Where Winds Meet is a complicated game. It’s a game that tries to do a lot of things; some of them it does very well, while others it puts forth a good effort, and other still, it completely fails. It’s for this reason that this impressions piece comes two months after the game’s launch. There is so much in this game, I felt it important to see and experience as much as I could to give it its due. Even now, it’s impossible to write a proper review because the game is changing too fast, it wouldn’t be fair to score it given how different it is already from its November 2025 launch.
Another reason is, honestly, I can’t quite tell how I feel about the game. Some days, I’m running around exploring the world for hours, letting other games fall by the wayside, while other days, I login for my daily login redemption and I check out. When Where Winds Meet is clicking, it clicks like nothing else, like there’s a veil over my eyes of awe and wonder at what’s in front of me. When it’s not, I’m staring at a janky, sometimes broken game hoping it doesn’t crash. That all said, I think that, deep down, I like this game, despite its enormous flaws, and I think that there is an audience for it (as evidenced by its millions of players already), but I hope they continue to improve upon it. Let’s dive a little deeper.
Chinese Barbie (or Ken) Doll
You play as a completely customizable character, male or female, with an immense amount of character customization options, who you can name whatever you want. However, she (I picked the female) is referred to as “Young Master” or “Young Wanderer” or “Young Hero” throughout the story. She is fully voiced during the main story, as well as numerous side quests, and the main cast is similarly voiced. But given the vast number of quests in the game, there are a multitude of quests where she is silent, but the NPC is voiced, or vice versa. The inconsistency here leads to a disconnect from the world, not because voiced characters are required, but because you never know which to expect when starting a quest.
Regarding the voice acting, when it is present, what you end up with is a mixed bag. The story itself is rather serious, and there are characters who seem to be trying to take it very seriously and don’t quite hit the mark. Others recognize that, despite the serious tone, there is a level of goofiness to this world, and they lean into the camp, and those tend to hit better. My favorite example of this is a character named Big Zhao, and his voice actor is just having a good time. His performance leads to some genuinely amusing moments. The Young Wanderer’s female voice, however, is trying her hardest, but could use some practice. It’s not entirely the performer’s fault, though, as the script they’re given needs some major work.
The hardest part about criticizing the writing of Where Winds Meet is that I can’t tell if it’s poorly localized, or actually bad. My gut says the former is more likely the case, because the premise they lay out is an interesting one: this is a world of heroes, and your character wants to go out and explore the world but her aunt refuses, but when events unfold, she is thrust into the world on her own. The problem is that their attempts to flesh out the details of what’s happening gets mixed up in their own convoluted storytelling, using words like “jianghu” without ever defining it, just assuming the player understand that the jianghu is the wilderness of the world, the area not directly controlled by imperial authority…I think. See, that’s the problem; that’s the best understanding I could get from the game and my outside research. The developers set up this fascinating, beautiful world, but don’t take that extra step to ease you into it and explain what’s happening.
Adventure and Combat Around Every Corner
The world of Where Winds Meet is absolutely beautiful. One of the main draws of this game is how gorgeous the environments are, with secrets, treasures, and enemies abounding everywhere you look. There’s hardly a moment playing where I didn’t find something new popping up on my mini-map to collect or an indication a new quest was available. That’s part of why I get lost in the game when I play. I say I’m going to accomplish this task, but on the way, I run across a quest. So, I say, “I’ll do this quest quickly, how long could it take?” And it ends up being an adventure to clear a chunk of the map from a poison gas that is impossible to safely navigate until the quest is done. It’s those moments where Where Winds Meet shines brightest: the sense of adventure, that I don’t know what I will come across playing today.
Alongside the exploration, the biggest part of Where Winds Meet is the combat system. It’s a wuxia, a genre of story concerning martial artists, and it leans into it. Everyone starts off with access to a basic sword style and a spear style, and then you unlock a third style from a small selection early on. I chose the Panacea Fan, which allows me to heal myself and others, and serves as a ranged attack. There are 12 weapon types in the game, each with their own style of gameplay and unique abilities. I’ve sampled them all, and I prefer my tanking spear and healing fan, as I believe they give the most utility for staying alive, but I’ve seen people using all of the options, so it’s a personal preference.
Combat is solid thanks in part to the quality sound effects and animation response to your hits. For larger enemies, particularly the big bosses, this is not the case, as they are so large that you feel like you’re swinging through them, similar to how a raid boss in an MMORPG is. It’s a shame, because the attack animations of the bosses are some of the most impressive, but it loses something when your own attacks don’t land with that impact. Sometimes combat’s not quite as responsive as I would like and I feel like I get hit when I should have successfully parried, but I place most of that on my own lack of skill rather than the game.
A Facade of Immersion Hiding Many Cracks
There’s a lot of interactivity within Where Winds Meet. There’s a robust online mode for co-op, which I have made use of to help me beat the harder bosses and get loot because they are very important in this MMO-lite game. Part of the co-op is that you take on professions of doctor and scholar (if you want) and can use those skills to help and heal injuries of other players (or designated NPCs in singleplayer). There is also competitive PvP, which I dabbled in but didn’t spend a ton of time trying to comment on. Trees and bamboo can be chopped down, treasure chests abound, and NPCs can be killed. It all lends to the immersion in the world, but the shallow nature of it eventually shines through; you’re doing things for the sake of doing them, without regard for why they need doing in the world.
Finally, no discussion of Where Winds Meet would be complete without mention of the bugs, glitches, and major issues. The game has crashed on me a handful of times, though it has gotten less frequent as they patch it. Sometimes, the scenery doesn’t load, so I’ll find myself standing in the air, only for a building to load in under me, or the same running into a wall. The framerate is usually okay in the wilderness, but dips in the big city of Kaifeng. As noted earlier, sometimes voice lines don’t happen when they seem like they’re supposed to happen. Compounding this, the UI is quite messy as well, with too many button prompts to access screens and bad directional recognition when using a d-pad or analog stick to pick an icon. All of these things I expect to get better over time and they’ve been improving since launch, but it has a long way to go.
I’ve enjoyed my time in Where Winds Meet. It’s flawed and messy, with some glaring faults and problems to be ironed out, but it’s been enjoyable. I played the game for a solid 60+ hours and I’ve had a good time. As it’s free-to-play, if you’re looking for a fun world to run around and explore, and can put up with the issues described here, it’s worth checking out.
