There’s a new gacha game in the market, and it’s something I wasn’t expecting. Imagine Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed titles, with their big, sprawling open worlds, mixed with the addictive pull of gacha games. That’s exactly what Where Winds Meet feels like.
I spent a couple of hours exploring the game during its final Closed Beta. While I do have some good things to say about it, there are also a few drawbacks that made me wonder where exactly the game is headed.
What is Where Winds Meet?
To start, Where Winds Meet is a brand new open-world RPG developed by Everstone Studio and published by NetEase Games. It takes place in a vast Wuxia-inspired world set in tenth-century China.
Players create and customize their own character, complete with unique style and swagger. Like most gacha games, the story continues to evolve through regular updates, adding new maps, story arcs, and enemies.
Assassin’s Creed-Inspired Open World
The world in Where Winds Meet is massive, though only two regions were available during the beta. Even so, there was so much to do that I sometimes forgot I wasn’t playing an Assassin’s Creed title.
The magic of Where Winds Meet lies in how much it borrows from Ubisoft’s formula. You’ll find side quests that take you deep into ancient tombs beneath Buddhist temples or challenge you to outdrink someone in a mini Beer Pong-style game. The variety of activities is impressive, and there’s no shortage of things to explore in this open world.
There's also one thing that I noticed as I explored through Where Winds Meet's world, and it's the frequent use of AI NPCs. I noticed I can actually talk to NPCs, and they can respond in ways a normal human being would. It has an uncanny feel to it, but it's the first time I've seen something like it in a game.
How Combat Works
Unlike its inspiration, Where Winds Meet doesn’t focus on stealth. Instead, it offers fast-paced third-person combat, allowing you to equip different skills for both your weapon and your character. There’s a wide variety of weapons to choose from — swords, spears, dual blades, and even more unique ones like the Umbrella, which quickly became my personal favorite.
Combat also features a stamina mechanic. Once an enemy’s stamina is depleted, you can perform a powerful finisher that deals heavy damage. Think of it like the combat finishers from Spider-Man by Insomniac, but without the flashy cinematic.
There are many build options available, but the real core of character progression is in upgrading your weapons and armor. As you explore, you’ll gather upgrade materials from quests and tomb raids, which you can use to increase your stats. This is where the gacha loop reveals itself.
The Gacha Element
Resources are the backbone of any gacha game, and Where Winds Meet is no different. It starts you off with plenty of upgrade materials, but as you progress, they become harder to find. This nudges players toward buying Battle Passes that grant daily rewards and essential resources for upgrades.
There are no character pulls here; instead, you’ll be using your single custom character throughout. But you’ll still have tons of ways to customize and improve them through weapons, armor, skill trees, and even fashion.
The gacha shop features beautifully designed armor sets that players can pull for and equip. These sets are tied to limited-time event banners, giving players a chance to chase the looks they want.
Performance and Optimization
Where Winds Meet will launch on Android and iOS, but it’s also one of the few gacha games releasing on consoles like PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. I can’t speak for the mobile and Xbox versions, but I’ve been playing on a base PS5, and performance during the beta has been disappointing. There were frequent stutters and frame drops while exploring, and every time I blew up an explosive barrel with a flaming arrow, the game would freeze for a moment. There were also visual bugs that go from downright hilarious to creepy. I notice how it changes the color of textures around my character, sometimes turning my eyes red.
Granted, it’s still a work in progress. Hopefully, Everstone Studio can optimize everything before launch.
Overall, Where Winds Meet is an interesting twist on the gacha formula, offering an open world as grand as modern Assassin’s Creed games, but without the usual flood of playable heroes like most Gacha games have.
It’s an ideal game for players who are fans of both sprawling open-worlds like Assassin’s Creed, Ghost of Tsushima, and Horizon Zero Dawn, but also enjoy the addictive highs and lows of a gacha game.
It’s ambitious and promising, and it just might work if the developers can smooth out its rough edges before release.
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