Hands On: Where Winds Meet PS5 Is Vast, Visionary, and on the Verge of Collapse

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After approximately 20 hours of play, we’ve barely scratched the surface of Where Winds Meet.

We thought about publishing an early review, but it became clear that this game is much larger and more complex than we initially realized, and we didn’t have enough time with it before its release to do it justice.

We also have some concerns about the current build of the game and how it will be updated for the November 14th launch. We’ll discuss those details later.

If you’re curious about NetEase’s new free-to-play game, the most important thing to know is just how massive it is. This historical adventure is huge – you can easily spend 150 hours exploring its world, and it features both a single-player story and online multiplayer. Best of all, it’s completely free to play.

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We’re still figuring out exactly how the game will make money – most of those features weren’t working in the version we tested – but it seems like it will focus on things like character skins, Battle Passes, and other downloadable content.

There is gacha, we believe, but only for clothing and other personalisation content.

If our impressions seem a little uncertain, it’s because this game is incredibly complex and we haven’t fully explored everything yet. Plus, since we’re still playing a pre-release version, we’re not entirely sure what the final game will be like when you get to play it.

That’s really important because if other reviewers publish their opinions today, they’ll probably point out the game’s technical problems and be quite critical.

We found many bugs while playing the game, including wrong instructions, missing conversations, incorrectly labeled subtitles, unresponsive menus, and even crashes.

So, we let NetEase know about all the stuff we found, and they said a lot of it is getting fixed – some things are already being worked on as top priorities. Honestly, though, I can’t say for sure how much will be patched up by the time the game actually launches for you guys. I’ll just have to wait and see like everyone else!

Even with its challenges, this game could be truly special if the developers at Everstone Studios can refine their vision and deliver a well-polished, unified experience.

One way to describe the game is to compare it to Ghost of Tsushima. The wide-open landscapes of the starting area, Qinghe, give players a similar feeling of freedom to that game.

The game world feels incredibly alive, comparable to large, detailed games like Assassin’s Creed or Bethesda RPGs. It’s filled with around 10,000 people going about their daily routines, making each town and campsite feel bustling and realistic.

Kaifeng, a city that flourished in the 10th century, was a bustling and vibrant center of life, filled with activity and countless stories.

As a player, I love that Where Winds Meet lets me decide how I want to experience the game. I can really tailor it to my preferences! I can choose to focus on the story and play solo, or jump into multiplayer. Plus, I can decide if I want the game to point me towards everything, or if I’d rather explore and find things on my own. And best of all, I get to choose how much help I want during fights – whether I want it to be super challenging or a bit more forgiving. It’s awesome!

You can customize these settings before starting a new game, and change them whenever you like. For our playthrough, we used more helpful tips to focus on the single-player experience, but we recommend trying the game with minimal assistance for a greater challenge.

At the beginning of the story, the main problem seems small: a jade pendant you’ve had since you were a child is stolen.

This discovery begins a chain of unfolding secrets, rooted in the history of China’s Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Fans of Wuxia stories and shows will find a lot to enjoy.

Okay, so this game is seriously packed. There’s so much to take in. You can scan objects around the world to learn their backstory and fill up this huge collection, but honestly, the menus are a bit overwhelming. There are tons of different modes, skill trees to level up, stuff to unlock, different currencies, and a whole mountain of gear to manage. It’s a lot!

The game attempts to introduce things gradually, but we still felt completely overloaded with options. We estimate it would take another 30 to 50 hours of gameplay just to fully grasp everything the game has to offer.

The game’s story is divided into a central storyline and optional ‘Fractured Tales’ side quests that add depth to the game world. It can be a lot to follow, but this design choice reinforces the feeling that you’re truly immersed in a living, believable place.

Battles feature a wide range of weapons, including traditional choices like swords and spears, as well as more unique options such as parasols and rope darts.

Since renowned Hong Kong director Stephen Tung Wai is helping with the fight choreography, you can expect the action to be as visually impressive as a movie.

The combat feels more like Stellar Blade than Dark Souls, though it still includes a stamina bar, and you can be interrupted if you run out of stamina.

To save time, we played on the easiest setting, so the game wasn’t very difficult. We had fun with how quickly the game reacted to our actions, especially using weapons like the parasol, although we did encounter some glitches.

You can assign skills to keyboard shortcuts for quick access to powerful attacks, but these skills have cooldowns, meaning you can’t use them constantly. This delay might frustrate players who prefer fast-paced action, as it introduces a mechanic similar to those found in massively multiplayer online games.

We didn’t have a chance to try the online multiplayer features, as we focused on playing through the single-player story. However, you’ll still feel the presence of other players – you’ll occasionally find notes they’ve left behind, which might offer helpful hints, reveal secrets, or just be a playful prank.

The game’s cutscenes aren’t groundbreaking visually, but they appear often, which is impressive for a free-to-play title. The English voice acting isn’t great, and we noticed the subtitles didn’t always line up with what was being said. We suggest playing with Chinese audio if possible, though the story might be confusing if the script has issues.

The game effectively portrays the everyday routines of life in 10th century China, then unexpectedly blends that realism with the exciting action you’d find in a wuxia film. This creates a really interesting and compelling combination.

Right now, it’s hard to say how long it will take for the game to fully live up to its promise. The version we played felt incomplete – for example, the bow-and-arrow was designed to use the DualSense controller’s special features, but it didn’t quite work as intended.

We’re concerned that there are too many issues to resolve by November 14th, so we’re not even starting a review process at this time.

We’re facing a lot of unknowns and potential problems, as we’ve never been in this situation before.

So far, the game feels daring, incredibly ambitious, and surprisingly captivating, even if it’s still a little rough around the edges.

Okay, so this game has moments of real brilliance, but they’re always mixed with something that feels…off. I’m really hoping the developers, Everstone, can fix things up and get it where it needs to be. They seem dedicated, so I’m cautiously optimistic they’ll give it their best shot.

Excited about the release of Where Winds Meet this week? Let us know in the comments if you’re ready to dive into its complex and immersive world inspired by Wuxia fantasy!

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2025-11-12 19:09