When attempting to climb a mountain in Where Winds Meet, I found a signpost with notes written by fellow players. Among gameplay advice and unintelligible keyboard spamming was one that read simply: “I have no idea what I’m doing”.  

This feeling is the very essence of Where Winds Meet, a Wuxia-inspired free-to-play action game set in a mythological reimagining of ancient China. Its broad range of unorthodox gameplay systems feels undercooked at times, but the confidence at the heart of its overwhelming cacophony of competing ideas and mechanics suggests that there may be some staying power within the chaos.

False advertising

Due to its branding, I approached Where Winds Meet as I would an open-world action-adventure RPG. However, the title often feels far more like a live service MMO. This means it asks players not just to grow accustomed to its combat system, but also to a huge range of ancillary mechanics and systems. These include: character growth systems, an absurdly broad range of currencies, and numerous multiplayer offerings (including dungeons and PvP duels). 

The combat here aims to embody the superhuman battles seen in Wuxia dramas, a genre of Chinese high-drama known for its focus on martial arts and historical fantasy as well as its utterly glacial pacing. It’s more cinematic than a soulslike but far too calm to be in the Devil May Cry camp.

This means that it’s hard to use skills you’ve learned from other MMOs or action games here. With novelty comes a welcome, if somewhat overwhelming, challenge. 

In one particularly memorable duel with a sinister shadow puppeteer, I found my muscle memory betraying me as I repeatedly failed to strike in time with my spear. I simply wasn’t used to the novel pace demanded of me by Where Winds Meet, and my poor avatar repeatedly paid the price. 

Where Winds Meet doesn’t provide the quick dopamine hits of fast-paced action RPGs. However, there’s a distinct sense of balance and reward here, too. Much like soulsborne titles, Where Winds Meet rewards a dedicated player while intimidating newcomers.  

True to this trend, when roaming the world, I found plenty of signposts near bosses and enemy camps with tips on how to defeat them. In one memorable instance, these messages were broken up by an unceremonious “I’ve died to them 20 times helpppp” in the middle.

Unfamiliar balance

By forcing you to spread thin across a wide range of varied activities, Where Winds Meet doesn’t let you master any of them. Stealing horses, battling demons, and having a few friendly rounds of Majhong all net you welcome but disparate rewards. Each of these activities supports the Wuxia fantasy, but the sheer number of options available is overwhelming. 

When attempting to find the Panacea Fan, a rare weapon, I found myself having to confront what felt almost like a sort of quest vertigo. To get my hands on my fan of choice, I had to complete a growth challenge (a significant milestone mission for level progression), unlock a new Mystic Skill in combat, and finish a juicy sidequest. It was, to put it plainly, a lot. 

While pleasingly reminiscent of the complexity of a Wuxia drama, this laundry list felt bewildering to me as a new player. 

Wuxia media and MMOs are both maximalist and slow-paced by nature. Where Winds Meet’s combination of these elements builds a proverbial mountain between players and progression.

Player-driven stories

The main story doesn’t provide quick satisfaction. It’s told through lengthy cutscenes and gradual updates. This absence leads players to create their own stories through emergent interactions – a socially-driven world that will be familiar to MMO enjoyers.  

Where Winds Meet encourages players to create their own tales by taking on bounties for other players, entering dungeons, and joining sects to gain unique abilities. These multiplayer features often hold just as much weight as the single-player experience, but thanks to Where Winds Meet’s penchant for oversaturation, even the emergent multiplayer fun can easily be lost.

However, Where Winds Meet continues to enjoy impressive player counts not despite this oversaturation, but because of it. What is overwhelming to some is immersive and nourishing to others, creating a sense of profound depth and possibility. In Where Winds Meet, the destination is often well out of reach; it is the journey that’s the central appeal. 

Social building blocks

However, despite its breadth, Where Winds Meet often buckles under the weight of its own ambition. Spotty translation issues and uncanny AI chatbots break your immersion with alarming frequency.  

These issues, combined with the aforementioned sense of oversaturation, mean that the experience can easily fall short for players in the early stages of Where Winds Meet. 

There’s no harmonisation between these unfamiliar elements when you’re learning them all at once. Getting better at Mahjong has no impact on your prowess in combat. To dive into Where Winds Meet is to spread yourself dangerously thin.  

Where Winds Meet gives you a gorgeous open world, but you will need to invest a prohibitively significant amount of time and effort into that world before it yields its juiciest treasures. While the strength of these systems does suggest a staying power on the part of Where Winds Meet, the title will continue to repel those who do not wish to contend with its steep learning cliff. 

FAQs