Where Winds Meet ReviEw
For quite a while now—actually no, it’s been years—I haven’t played any multiplayer game (outside of Monster Hunter) that truly made me awestruck by its gameplay, design, or overall experience. Well, that changes now.
Where Winds Meet is a multiplayer action RPG with Souls-like elements. It’s a pretty neat blend of the MMORPG experience and the slow-burn pacing of most soulslike games.
Combat, Exploration, and PrOgression
Despite being a “soulslike,” Where Winds Meet is not just a “Stand-and-dodge” or “-parry” game, it is a bit akin to Sekiro where you need to take your chances all the tim,e or you will die of old age before losing to your boss.
Okay, maybe that’s too exaggerated. You can take your time with it and still win.
The combat is fairly fast-paced and offers a wide variety of weapons and skills: fans, umbrellas, one-handed swords, dual blades, greatswords, and spears. Some of these weapons even have variants—like the umbrella and fan—which can be used to heal allies, provide buffs, interrupt enemies, or lean more toward damage-focused playstyles.
On top of that, there are universal skills and abilities usable regardless of weapon choice. This gives players more flexibility, especially for weapons that might lack crowd control, dodging abilities, or heavy attacks.
Character progression is a mix of straightforward leveling and gathering specific materials to unlock more skills.
Progression is also tied to exploration. You’ll need to find items called “oddities” scattered throughout the world, which allow you to unlock skills that directly help in combat. It’s not just skills either—some oddities unlock perks that increase your levels.
The game also features “checkpoint levels.” Once you reach certain thresholds, you’ll need to pass trials to unlock further progression.
Enemies scale with your level, so if you’re already struggling with certain enemies or areas, completing a trial and achieving a “breakthrough” may not always be the best move at that moment.
Setting, Themes, and COncepts
I could keep going about the combat, but honestly, everything about this game is a lot. No amount of words will fully prepare you for what you’ll experience in Where Winds Meet. I don’t mean this purely in terms of awe or spectacle, but in the sheer number of different experiences—good or bad—you’ll encounter. Whether that works for you is entirely up to you.
Anyway, what the hell is Wuxia?
To be honest, I had no idea what the term meant until this game released. The game’s description literally calls it an epic “Wuxia,” which essentially refers to Chinese martial arts fiction.
More specifically, it’s the floaty martial arts combat you see in Chinese films. It often incorporates Eastern mythologies, including deities, gods, and spirits.
The physical setting is heavily inspired by Chinese culture as well. Locations are filled with temples, villages, and religious figures that reflect these mythologies.
The level of detail and the sheer amount of explorable space is comparable to many modern open-world single-player games. In fact, in my first impressions video, I compared it to Assassin’s Creed: Shadows—and I’ll go as far as saying I enjoyed my time with Where Winds Meet more than Assassin’s Creed: Shadows.
That’s not a slight against Ubisoft’s game. Both clearly respect the cultures they depict. Where Winds Meet’s developers put an incredible amount of care into incorporating Chinese mythology not just into the main story, but also into side activities like poetry, wordplay, puzzles, and more.
There’s a level of dedication here that I can’t help but respect and appreciate—despite the frustrations I had with the game, which we’ll get into now.
My Frustrations
In many ways, the game feels similar to open-world gacha games like Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, or Honkai: Star Rail.
What I mean by that is there’s a lot of exploration and grinding—sometimes to the point where it feels deliberate, like the developers want you to spend an absurd amount of time just to see everything. Even some of the most basic tasks, like gathering materials for upgrades, don’t really have easy shortcuts.
Well… unless you spend money.
Microtransactions aren’t inherently bad, and I know that’s a whole debate on its own. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to understand them more—time becomes more limited as life fills up with adult responsibilities. But that’s a discussion for another day.kids. Anyway, that’s a discussion for another day.
Back to the game.
My biggest issue with microtransactions here is the number of different currencies involved. There are at least three premium currencies, each used for different things—exclusive skills, items, or cosmetics. Some of them don’t even directly unlock what you want; instead, they’re used for gacha rolls, meaning luck still plays a role.
The combination of gacha systems, multiple currencies, and microtransactions makes the whole thing unnecessarily frustrating.
Even beyond monetization, I also hate how many pages, tabs, and menus I have to open just to track things. There are separate trackers for main stories, side stories, enemies, plants—basically everything.
It’s insanely confusing to navigate all the journals and menus, and it often feels overwhelming.
Is Where Winds Meet A Good Game? Is Where Winds Meet Worth it?
Yes. I genuinely believe Where Winds Meet is a good game—but it’s not for everyone.
You can enjoy it as a single-player experience, but a lot of its content demands significant time and effort. Then again, that’s pretty much the case with most big games these days.
I’ve already laid out my frustrations, and honestly, those are the worst ones I can think of.
The game’s strongest points are its sheer amount of content—side stories, mini-games, secrets—and its story. The combat is also excellent and easily something the developers should be proud of, though it may be hit-or-miss depending on player preference. of but it can be a hit or miss for a lot of people.
One thing I didn’t really touch on is the graphics. The game is absolutely beautiful and surprisingly well-optimized.
More Where Winds Meet Screenshots
Where Winds Meet FAQs
Is Where Winds Meet free?
Yes, it is, but you can spend for stuff in the game.
What is Where Winds Meet about?
I have no clue. It starts off with some warrior carrying a child. Then, a time skip occurs and the child grows up to be your customizable character.
Where is Where Winds Meet set in?
The developers wrote that Where Winds Meet is set in 10th century ancient China but fictionalized.
Is Where Winds Meet available in mobile devices?
Yes, you can play Where Winds Meet in mobile devices since December 12 of 2025.
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