Where Winds Meet: hands-on report

Ambitious in size and scope, Where Winds Meet’s Wuxia-inspired free-to-play open-world adventure is nearly ready for its PS5 bow. And after spending a lot of time triple-jumping up trees and facing down bandits in the beta, I explored why Everstone Studio’s spin on 10th century China is already turning heads ahead of its November 14 drop.

Incredibly detailed customization tools

After a polished intro which introduced me to the basics, I was thrown into a comprehensive avatar customization suite. Facial options were as deep as tweaking my protagonist’s cheekbones, contours, and jowls. And that’s before I got to their makeup, accessories, dress sense and more.

A beautiful, living world

The staggering sense of possibilities extends to the environment itself. Luscious fields of long grass, towering temples and dim underground caverns which required lighting my path with fire arrows, were all accessible during my first couple of hours – a jaunt through a peaceful village stream with a string of kites flapping in the wind being a particular highlight.

This all takes place with a day to night cycle which changes the ambiance and routines of some of the NPCs I encountered. And if you find yourself closed off from any areas, you can overhear some conversations by clicking down on the right analog stick, listening in via the DualSense controller’s speaker.

Your first hour will be eventful

Sure, you can play this massive game in a very traditional, story-driven mission way if you want, but I found an abundance of fun in its gameplay freedom and plentiful tasks offered at regular intervals.

During my first 30 minutes I was already competing in some friendly target practice on a cliff top, scaring off bees to climb a tree for treasure, riding on horseback, and yes, even petting a cat.

Later on I found myself cooking up health-restoring meals, challenging a child to some fishing, and playing a game of Pitch Pot, which had me throwing arrows into a jar while my avatar was inebriated, by trying to keep a cursor or two within an erratically moving sphere.

All creatures great and small

Cats weren’t the only animals around the world. The variety of wildlife was a constant curiosity, as geese strutted through fields, dogs barked at my avatar’s presence and birds flew overhead.

Naturally, some of the fauna are passive, giving you the choice to interact with them, while others can be hunted. And the likes of bears and wolves can turn aggressive if you, other animals, or active NPCs wander into their path. Dispatching them provides valuable resources, but beware – some creatures are far from ordinary. Blundering into a field of fire snakes was something I didn’t want to repeat in a hurry.

A population of personalities

I met a variety of chatty people on my travels, from farmers to thieves, and assassins to doctors. Some gave me side quests or mini tasks, such as investigating a mysterious area, stealing a con-man’s goods, or in one particular case, serving a table full of drinkers.

You can take this even further with some NPCs, using the on-screen keyboard to engage in an actual live conversation to help build relationships and earn in-game gifts. This system wasn’t fully finished in the beta, but it’s something I’ll be looking forward to in the full version.

Mystical, methodical, and accessible combat

While basic attacks and combos using the square button can be effective when partnered with dodge on the circle button and block via L1 (causing a pleasing ‘clang’ sound to come from the DualSense wireless controller’s speaker when blades clash), the gloss of the combat comes from its special attacks. When combined with a mapped face button, L2 or R2 unleashes your Mystic or Martial Arts, which include sword energy blasts and a damage-heavy fire breath.

While combat plays a big part of Where Winds Meet, you can make it easier if it’s not something you’re particularly interested in, with combat assist options to help with elements, including parry windows and ranged attack indicators.

Expect… the unexpected

With a world as big as this, there were plenty of surprises that cropped up during my time with the beta. I won’t spoil too many here, but for those curious, one instance had my avatar engage in a battle of words in a ‘Gift of Gab’ mini-game, where I had to choose witty responses to win an argument. While falling from a great height caused my avatar to get a sprain, one of a few unusual status ailments.

Things also got very weird when I unwisely drank liquid which was clearly marked “Do not drink”. My avatar lost his senses and believed that he turned into a dog. So I did what any reasonable dog would do under such circumstances, and proceeded to join a Mahjong table with several other dogs.

This was only scratching the surface of what Where Winds Meet had to offer, with its PvP servers opening up even more possibilities when the game comes to PS5 on November 14.