Wuthering Waves Review - Gaming Cypher

Wuthering Waves has been developed and published by Kuro Games and subsidiaries as a free to play role playing game (RPG) with gacha (random) mechanics. The overall gameplay stems from the action-adventure genre with RPG elements similar to Genshin Impact, Tower of Fantasy, etc. However, while that may be the most superficial similarities the development goes deeper borrowing some aspects from other action inspired games with one being a complete surprise. While gameplay is one aspect for Wuthering Waves the world building for the game is refreshing in the action-adventure gacha genre due to the emphasis on player agency in regards to the story. This is all due to the fact that it focuses more on the player having voice acted cutscenes and interactions alongside some parts of the story that require some deeper thinking. If they continue to enable the player to have a proactive and reactive part in the overall story it will make future updates feel more genuine. Kuro Games have made an engaging game with a lot of the quality-of-life features that would have made other games a lot better.

The gameplay for this game is quite similar to Genshin with some added gameplay elements that make the game feel fast and fluid. As for what those added elements are they are reminiscent of specialized mechanics in regards to Sekiro, and Armored Core VI Fires Of Rubicon. As for how each of these games effected the gameplay stems from the combat for the game, as Wuthering Waves’ fast pace combat is what sets it apart from the rest. The combat portion of the game is quite detailed with fast paced parrying mechanics reminiscent of Sekiro’s own parrying mechanics while providing an indication ring for players to easily detect the parry window. Alongside that they placed a shield gauge for some select enemies that the player can break to force said enemies to go into a temporary downed state. This downed state has been seen in various video games, but the most recent one to make full use of it is in Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon, and the implementation of the mechanic feels natural. Furthermore, these two mechanics while stemming from other games is incorporated well making it feel unique and natural as opposed to feeling disjointed. This makes the combat portion feel natural and allows the player the agency to fight in various manners according to the game’s mechanics.

Moreover, this experience is then compounded by several other gameplay mechanics such as a limited time transformation, and utility-based mechanics offering combat advantages. Aside from the combat portion of the gameplay there is also the exploration portion which mostly focuses on traveling the large map on foot with the exception of one transformation allowing the player to become a reference to Ghost Rider to traverse the map more freely for a bit. Moreover, while the exploration feels like a good mix of The Legend Of Zelda Breath of the Wild, and puzzles from Genshin Impact with the some speed stemming from Warframe. This makes exploration feel like a breeze and less of a hassle which makes the experience feel less of a hassle due to the unlimited stamina bar when not engaged in combat. Moreover, this unlimited stamina bar does not extend to combat, gliding, swimming fast, and climbing up wall which makes some parts of exploration feel slow, is only a small setback compared to the various movement mechanics the player can engage with. These additional mechanics come in the form of a double jump, grappling rope (can act as a third jump if timed correctly but is on a cooldown), and a glide that makes exploration a lot more efficient in the long run. This makes the gameplay split into two distinct halves with one side being focused towards combat, while the other is meant for exploration. This allows the developers to have some fun when creating puzzles possibly mixing the two into a better experience for the future.

The story of the game can be broken down into acts and often involve the player to act with some form of agency. Most of the more story critical moments allow the player some form of agency such as letting the player choose what to do next or think on a more critical level as to figure out a scenario. While those choices might feel minute to the player in terms of story telling the player is providing a proactive approach to the story as opposed to just being there. This makes the player more engaged in the story and one major thing the game needs to add is a more prevalent way of showing the world having an emotionally driven response to the player’s actions to really make the game grab the player’s attention. Aside from the story the game also has some multiplayer aspects that allow for some fun interactions to occur. The various acts while numerous only convey short segments of story while allowing the player to explore the world and play with friends once they reach a certain level. By having co-op locked behind a level wall can be both a positives and negatives in regards to playing the game with friends. The positives can be in the form of making exploration easier and puzzle solving, and enemy encounters will be a lot easier, with the minor caveat that the player might overlook some small finer details necessary for some of the lore depending upon their co-op partner(s). As for the negatives it can be seen as a money sink or time waster for some people making the game feel like a single player experience while not detrimental to the overall experience really makes the feel of the world a lot lonelier. Aside from that, the game is engaging enough, that the loneliness factor while there is partially remedied by the side quests and farming enemies.

Wuthering Waves has made quite a splash in the gaming sphere due to the various livestreams from popular streamers on Twitch and YouTube. This can be due to the fact that it has gotten some traction as a possible Genshin killer, but it really is there to help mix up the gerne as a whole that has been solely dominated by Hoyoverse as a whole. Kuro Games should be proud of themselves for developing an adventure action game with a good balance between combat and exploration. Striking that balance is hard to accomplish and it is safe to say that the game perfectly captures the balance between the two. Wuthering Waves is a solid 8/10 game the only thing keeping it from rising further is to focus on what makes the game enjoyable.

For more information, visit https://wutheringwaves.kurogames.com/en/

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