Nowadays we are all used to collaborations of all kinds in free-to-play games. Some games like Fortnite are known for this. And they can be quite diverse. The number of KFC-related collaborations we see in games from China and Japan is not insignificant. (It’s just a shame that a lot of really cool looking outfits are designed for those who never make it into the games.)
一般的に, I’m not the most enthusiastic person when it comes to collaborations. I have nothing against those who give you an item in the game when you go to a restaurant or store while cooperating. But I don’t particularly believe in IP crossovers. I mentioned this before when it came to the Genshin Impact x Horizon: Zero Dawn crossover that brought Aloy to Teyvat, or the Crystal of Atlan x One Punch Man collaboration. While I found different issues with each of these, they just didn’t feel right to me.
I might have had the same concerns about working with Wuthering Waves’ Cyberpunk: Edgerunners – if they had done things similarly. But they didn’t just drop one or two characters into the game and dump them there. They didn’t just give us skins to dress up like Lucy and Rebecca either. その代わり, they crafted a story that respects what Cyberpunk: Edgerunners fans (and even 2077 ファン) know about the game’s universe, while also ensuring that the story makes sense within the world of Solaris.
To be fair, having an integrated, universal solution for this made things easier. While Solaris is effectively a closed world, there are some unique entry points, including a room built based on the dreams of global citizens. This space must be preserved to protect the real world, and the main character, Rover, helps with this quite often. もちろん, we don’t know everything about this space and how it works. So it’s a reasonable gateway for someone entering our world from another universe.
もちろん, once these otherworldly visitors are brought over, the question becomes how to integrate them into the world while respecting who they are as characters. I think Kuro did a good job. On the one hand, they didn’t shy away from dealing with Night City and the people who come from there.
確かに, there weren’t many random killings and bloodbaths. But that’s also what Solaris and, より具体的に言うと, Startorch Academy are all about. Despite being a post-apocalyptic world, the people of Solaris – at least the ones we interact with – approach the world quite positively, often trying to work together and looking towards a shared future. It’s obviously very different to the world that Lucy and Rebecca know, where everyone is truly on their own and any partnership could end in betrayal.
And all of this is reflected not only in the fact that both groups are confused by new terms and some things need to be explained, but also in how they show trust or a lack of it. Lucy and Rebecca are not watered down to fit into the world of Wuthering Waves. The differences are obvious. 一つには, Rebecca maintains her vocabulary. Even though there is censorship, you know exactly what she is saying. At one point, Rover even has the opportunity to comment on Rebecca’s “big personality,” although as a player you can choose not to.
A character asks Rebecca if her world is really that dangerous. 覚えて, Solaris is a post-apocalyptic world filled with monsters, secret organizations plotting mass chaos, and other threats. But the students of Startorch Academy find it difficult to imagine something like Night City.
And then there’s the actual act of bringing Night City into the game. いいえ, you don’t have the opportunity to travel worlds and visit the real thing. What you see fits into the dream space. But it’s as faithful as possible to the Night City we know from both 2077 and Edgerunners within the context of Wuthering Waves. The developers have even adopted the hacking systems that 2077 players are familiar with – both the number sequence system for hacking cameras and the like, as well as hacking enemy fighters mid-fight. 実際には, the fight between Lucy and Rebecca was designed with their origins in mind and still feels right in the Wuthering Waves universe.
As a cyberpunk and WuWa fan, the story was definitely something to remember, even if it only finished after three hours. As seems to be the norm with Kuro, it felt like the developers were intent on leaving some emotional scars. And if that’s the case, they’ve succeeded.
As for adopting Rebecca and Lucy as playable characters. I know a lot of players were upset that special currencies were being used – especially since some people had already converted their Astrites into Lustrous Tides. Depending on the gacha game you’re playing, this can be a good move, as there’s always the risk of accidentally spending the base currency on other things if you don’t do this. しかし, Wuthering Waves has a separate Tide currency specifically for weapons, so this may have a downside. この場合, the downside is that those who intend to use the Astrites in the event characters will not be able to do so as they have their own unique currency.
The good news is that the unique currency can be purchased through limited-time event activities. But for those who wanted to use their Astrites-to-Lustrous Tides to unlock characters’ full Resonance Chains and their weapons, that’s a problem. And it’s made worse by the fact that these players probably want to do the same thing for both characters since they’re designed to work together. This is definitely something Kuro should think about in the future. But to be careful, players may want to be a little more cautious about converting their Astrites early.