Is Where Winds Meet for You?

A simple breakdown for Souls & Genshin fans

If you've watched a trailer for Where Winds Meet and thought:

"This looks gorgeous, but what actually is it? MMO? Souls-like? Another Genshin?"

This guide isn't here to sell you the game. It's here to answer one thing, as simply as possible:

"Is Where Winds Meet my kind of game?"

I'll walk through what the game is, what it isn't, and how it feels compared to stuff you probably already play: Souls games, Genshin / anime ARPGs, and big MMOs.

Quick summary (so you don't have to scroll)

If you only want the TL;DR, this is the short version:

Type of game: Free-to-play open world wuxia action RPG set in 10th-century China; story-driven single-player at the core, with optional multiplayer and MMO-style features.
Platforms: PS5, Steam, Epic Games Store, and a standalone Windows client.
How it feels:
- open-world freedom like Zelda / Elden Ring
- combat that sits somewhere between Souls-lite and stylish action
- a light MMO layer on top (co-op, group content, daily stuff), but it is not a classic tab-target MMO.
Monetization: Free to download. Current complaints mainly focus on gacha for cosmetics / outfits, not on raw pay-to-win stats.
Current reception: Steam reviews sit at Very Positive overall, with a lot of praise for visuals and the main story, and a decent number of people saying the game throws a lot at you early on and can feel overwhelming.

If that already sounds interesting, the rest of this guide breaks it down in more detail, from the point of view of different player types.

1. So… what is Where Winds Meet, in plain language?

Let's strip away all the buzzwords.

Where Winds Meet is a big, story-driven, open world martial arts game, with online features, that just happens to be free.

A few key pillars:

Open world first. You run around a huge map that looks like a wuxia movie: towns, temples, bamboo forests, mountain ridges, rivers, and weird side stories all over the place.
Action combat, not tab-target. You dodge, block, parry, juggle, swap weapons and use skills in real time. There are difficulty options, so it doesn't have to be a pain-simulator unless you want that.
Single-player core, with multiplayer glued on. You can play the main story entirely solo. There are co-op activities, group bosses and social stuff, but people in MMO subreddits keep repeating the same line:

"It's not really an MMO. It's closer to a single-player game with multiplayer components, kind of like Monster Hunter."
Wuxia setting, not generic fantasy. Think Chinese martial arts dramas: light-footed sword fights on rooftops, sects and clans, "jianghu" (the martial underworld), and a big messy power struggle in 10th-century China.
Very modern tech under the hood. On top of all that, it has AI-powered NPCs you can actually chat with via text or voice. Some people love the roleplay possibilities, others are creeped out by it, but it's a real thing in the game, not just marketing fluff.

So if you were hoping for "full classic MMO with raids as endgame and nothing else", this is already a soft no. If you're okay with "big single-player experience that happens to live online", keep reading.

2. If you like Souls games

If you live in Elden Ring / Dark Souls / Sekiro land, here's the honest bit.

2.1 What will feel familiar

You're dropped into a big world and told: go figure it out. There's a main story, but the map constantly tempts you away with side content, hidden bosses and optional areas. That "oh, what's that over there?" feeling is very similar.
You can chase challenge if you want it. There are higher difficulties and tougher content for people who want to sweat. Players talk about "Legend" difficulty as the "please hurt me" option.
Builds & playstyles exist. Different weapons, martial styles, and internal arts mean you can skew toward fast / agile, heavy / slow, ranged, etc. It's not as brutally min-max-heavy as a Souls meta, but you do make meaningful choices.

2.2 Where it's not a Souls-like

You can turn the difficulty down. If you just want to enjoy the story and the world, you're not stuck in "git gud or quit" land. Reviewers and beta players repeatedly stress: it's more forgiving, especially on lower settings.
Combat is flashy and stylish, not pure punishment. You still have to dodge and manage mechanics, but there's more room for "I just want to look cool flying around with a sword". It's less about perfect invincibility frames and more about flow.
Death doesn't carry the same existential dread. You'll get annoyed if you mess up, but it's not built around losing tons of progress every time you die.

If Souls is your reference point: Think of Where Winds Meet as "a wuxia open world that lets you chase challenge if you want, but doesn't force every player to live in pain."

3. If you play Genshin / anime ARPGs

Maybe your main comfort food is Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, Zenless Zone Zero and similar.

3.1 What you'll vibe with

Open world wander-and-vibe gameplay. Climbing, gliding, exploring pretty locations, doing sidequests that are sometimes serious, sometimes silly—that loop is here.
Free to download, story-heavy, character-driven. You can try the game without paying. A lot of people on Steam are specifically praising the main single-player story and how surprisingly "premium" the world feels for a F2P title.
You don't have to no-life the game. Yes, there are dailies and MMO-like hooks, but you can just log on to do story content and exploration.

3.2 Where it's different from Genshin-style games

Tone is more grounded and "drama wuxia" than anime. It's still stylised, but it leans more into historical drama and martial arts fantasy than into anime hijinks. Think wuxia drama first, gacha game second.
Combat has more weight. There's a bit more timing, positioning, and commitment to your moves. It's not a simple "spam skill rotation while watching Netflix" type of combat, especially on higher difficulties.
Monetization is there, but so far mostly in cosmetics. Players who were in earlier tests mention the gacha being focused on outfits and drip, not on raw damage. If you care mainly about fashion, you'll notice it; if you care about beating bosses, current complaints aren't about mandatory spending.

If you like the idea of a Genshin-sized world with more martial arts and less elemental anime meta, this is probably on your wavelength.

4. If you come from big MMOs (WoW, FF14, ESO, etc.)

This is where expectations can get messy.

4.1 What scratches the MMO itch

There is group content. Co-op, bosses, group challenges, social spaces—this isn't a purely offline single-player game with a fake "online" label.
There is a daily / weekly loop. Expect the usual: log in, clear some repeatable content, work on progression systems, chase specific rewards.
There is a wider player community. Subreddits, Discord, fashion sharing, theorycrafting—the meta conversation is starting to spin up quickly.

4.2 Where it is not a traditional MMO

People in MMO communities keep repeating versions of the same warning:

"Unfortunately, Where Winds Meet is not an MMO. It's a single-player game with multiplayer components, more like Monster Hunter than WoW."

No classic "holy trinity raid MMO" backbone. Don't expect a WoW-style dungeon finder, healer/tank/DPS holy trinity and 10-year raid ladder.
Endgame expectations need to be adjusted. There is ongoing content and grind, but if you measure all games by "does it replace my main MMO", this probably won't.

If you just want "a gorgeous martial arts world I can occasionally share with other people", you're fine. If you want "a new forever-MMO", lower your expectations.

5. Difficulty, learning curve, and the "overwhelming" problem

One of the loudest themes from early reviews:

"This game is great but throws a lot at you when you start."

You'll see both things at once:

Very Positive reviews on Steam overall (around 80%+ positive).
People also saying the UI, systems, and early hours can feel like information overload—menus, currencies, systems popping up, etc.

In practice, that means:

If you like poking at systems and slowly sorting the chaos out, you'll enjoy the first weekend.
If you get stressed when a game dumps 10 tooltips on you, you might want a simple beginner guide next to you (this is exactly the gap this article + your future "Beginner Tips" piece can fill).

The good news:

Difficulty settings let you tune how punishing fights are.
You don't have to understand every system on day one to have a good time. Focus on exploration and story first, let the rest drip-feed in.

6. Monetization: is it actually pay-to-win?

Right now, the short, honest answer looks like this:

Free-to-play, with cosmetic gacha and battle-pass-style spending. Early testers and players call out the fashion gacha as the main "ugh" point—but also keep stressing that it's mostly about looks, not power.
No giant red flag around raw stat pay-to-win yet. That can always change with future patches or regions, but the current wave of criticism online is more "why so much AI / live-service stuff" than "this is unplayable without swiping".
You can just download it and see. Multiple players on PS5 / Steam threads literally say: "It's free, just try it" as their bottom line.

If you refuse to touch anything with gacha or battle passes on principle, this won't convert you. If you're okay with "I might spend a bit on outfits if I like it", you're in the target group.

7. The one truly weird, unique thing: AI NPCs

One thing that makes Where Winds Meet stand out from other big open world games right now is:

Some NPCs are actually AI chatbots.

You can talk to them via text or even voice, and they respond in character.
People are already doing… exactly what you'd expect the internet to do with that (weird roleplay, trolling, lore-breaking conversations).

Reactions are split:

Some players love the idea of "living NPCs" and deep roleplay.
Others hate the presence of generative AI in games on principle and see it as a big red flag.

If you're curious about AI-driven NPCs and like experimenting, you'll probably have fun messing with this. If you're tired of AI discourse already, you may want to ignore those NPCs as much as the game allows.

8. Who will probably like Where Winds Meet

You'll probably click with this game if:

You love wandering around pretty open worlds just to be there, not just to min-max DPS.
You enjoy martial arts fantasy / wuxia as a vibe, or you're at least curious about it.
You like Souls-likes, but you're also okay with difficulty sliders and a bit more approachability.
You play Genshin / big ARPGs, but wish for a more grounded, historical setting.
You like the idea of a game that's online and social, but doesn't demand "log 4 hours a night forever or fall behind".

9. Who will probably bounce off

You may want to skip it (for now) if:

You only enjoy classic tab-target MMOs and want a new forever-home raid game.
You hate information-dense UIs and don't want to read or learn systems at all.
You're allergic to any form of gacha / battle pass, even for cosmetics.
You're extremely sensitive to the presence of AI tech in games and it breaks immersion for you.

10. So… is Where Winds Meet for you?

If you had to reduce this entire article down to one check:

Do you want a big, pretty, martial-arts open world that plays like a story-driven ARPG first, and an online game second?

If the answer is yes, then it's at least worth the download.

From there, the next step is simple:

Try a few hours.
If you like the world and the feel but feel lost, look for a Beginner Tips guide that:
- explains the UI in plain language
- tells you what to ignore early on
- gives you a short "first 3 hours" checklist so the game feels playful instead of overwhelming

That's exactly the kind of guide this site is built to provide.

If you decide to jump in, welcome to 10th-century China. May the wind treat you kindly—and may your first wuxia faceplant be at least funny.