Wuthering Waves Review: Excellent Combat but Unrefined

Wuthering Waves Review and First Impressions

It has been just over 24 hours since the release of Wuthering Waves, and I’m here to give my review on the game. This will try to encompass all aspects of the game and help you decide whether to try the game.

To get straight to the point, I would give Wuthering Waves an optimistic 7/10.

There are definitely issues with the game, but it does have a strong foundation that can build into something special.

For all the Genshin players/haters out there, I won’t be comparing the two games much. I have played both, and while there are similarities, I’ll be reviewing Wuthering Waves based on its own merit.

Let’s dive into some categories like combat, story, and exploration.

Combat – 9/10

Without a doubt, combat is the best part of Wuthering Waves. It’s fast paced, snappy, responsive, has depth and a decent amount of potential. You can play with one character solo, dodging and destroying everything.

You can also pair a synergistic team of characters, quickly swapping between skills, liberations, intro/outro skills, and Echo skills. Diving into the combat system feels rewarding, with beautiful animations on attacks, dodges, counters, and more.

That being said, combat might not be everyone’s priority. If you want something more relaxed, an engaging combat system might not be for you. But if you enjoy fast-paced combat, Wuthering Waves provides a great system and a variety of characters.

However, there is definite concern about the longevity of the combat system. There are interactions between characters, but there may not be enough to create a diverse roster to feel worthwhile.

It’s likely that future characters will provide more unique combat styles, which can provide some longevity. But without team building depth and synergy, the combat may feel dry after more time passes.

World/Exploration – 6/10

When it comes to open-world exploration, I think there’s a lot of subjectivity. This category encompasses a lot of aspects, such as movement, puzzles, aesthetic, and more.

Movement

When it comes to movement, Wuthering Waves delivers a fluid system. You can run infinitely outside of combat, use a grappling hook to reach high places, and even dash through the air once per jump.

This makes exploring the world feel faster and less tedious. You can parkour through the world, jumping and grappling around, stopping to fight monsters or do puzzles.

For some, this faster paced movement may feel less satisfying. Scaling high mountains or searching for treasure can feel more rewarding when the movement is more grounded. Others may prefer this easier system, letting them zip around more.

The quicker movement also matches the fast-paced combat system, making it more thematic.

Puzzles

When it comes to puzzles and minigame content, the quality definitely varies. Some puzzles will be very simple, while others take a little bit of thinking.

Minigames like flying through obstacles courses or doing a 2-d platformer quest can be fun, but that’s entirely dependent on the player.

I don’t think anyone finds puzzles/minigames particularly amazing, but it’s something to do while exploring the world. I for one don’t particularly care too much for puzzles, but I wouldn’t consider it a demerit thus far.

Aesthetic

For aesthetic, I don’t want to comment too much since a lot of it boils down to personal preference. When it comes to the world, the colors are generally more muted, leaning into a post-apocalyptic setting.

However, some areas don’t match this vibe, which can lead to it feeling a bit disjointed. Some areas feel more modern, while others feel a bit barren, while others are vibrant.

Overall, I wouldn’t say the world looks bad by any means, but I wouldn’t consider it a selling point.

Story 3/10

Without a doubt, one of the worst aspects of the game so far is the story. Without getting into spoilers, the beginning is quite lengthy, explaining terminology and info dumping a lot.

Some characters also feel quite dull, seemingly there to dump more information without showing much personality. As you get a bit deeper into the story, some aspects do improve, but I wouldn’t consider anything mind blowing.

Fortunately, story can always be improved, but first impressions can’t change. If you want to skip the story and just play for combat, that is your prerogative. It really depends how much you value story in your games.

Voice Acting

Another weakness to the story so far has been the voice acting/localization (English). There are many small errors that break immersion and pull you out of the game.

While these areas can definitely be improved, it leaves a sour first impression, which is unfortunate considering other parts of the game are quite good.

If you don’t mind playing in another language, it can help this part a bit. There has been good reception to the Japanese voice-acting, so that is always an option if you prefer.

Bugs and Technical Performance

So far, many players have reported issues with lag, crashes, and other bugs. While this is definitely a demerit, it is something unique to every player’s experience. Some players run the game just fine, while others can’t avoid bugs/crashes.

I don’t weigh this aspect too heavily in my rating, but if the game is unplayable for you, that is definitely a major concern.

The game will continue to polish, removing bugs and issues, but if your first experience with the game is poor, it can be hard to justify giving it another try.

Many games release with full servers or are riddled with bugs, but assuming these issues are fixed quickly, I would be more forgiving for this lack of polish.

Developer Response

In response to all of the quality issues, Kuro Games has been very generous with players. They’re giving out a total of 20 Lustrous Tide (Permanent pulls) and a free 5-star selector.

Generosity like this can be taken many ways. Some people will say it’s a sign of good will and the devs listening to the community. Others will consider it a desperation move to try and keep players.

Overall, free rewards is always a good thing for players, but I do worry the influx of rewards might make the game more stale. Part of the gacha experience is making do with what you get and having a unique account. With so much generosity, players will essentially get to pick whatever they want and have a similar experience to others.

In the end, improving the game is what matters. The rewards are nice, and in-game currency is always appreciated, but improving the game is what will help Wuthering Waves in the long run.

Overall Thoughts

All in all, Wuthering Waves has a lot of strengths, but it showed a lack of polish on release. The poor story quality, bugs, crashes, and other aspects really weigh down on it.

The combat is really the saving grace. If you enjoy the combat, you can likely make it through the other aspects, hoping they improve over time.

If you average my 3 scores, it comes out to a 6, so why did I rate Wuthering Waves a 7/10?

This is for one simple reason: I’m enjoying the game and want to play more.

While the first few hours were a bit of a slog to get through, it definitely got better. I look forward to trying out different characters/teams, tackling harder content, and seeing where the story goes (and hopefully improves).

For that reason, I recommend anyone interested to give the game a try. Don’t worry too much about the early story, pray you don’t run into bugs, and enjoy the combat/world.

Thanks for Reading! Be sure to check out our other Wuthering Waves Guides or our Wuthering Waves Tier List.