The longest queue on the public floor at Gamescom this year was for a Chinese game, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Black Myth: Wukong. The biggest booth on the public floor at Gamescom this year was for a Chinese studio, HoYoverse. And one of the most interesting hidden gems in the press area at Gamescom this year was a Chinese open world adventure, Where Winds Meet. China has a long history of video games, but even with recent government regulations complicating development plans, it felt like this year at Gamescom was a sign of an incoming wave of Chinese games as the world gets a little smaller. The West has embraced Japanese games since the 1980s, and now China is 🐼arriving in style.
I thought a lot about 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ghost of Tsushima while playing Where Winds Meet. With Tsushima, there were two main camps on the game’s divisive origins. As a Japanese samurai game made by Western devs, some felt it was an example that anyone can make art about anything. Many people iꦚn the West think samurai are cool, and so Tsushima is built on that philosoph𓃲y of admiration. The fact it won Players Choice at The Game Awards and received rave reviews in Japan suggests a lot of agreement with this point of view.
However, others suggested the game was out of place, perhaps even cultural appropriation. That side was bolstered by the game’s anachronistic use of hwacha, haiku, and even samurai swords, none of which ex♔isted in the era the game is set in. Where Winds Meet highlights the va🍬lue of having a developer who knows the game’s culture, and not just admires it. I only played 25 minutes and am not a scholar on Chinese history, but the way the developers spoke about the research into the era (the game is set between the Tang and Song dynasties, in the Eastern equivalent of our medieval period), and the Chinese mythology involved, it feels like it may be a deeper and more accurate look at Asian history than the surface level imagery of Ghost of Tsushima.
Of course, it’s also just cool for the sake of cool. The name ‘Jackie Chan’ is mentioned three times in our brief discussion, and I was a🌸ble to use fantasy martial arts to freeze men in place, throw a bear into a waterfall to find a hidden chest, and steal a coin purse from the other side of the road. I was armed at various times in the demo with sword, spear, and bow, while also picking up various powers, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. While much of the game features fast flowing, varied combat with three different blocks to reward players who best read their opponents’ moves, you can also magically conjure a goat to run people over or pick up a barrel and roar into it like a lion to scare them off.
Most of Where Winds Meet’s combat is minor skirmishes in the open world, where you’ll get to take on several weaker enemies at once and hit combos and blocks to wipe them out. Using the martial arts throw that launched the bear into the waterfall, you can also throw enemies at each other, and if they’re hostile (say, if you thrꦉew a bear into a pack of so꧃ldiers), they’ll fight each other and leave you alone.
However, I did experience one boss battle against an ogre who summoned ghostly mobs to fight by his side, which is where you’ll need to have a better grip on your abilities and consider how you take on each foe. The basic combat is something open world players will be very used to, but the humour and range of the special abilities, which have actual uses as opposed to just dealing a certain amount of damage, are a big reason to check Where Winds Meet out. I’ve seen the game described as a Soulslike, but from what I’ve played that feels inaccurate, not least in the difficulty, as Where Winds Meet is much more forgiving. It sits around halfway on the scale of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Elden Ring and Ghost of Ts♌ushima, maybe a little closer to Tsushima but with more one on one showdowns.
With limited time to play and an eagerness to pick up a barrel and shout like a lion, I skipped over most of the character creator, but it has one of the most detailed I’ve ever seen. I think there were eight different sliders for eye size alone, and that’s before you consider shape, angle, and colour. The opening scenes see you as a baby and child whose gender is indistinct, and then as you start the main game you choo🌜se whether to play as male or female.
Where Winds Meet felt like an open world game with some fresh ideas that knows how to do everything right. The only thing making me wary is that I saw four different areas i☂n the dev build that they dropped me into for specific things, and open world games mostly live or die by their open worlds. If Where Winds Meet overblows the scope or crams in busywork and filler, that’s going to be a major downer on Shout Like A Lion In Medieval China Simulator. But from the craft I’ve seen of the game so far, and the fidelity of the visuals, I’m hopeful it gets everything right.
