HomeFeaturesWhere Winds Meet
Where Winds Meet is a wildly ambitious RPG that lets you yeet bearsAnd telekinetically rob people
And telekinetically rob people
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Everstone Studio
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Everstone Studio
Where Winds Meetstruck me as hugely ambitious action adventure romp set in vast, Ten Kingdom-inspired China. And it was hilariously impossible to summarise in the space of a short, sharp 30-minute appointment. While the elevator pitch started off fairly naturally, there came a point where the elevator rocketed up into the atmosphere and spiralled out of control. I won’t pretend to completely understand what the exact measure of the game is, but I’m both excited to see more and a tad worried it could end up being a disjointed, overstretched mash of things that don’t form a cohesive whole.
Where Winds Meet World Premiere Trailer | gamescom Opening Night LIVE 2022Watch on YouTube
Where Winds Meet World Premiere Trailer | gamescom Opening Night LIVE 2022
I spoke to the devs briefly before I spent some time with the game, and they casually sprung on me that you could play it solo or with hundreds of folks on the same server. That players could actually get sick and, depending on their ailment, have to seek out some very specific form of Chinese medicine to cure it. That there’s tonnes of martial arts and a system where you can pet animals. Last year, there was even talk of an entirejob systemwhere you could become a doctor or an architect or a bodyguard.
After having my mind mildly split in two, my time with the game began, and it, too, was split into two hurried halves. The first was me fighting some dudes in a tutorial zone, and the second was watching the devs take over. The second half was bonkers.
The tutorial was a chance to test out the game’s hack and slash combat against some lackeys, each of them letting me belt them with martial arts-inspired moves. It was reminiscent of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, in the way you’re encouraged to dash out the way of swipes, deflect attacks with a flash, then build up a stagger bar to knock them senseless for a bit. There was a satisfying rhythm to a one-on-one bout against a “Faceless Tyrant”, whose attack patterns were readable and offered up well-timed opportunities to swing the momentum against him. And all of it possible on keyboard and mouse, which is a nice plus. As a Soulsliker, I was very impressed!
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Everstone Studio
Onwards! To a bit where we teleported to the top of a great mountain peak that overlooked a stunning vista of mountains, rivers, and little towns seen through misty clouds. Then we walked on the sky for a bit, because WHY NOT, ascending higher and higher for the sheer hell of it. An enormous Buddha statue towered in the distance, so we set course for that, leaping through the air and wall running along his belly. A little stamina ring akin to the recent Zelda’s depleted during the belly run, and we didn’t have enough time to wait for it to replenish (the elevator was, at this point, in orbit).
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Everstone Studio
Of course it’s far too early to deliver the bang of the gavel, but my big worry lies with the game’s ambitions and the general sense of lots, lots, lots going on. Interactions with the bear, the Buddha, and the telekinetic robbery could’ve been more performative than meaningful. And as we bounced around the skies and I saw levels above people’s heads, my MMO radar bleeped to life. Not to say the game’s an MMO at all, it just engaged something within my brain which said, “This has the slightly static enormity of an MMO.”
Despite my reservations, I desperately want Where Winds Meet to succeed as its setting is fantastic and the team are incredibly passionate about the work they’re pouring into the game’s many, many different systems and subsystems. I just hope it all comes together when it releases sometime later this year.
For more of the latest news and previews from Gamescom 2023, head to ourGamescom 2023 hub. You can also findeverything announced at Opening Night Liveright here.
