a safer district, even if it costs her sleep and destroys her stomach with energy drinks.
As the faceless legend, Employee of the Year, and most dependable person in the nation, she effortlessly steals the spotlight from the protagonist.
Yet, the curse of post-main story updates persists, leaving its mark even on Zani’s quest…
Can I pet the cat too?
Wuthering Waves has no shortage of great—or at least solid—character story quests. Comparing them directly would be unfair, even foolish, yet something about Zani’s quest felt… off. Maybe it’s Cantarella’s fault, her emotionally charged, atmospheric story set the bar too high. Or perhaps the developers simply ran out of time to flesh it out properly. Whatever the reason, Zani’s quest ended up relatively short and rushed, relying on the simplest twists possible.
That’s not to say it was bad, Zani herself is straightforward and pragmatic, so a no-nonsense story fits her. But after that stylish comic-cutscene showcasing her daily life, the quest left a slightly bitter aftertaste. It had the potential for so much more: a true crime drama with high-stake chases, an actual heist, or even some noir-style vigilante action. The underground arena fight was cool, sure, but I couldn’t help wishing for deeper exploration of Zani’s underworld ties—more CGs, more dialogue, just… more.
Then again, maybe I’m just biased because I like her in general.
Version 2.3 didn’t introduce any new map expansions, instead focusing on special anniversary content.
The developers chose to entertain players with these cube-like lifeforms – what appears to be some local meme I’m not entirely clued in on. They strangely remind me of Ruan Mei’s creations from Honkai: Star Rail, though instead of taking feline form, these are more humanoid in appearance.
These Cubies are sentient cubic manifestations of real characters, born from the Sonoro Sphere’s effect. They retain most of their originals’ knowledge while amplifying certain personality traits to humorous extremes.
The anniversary event centers around a classic caper: an evil Abby cube has stolen the celebration cake, leaving Rover to save the day with help from their fellow Cubbie companions.
Is it me, or does it look like a fan translated frame with typeset dome in paint?
I’ll refrain from evaluating the event’s story and concept, as this type of content tends to be very polarizing – some find it charming while others may see it as confusing or even cringe-worthy. What truly matters is the gameplay execution, which should ideally be fun and engaging above all else.
As we progress through the event, we collect various Cubies, each with skills mimicking their original characters. However, team composition ultimately doesn’t matter much – thanks to the skill token system, any Cube can borrow abilities from others. This means players can simply stick with their favorites without worrying too much about optimization and meta.
The core gameplay loop proves disappointingly familiar: it’s essentially another timed combat challenge, a format we’ve seen repeatedly in both permanent and limited-time WuWa events. The Cube leveling system creates a false sense of progression, while the support mechanic functions nearly identically to the Echo system we’ve had since launch. The formula is simple: press button → watch Cubes deal massive damage → fight yourself a bit → claim victory → repeat.
Nice try.
The Cubies also take part in a popularity contest, where they train alongside the Rover Cubie to boost their appeal. I’m still not entirely convinced that jumping around with the protagonist on their back actually makes them more popular—but hey, at least this segment of the event is both rewarding and low-effort.
The mini-game revolves around rolling dice to advance through a board, collecting rewards along the way. While the dice rolls claim to be random, there’s clearly some behind-the-scenes weighting to prevent players from progressing too quickly. That said, the pacing is fair—even if you only log in for your daily rolls, you’ll still finish well before the event ends. No grinding required.
It’s a simple, almost mindless diversion, but sometimes that’s exactly what you want from an anniversary event—something lighthearted that doesn’t demand too much brain power or time.
Training montage music plays.
Then we have the classic “vote for your favorite character” popularity contest – a staple we’ve all seen across social media and various fandoms. Players pick their preferred cube and essentially place bets by investing their event points into it. The system rewards those who correctly predict the majority’s choice, with bigger payouts for backing the winning Cubie.
They didn’t call it “Derbie” for nothing – the whole setup kinda mirrors horse race betting, just with popularity votes instead of speed determining the winner. Instead of cheering for the fastest horse to cross the finish line, you’re rooting for your chosen cube to win the popularity race. The mechanics are simple but effective at creating that competitive excitement, even if the outcome is ultimately just about which cute cube creature captured players’ hearts the most.
Another Cubie-themed part of the anniversary event involves revisiting key story moments—except every memorable scene gets reenacted by Cubes instead of the actual characters. We’re tasked with traveling to points of interest, collecting memories, and snapping photos of our favorite resonators in their cubic forms.
On paper, it sounds charming. But here’s the question: why couldn’t we reunite with the original versions of these characters?
Using the real resonators would likely require new voice acting and animations, making production more complex and costly (actually I don’t think so, everything exists by now, it’s a copy of the scene) —but after playing Wuthering Waves for six months, I’ve grown attached to these characters. There’s a certain emotional weight that comes from reliving their most impactful moments in their true forms, something the cubic reinterpretation completely undermines. What were once profound, meaningful scenes now play out as absurdist comedy.
It’s part of a broader shift in tone: after flirting with mature themes early on, the game seems increasingly determined to lean into pure silliness. There’s nothing wrong with humor, of course, but moderation is key.
The entire anniversary update feels like an extended joke: amusing at first glance, but ultimately hollow when you search for that emotional payoff—that sense of celebration for the journey we’ve shared over this past year.
