Wuthering Waves is a new Gacha RPG cross platform game released by Kuro games, available on console, PC and mobile devices. The game was released on May 17, 2024, and has quickly been gaining popularity. Before the official release, the game reached over 30 million pre-registrations. I asked my friends what they wanted from an open-world RPG, and many of them agreed on these things; free exploration, an interactive environment, quality animation, among many other things. I will try to keep this article as spoiler free as possible.
I have brought up the term “Gacha game” quite a few times, and for those who are curious, Gacha games, named after Gachapon machines, are games which incentivises players to spend in-game currency to gain a random item, whether that be a character or a weapon. Typically in games like these have something known as a pity system, in which it takes a certain amount of rolls until you are guaranteed a high quality item. In Wuthering Waves, this “pity” starts at 65 pulls, and at around 80 is when it is guaranteed that you will receive a high rarity item.
The game opens with a beautifully animated cutscene. Afterwards, we are introduced to our main companions. The voice acting leaves much to be desired, as the character “Yangyang” has quite a flat tone when she speaks, and it often takes the player out of the scene when she doesn’t seem to be reacting to the situation appropriately. At times, if the dialogue is too long, it will completely cut off, or you won’t be able to see what is being said in the captions. Another issue that many have brought up is how many of the characters’ accents are off. After researching it further, it can be found that the voice actors are all from Britain and were directed to use American accents. Sometimes you can hear their English accents slip through, causing some words to feel off.
Many players have also found issues with the character designs. One of the antagonists’ clothes was even changed in a patch due to his outfit not being received well by the community. It is very difficult to tell who the characters are as people based on their designs alone. Many of them don’t have clothing that would fit their occupation, and don’t give insights on them as characters. Then again, this is all up to personal preference.
The gameplay runs very smoothly. However, the camera locking onto enemies makes the camera feel stiff at times. I can see how this would help others playing on different platforms, such as mobile devices or with controllers. The game also has a simple user interface which is nice to look at and doesn’t get in the way of the gameplay.
Along with an open world, there comes an interactive environment including puzzles, which are a breath of fresh air from the usual puzzles I am used to in Gacha RPGs. My favorites are the ones which involve using the feature which allows you to lift objects using telekinesis. This ability is fun to use, and challenging when you have to figure out where the object will land when you throw it. Other puzzles are as simple as hitting multiple targets in order to unlock a chest.
The interactive environment also becomes more fun when you include the parkour mechanics, which allows you to traverse areas much quicker with the inclusion of grapples, wall running, and many other mechanics. In many games, there’s an issue where characters will get stuck on a ledge due to an obstacle in front preventing them from climbing upwards. In Wuthering Waves, characters are able to climb over them, making it easier for the player to access hard to reach places. The stamina system is also quite easy to understand, and it is also easy to level up.
Overall, Wuthering Waves is a fun game that anyone can get into, as it is fairly easy to understand, the mechanics are fun, and it has a whole world to offer.
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