First look: Wuthering Waves rushes onto iOS and Android
Wuthering Waves took the gaming world by storm last week, churning up a tsunami of attention and praise as players embarked on the latest gacha-fueled adventure. While I intend to take my time writing up an official review of the game, I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least comment on the launch version. Here are my initial hands-on impressions of Wuthering Waves.
In Wuthering Waves, you are a Rover, a mysterious Resonator with the ability to absorb enemy frequencies found around the world map and unleash them through different abilities and powers. After experiencing a topsy-turvy dream, you wake up with nothing but a fuzzy head and no memories of who you really are. Luckily, your new companions, Chixia and Yangyang, are there to fill you in on where you ended up and how your Resonator abilities work...that is, until your power presents itself in a way that no one expected.
The good
To kick things off, Wuthering Waves comes off as a very polished experience. Straight from the beginning, it’s clear the devs put a lot of time and effort into the game’s storyline, world map, play mechanics, and presentation. In fact, it’s all almost too much, which I’ll get to in the next section. But overall, hats off to Kuro Games for Wuthering Waves’ high production value.
One of the first things I noticed was how good combat felt, even on a touchscreen smartphone. Sword skills and abilities are all very nimble, thanks in large part to the intro/outro partner system that executes special attacks when switching out charged party members during battle. Not only does this help the characters to land combos and flit about the battlefield at a faster rate, but it also encourages players to switch out their fighters in a way that other competing RPGs do not.
Next is the Tacet Discord Echos system, which basically adds Pokémon-like mechanics to the game. When you defeat an enemy (known as a Tacet Discord), you’ll have the chance to use your Resonator abilities to absorb that enemy’s Echo and equip them to your character to unleash devastating new attacks. The coolest part is that if you don’t like your Echo’s active or passive abilities, you can always swap it out for another Echo. The combinations are nearly endless, and they can go a long way in customizing your characters’ battle abilities.
Finally, one more bit of praise for the devs. Kuro Games have been extremely responsive throughout the launch of Wuthering Waves. They’ve fixed bugs, shared regular updates with players directly in the game, and even offered rewards thanking players for their patience. It’s clear that the devs are devoted to optimizing the playing experience, which is a huge win for gamers like you and me.
The gripes
Server-side updates are necessary to keep online games in tip-top shape, but the execution here needs some work. Every single time Wuthering Waves boots up and a server-side update automatically downloads, the app must be completely shut down and restarted before proceeding to the game’s launch menu. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing on iOS, Android, or even PC — this process is the same, and it’s completely jarring. There needs to be a way to receive server-side updates and then launch the game without restarting.
For as great and grand as Wuthering Waves’ world building is, the lore behind it comes with a glaring pitfall: there’s simply too much to tell too early on in the adventure. The game begins with a massive data dump where the characters explain the world you’ve fallen into and how it works. Even worse is that this deluge of info will continue well past the first several hours of gameplay. While it’s nice to get the backstory upfront, unraveling all the different monikers and groups is long, tedious, and a bit boring. There are a ton of cutscenes and dialogue that make Wuthering Waves feel a bit more like an interactive visual novel than a gacha RPG. It’s a lot of info when all you really want to do is dive in and play.
As cool as the intro/outro moves are that I mentioned above, there’s a pesky problem here, too. Each character has a minimum several catchphrases they say every time you sub them out, which can get pretty annoying during battle. By the eighth time Yangyang says, “Let me be your blade,” or Chixia exclaims, “Bring it on,” you want to stop swapping them out altogether just for some peace and quiet.
Speaking of your companions, I’m sure Yangyang means well, but her monotone voice mixed in with the repetition of “Rover” every other sentence is excessive. Yeah, it’s a small gripe, but given how many cutscenes there are earlier on in the game, Yangyang gets a little annoying. Sorry, Yangyang.
Last, despite the PC version having controller support, this is completely missing from Android and iOS — a huge detractor, in my opinion. I’ve made it clear over the years that every mobile game should come with controller support. That said, I will admit that the Wuthering Waves’ touch controls are very tight and intuitive. They may not be my first choice for a game like this, but they’re serviceable.
The conclusion, for now...
It’s been a long time since a high-production gacha RPG came to challenge the likes of Genshin Impact and its turn-based sibling, Honkai: Star Rail. In fact, the last game that came close (I think) was Tower of Fantasy, which has lost a lot of its luster since it landed in 2021. But as Genshin continues to pump out regular updates and its developer, HoYoverse, prepares to launch its next big title, will Wuthering Waves be the one that finally dethrones the gacha champion?
It’s far too early to tell. But one thing is certain — Wuthering Waves contains the foundation for what could easily be a massive multi-year adventure that takes players on a harrowing journey to recover Rover’s memory and unearth the secrets of their fabled power. As long as Kuro Games continue to support their game and their players, there’s no reason Wuthering Waves won’t be a massive hit with real staying power. The game has already captured the attention of the industry; now it just needs to hold on and take us on a wild ride we won’t forget.
Wuthering Waves is available today for iPhone/iPad and Android. While the game is free to download and play, there are IAPs and plenty of gacha opportunities, so mind your wallet.