Wuthering Waves review by jeuxvideo.com

Since the launch of Genshin Impact in 2020, miHoYo, now HoYoverse, dominates the mobile gaming and gacha market, that is to say those games which have a random dimension in obtaining an important element in the gameplay. Obviously, faced with this overwhelming success, many publishers wanted to launch themselves to compete with the leader, like Tencent which released Tower of Fantasy in 2022 without really succeeding in overtaking its main rival.

From now on, it’s Kuro Games’ turn to join the dance. The Chinese studio is well known in the mobile games market with Punishing: Gray Raven, an action role-playing game very focused on 3D action in a post-apocalyptic world… which is reminiscent of Honkai Impact 3rd, one of HoYoverse’s first titles. From now on, the company aims further with Wuthering Wave which is once again an action role-playing game, but this time in an ambitious open world which is clearly inspired by Genshin Impact. What really overshadows the juggernaut?

A story spoiled by a catastrophic translation

In Wuthering Waves, we play the Nomad, whose sex we can choose at the start of the adventure, who wakes up with amnesia in a post-apocalyptic world where Humanity tries to survive after the arrival of a calamity. In our quest, we have to face all kinds of monsters born from Lamentation, while being accompanied by Resonators, companions, who will help us regain our memories. Without too many surprises, our hero is not just anyone, because he has the power to absorb monsters once defeated to use their combat skills later. A very practical aspect which is felt especially through the gameplay.

Well, Wuthering Waves offers a fairly classic story that will surely take several updates before revealing itself. However, difficult to really appreciate it at the moment as the French translation of the game is catastrophic. Between problems with accents, certain sentences that appear off-camera and above all real French mistakes, it is complicated to appreciate the history of the game in the language of Molière. To tell you, we had to switch to English to try to understand what was going on. This is all the more true as the lore of the game is a bit technical, with precise terms for certain elements which are poorly transcribed into French.

Did you say Genshin Impact?

If the Kuro Games title does not shine for its story (for the moment) and especially not for its French translation, we reassure you, it still does much better for everything else. But let’s say it from the outset, whether in terms of structure, content or even interface, Wuthering Waves is very largely inspired by Genshin Impact, not to say that they are exactly alike..

Concretely, we discover an open world in which we follow the main quest which gives rise to dynamic combat in real time. On the exploration side, we obviously find climbing, a sort of glider to float in the air, but also a grappling hook to provide a little verticality. As for the clashes, everything takes place in teams of three, with only one character on the field at a time. Each has a basic combo, a special skill and obviously an ultimate ability.

With everything we describe to you, you can see how the resemblance between the two is striking and it doesn’t stop there. This goes so far that even in the menu interface we find a presentation similar to that of the HoYoverse games. Even in the store we find the same objects sold in the same place. In other words, a Genshin Impact player will feel at home when launching the game, but isn’t that a flaw? Doesn’t this too much similarity end up harming the experience which lacks its own identity? This is the feeling we can have, but Kuro Games still tries to stand out on certain specific points.

But what are the originalities of Wuthering Waves?

First of all, like Punishing: Gray Raven, Wuthering Waves offers particularly dynamic gameplay that sets it apart from the competition. Beyond the quality of its attack animations, the title offers additional mechanics compared to Genshin Impact such as a counter, a perfect dodge and a sort of completion attack which gives rise to very satisfactory returns. Clearly, if you play well, the game knows how to reward the player. Afterwards, each character has a particular functioning with regard to their skill thanks to a gauge above the life bar which details how to use it. Specific combo or question of rhythm, this gives a nice originality to each character.

As said a little earlier, our hero is capable of absorbing the power of defeated monsters to use them later. This translates into skills that can take different forms, but which can be assigned to any fighter. If only one ability can be assigned to a character at a time, the rest serve as passive bonuses and replace the equipment that can be seen in Genshin. An original, but a little more complicated way to strengthen your Resonators.

Beyond its gameplay, Wuthering Waves also has something to convince those who were disappointed or tired of Genshin Impact by its universe. The Kuro Games title offers a truly elegant artistic direction in the way it represents this post-apocalyptic world. The result is beautiful, neat environments that make you want to explore. This is also felt through the characters who benefit from fairly successful designs that are less colorful and childish than Genshin Impact, which will please some. Globally, we find a more techwear, more inky and more adult style reminiscent of Punishing: Gray Raven and which at least gives this unique aura to the game.

Conclusion