Wuthering Waves

I wanted to like this game, but couldn't. Story: After the first 5 times of them showing characters sad past memories in a pocket dimension, it started getting repetitive. Little did I know 5 more time spaces showing characters sad pasts were waiting ahead. After getting through Sigrika's sad past dimension, I was done with it, gave it one last chance, and whoa another (Lucilla) sad pocket dimension. Every single quest in this game follows the exact same formula of meeting a new girl, seeing her sad past and having some aura farming epic climax, maybe it works if you wait weeks for a patch, but playing it in one go is just bizarre. I am an enjoyer of waifu collectors, but it doesn't even do it well with your waifus disappearing after their patch and game having little parasocial side content for them. So the story is going to piss you off if you don't like stuff like that, nor will it satisfy you enough if you do. Add to it classic Chinese-gacha "dialogue" being a series of monologues throwing tons of jargon at you, the story not even having a clear direction and endgoal, and you get a pretty miserable experience saved only by visual spectacle being nice to look at. Combat: Starts ok and better than other games like this in early bosses having cool move sets and having to actually dodge stuff in the boss "hologram" gamemode, but it is made completely irrelevant by endgame structure carrying only about your dps and encouraging strict rotations instead of playing around with characters' kits, and kits themselves becoming more and more simplified as characters release, with the newest character released in this patch having optimal gameplay of holding a mouse button and getting infinite iframes. It leads to being able to completely ignore enemy moves the second you get modern characters and all good things about combat disappear, leaving you again with a repetitive but visually pleasing spectacle that feels empty. Other: Exploration starts ok, nothing groundbreaking, but then it turns into ubisoft checklist, even picking up chests gets automated later on. Great exploration for people who don't like exploration, I guess. Music is pretty good. Gacha: You get quite a lot of pulls for new characters, but signature weapons feel mandatory on a lot of them + devs like to run characters really needing each other in their teams back to back + big powercreep and increasing hp of enemies, so your standard gacha game at the end of the day. Don't want to compare to other titles, but if you expect anything other than the devs trying to squeeze you dry, you will be disappointed. It is nothing someone who played similar games would find out of place in the genre. TLDR: Directionless husk with pretty visuals, that starts with an okay premise, but it feels like every single patch the devs have a meeting where they decide to make all elements of the game worse but make it prettier.

[h1]GREAT GAME. AWFUL MONETIZATION. F2P PLAYERS DESERVE BETTER.[/h1] Wuthering Waves is a genuinely good game buried under a monetization system I simply cannot support. And instead of just saying [i]“gacha bad”[/i], let's look at the actual numbers. [h1]THE F2P REALITY[/h1] A normal F2P player receives only [b]60 Astrite per day[/b] from Daily Activity. One pull costs [b]160 Astrite[/b]. That means an entire day of dailies gives you only: [b]0.375 pulls.[/b] [list] [*][b]1 pull[/b] = about [b]2.7 DAYS[/b] of dailies [*][b]10 pulls[/b] = about [b]27 DAYS[/b] of dailies [*][b]80 pulls[/b] = about [b]213 DAYS[/b] of dailies [/list] And here's the important part: [b]80 pulls does NOT even guarantee the limited character you actually want.[/b] The Featured Resonator banner has an [b]80-pull hard pity[/b], but your first 5-star has only a [b]50% chance[/b] of being the featured character. Lose the 50/50? You may need another 80 pulls. [h1]160 PULLS = 25,600 ASTRITE[/h1] At 60 Astrite per day, that represents roughly: [h1]426 DAYS OF DAILY ASTRITE[/h1] [i]For ONE guaranteed limited character.[/i] [h1]WANT THEIR SIGNATURE WEAPON TOO?[/h1] The limited weapon banner can require another: [b]80 pulls = 12,800 Astrite[/b] So in the worst case: [b]Character:[/b] 160 pulls [b]Weapon:[/b] 80 pulls [h1]240 PULLS = 38,400 ASTRITE[/h1] That's the equivalent of: [b]640 DAYS OF DAILY ASTRITE.[/b] Yes. [b]640 days.[/b] [h1]"BUT THE GAME GIVES YOU MORE ASTRITE!"[/h1] Yes, it does. You also receive Astrite from: [list] [*]Events [*]Story [*]Exploration [*]Chests [*]Achievements [*]Endgame activities [*]Patch rewards [/list] But there is one massive difference: [b]Most exploration, story, chest and achievement rewards are ONE-TIME rewards.[/b] Once you have completed them, they are gone. You cannot endlessly farm Astrite just because you are willing to play more. Your normal repeatable daily income still remains extremely limited. For Version 3.6, F2P calculations put the total rewards at roughly: [b]11,800 Astrite + 12 limited character pulls[/b] if you complete essentially everything available during the patch. That's roughly: [h1]85 LIMITED CHARACTER PULLS[/h1] during an entire six-week patch. Now remember: [b]Worst-case guarantee for ONE featured character = 160 pulls.[/b] So even completing practically an entire patch worth of F2P content does not necessarily guarantee the limited character being advertised to you. [h1]AND IT GETS WORSE FOR NEW PLAYERS[/h1] Some of those Astrite rewards come from difficult endgame activities. Version 3.6 has roughly [b]2,800 Astrite tied to endgame content.[/b] Meaning a newer F2P player may not even be capable of earning the full theoretical F2P amount. So when people say: [i]"You get around X amount of pulls every patch!"[/i] remember that those calculations often assume you: [list] [*]Log in consistently [*]Complete the events [*]Complete the new content [*]Explore [*]Do the endgame [*]Claim all temporary rewards [/list] Miss content? [b]Those pulls are gone.[/b] [h1]NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT DUPLICATES[/h1] Characters don't simply end after obtaining them once. Each character has [b]six additional Sequence Nodes[/b]. To fully max out a limited character, you generally need to obtain that character: [h1]SEVEN TIMES.[/h1] One original copy + six additional copies. And then, of course, there is still their separate signature weapon. So the monetization doesn't stop at: [i]"Congratulations! You got the character."[/i] There are additional character copies and weapons waiting behind even more banners. [h1]THIS IS THE PART I REFUSE TO SUPPORT[/h1] I have absolutely nothing against developers making money. Wuthering Waves is free. Servers cost money. Developers deserve salaries. Artists, programmers, animators, composers and voice actors deserve to be paid. [b]That is not the problem.[/b] Sell me: [list] [*]Skins [*]Cosmetics [*]Mounts [*]Battle passes [*]Expansions [*]A subscription [*]A complete character for a reasonable fixed price [/list] I will happily pay for a game I enjoy. What I do NOT want to support is a system built around: [list] [*]Premium currency [*]Limited-time banners [*]50/50 mechanics [*]Pity systems [*]Character duplicates [*]Signature weapons [*]Fear of missing out [*]Constantly rotating characters [/list] All conveniently designed around making spending money extremely easy. [quote] [b]A game being free does not automatically make every monetization system reasonable.[/b] [/quote] [h1]60 ASTRITE VS. 160 ASTRITE[/h1] This single comparison tells you a lot. [b]Daily reward: 60 Astrite[/b] [b]One pull: 160 Astrite[/b] You don't even receive enough premium currency from an entire day's standard daily activity to make: [b]ONE pull.[/b] Not ten pulls. Not a guaranteed character. [b]One pull.[/b] And one pull doesn't guarantee anything meaningful. [h1]"BUT WUWA IS MORE GENEROUS THAN OTHER GACHAS!"[/h1] Maybe. But this argument completely misses the point. [quote] [b]“Better than another gacha” does NOT automatically mean consumer-friendly.[/b] [/quote] If one game charges you $1,000 for something and another charges you $700, the second system does not magically become good simply because something worse exists. The comparison should not be: [i]"Is this gacha nicer than another gacha?"[/i] The comparison should be: [b]"Does this game respect my time and my money?"[/b] [h1]THE SAD PART? THE GAME ITSELF IS REALLY GOOD.[/h1] The combat is excellent. The animations are beautiful. The world looks fantastic. The characters clearly have a lot of work put into them. There are obviously incredibly talented developers behind this game. [b]And that's exactly why the monetization disappoints me so much.[/b] A genuinely great game should not need psychological monetization systems designed around limited availability, random outcomes and repeated copies of characters. [h1]I DON'T HATE WUTHERING WAVES.[/h1] I actually WANT games like this to succeed. But I don't want this monetization model to become something we simply accept as normal. There is a massive difference between: [b]"I want to support a game I love."[/b] and [b]"I feel pressured to spend because the character I want disappears soon and I might lose a 50/50."[/b] [h1]PLEASE THINK BEFORE YOU SPEND.[/h1] If you enjoy Wuthering Waves completely F2P: [b]Good. Enjoy it.[/b] If you buy a small monthly pass because you enjoy the game: [b]That's your choice.[/b] If you spend money on characters because you understand the system and can comfortably afford it: [b]That's also your choice.[/b] But please understand what these systems are built around before spending hundreds or even thousands. Don't let FOMO decide how much your entertainment is worth. [quote] [h1]GOOD GAMES DESERVE SUPPORT. PREDATORY MONETIZATION DOES NOT.[/h1] [/quote] [b]Your money is your vote.[/b] [b]And this is one monetization model I personally refuse to vote for.[/b]