One major concern I have is the kernel-level anti-cheat. I don’t see why a gacha game needs such a deep-level system. While there is co-op content, it doesn’t seem significant enough to justify this level of intrusion.

So far, powercreep hasn’t been too bad. Characters from version 1.0 are still viable and hit just as hard as newer ones. However, instead of traditional powercreep, the game introduces resonators that require synergy with other specific resonators to maximize damage. While pulling for both isn’t strictly necessary, this trend gives off a bad impression and could become problematic if continued. Additionally, there's a noticeable lack of new 4-star resonators, which could help mitigate this issue.

The character designs are generally well done, though some may be questionable in style. The biggest issue is the gender ratio. Personally, I don’t mind the lack of male characters because I'm a gooner who simps for female characters, but in a broader perspective, it’s clearly unbalanced. Out of 33 playable characters (excluding the main character, Rover), only 8 are male, making up just 24% of the roster. That’s extremely low and likely alienates players who prefer or want more male representation.

The combat system is a highlight of the game—smooth, engaging, and skill-based. Hologram mode, in particular, stands out. Each resonator has distinct mechanics that encourage learning boss patterns and strategic play rather than mindless button mashing. Features like swap-canceling and coordinated attacks add depth and fun.

The game leans both ways. You can buy weekly and monthly bundles for Radiant and Forging Tides, and while astrite income from gameplay isn’t bad, free-to-play players still need to be selective with pulls. It’s pay-to-win in terms of collecting every character, but not in terms of progressing through content. Even 4-star units like Sanhua are strong and viable. You can definitely enjoy the game without spending—but manage your expectations on who you’ll unlock.

The 1.0 story was bland and forgettable, but 1.1 showed improvement. By 2.0, the narrative had a significant leap in quality—I actually looked forward to reading it and didn’t feel the need to use the skip button. The story continues to improve with each patch, and I appreciate how it’s not overly time-consuming like in some other gacha titles. The companion stories are also a great addition.

Overall, as someone who’s played over 50 gacha games, Wuthering Waves is quickly rising through the ranks. It started off rough, but the developers have made major improvements in story, gameplay, quality-of-life features, and events. Rather than constantly comparing it to other games (cough Genshin), it’s better to enjoy Wuthering Waves on its own merits. While the game still has areas that need work, I respect Kuro Games for actively listening to feedback and striving to improve. I’m genuinely excited to see where this game goes from here.

Note: I have played more than the hours that are shown here because I played some on the official launcher before moving to Steam.
Overall, I would say this is a very fun game, and the amount of content and features it has is insane considering this is free.

This game certainly isn't pay-to-win, but it has many micro-transactions for cosmetics. I would say the one-time buy outfits are worth the money if you're interested in fashion. The outfits look great, and you can get some for only $1. There are some cheap accessories and weapons as well. There is a little bit of a pay-for-convenience, and that is the mounts, which has special skills that can make gathering more easier. There is something important I would like to mention though - AVOID THE PAID GACHA SYSTEM ENTIRELY. As someone who decided to go all out on the limited-time gacha banner, it is not worth your money. The rates are atrocious, and the pity is such as high number (i think between 120-130). It takes a minimum to spend $200 to get just one item, and around $600-$800 to get an outfit on that banner. Trust me, stick with the one-time purchases. The gacha system is absolutely stupid. I understand that this is a free-to-play game, and they have to make money somehow, but this is just insane.

Each weapon is interesting and unique to play. The game encourages you to try each weapon with the seasonal challenges, but later in the future, you should only invest in a couple as it will get more expensive in the future. The nice thing they added is that you are able to do a free reset for each weapon and inner way upgrade once. I would also say they're fairy balanced in terms of both PvE and PvP. It's more of the RNG rolls that's the problem.

There are lots of things to do in WWM, which can be a problem for new players as it is overwhelming with the amount of content you are exposed to. If you like open-world exploration, I highly recommend it as it is vast when it comes to the amount exploration you ca do. PvP/Perception Forest is also fun, but there are many issues with it, which I will get to next. CO-OP is pretty nice since you can explore in other people's world, the only problem is that you can do some quests. There is also a multiplayer-mode that you can switch to where people often hang out. There are many things to do in this game such as sects, guilds, PvP, exploration, journal, bounty, wandering paths, multiplayer activites, mini-games, etc. If you feel overwhelmed, that's totally understandable.

PvP is fun, but it has terrible balancing, and I would say 75-80% is relied on skills, while the rest is relied on RNG. I don't understand why they added arena attunements to this game, especially when some are utterly broken, making it unfair to go against because they happened to have better luck. Not only that, talents also gives players an advantage if you are starting out PvP. Late endgame, you don't have to worry about that, but you still have the attunement problems. Also PvP in guild bases is absolutely trash and buggy, so it's hard to spar with your friends or guild mates because it isn't set the same as it is in the PvP arena.

So far I have no performance issue except that the ping can be horrendous sometimes when playing with others. The graphics are absolutely stunning for a game that's free. The amount of textures and details that goes into this game is impressive, including your character itself. People have gotten so creative with character customization they made presets of actual real people that looks extremely identical. Like how impressive is it to have Michael Jackson's face in this game???

This game is very impressive for it to be free, but there are many aspects to it that needs fixing such as the bounty system, sects, and PvP. Although those might throw some people off, I think it's worth to give the game a try, and it hasn't been out for long, so I have high hopes with improvements in the future.

This game is still good for people who are focused on story content, open world exploration, events, and PvE content. Other than that, the game is slowly dying due to several reasons, specifically towards people who are interested in PvP and Guild Wars.

One of them is the gear system. It is a repetitive and tedious grind every patch, and once you run out of energy, there isn't really much to do. Although they have greatly improved on the way you can obtain gear, it's still has many flaws.
Another issue is guild wars. A huge percentage of the player base played the game because of large-scale pvp. It doesn't seem to be given much attention towards this content, which causes many guilds to disband due to the unfavorable treatment towards guild wars. There are many issues that has not been addressed even when people mention it, the developers seem to ignore these feedback.
Third reason is the storage size now is huge to the point I had to move to the LITE version to be able to play. Even then, the LITE version is 132GB large.
Personally, having to do the story because a certain function/item/skill is locked behind a long, tedious, and boring story is a huge turn off for me. Not everyone has time to do the story, and there is no skip dialogue button, so I would have to sit there for 2 hours or more to do a boring quest that makes me question my existence as I hold the W key for 15 minutes because I can't do anything else. Don't get me wrong, there are great parts in the story, but once again, I don't have the time to go through every main story and campaign. I play specifically for guild wars.