Where Winds Meet’s first major expansion arrives in just two days. Last week the Dream Update was announced, giving players of the free-to-play MMORPG Wuxia a window into the past, allowing them to see it through the eyes of those who lived it. During a dev stream, Everstone Studios gave us a glimpse of “Hexi” (both the name of the update and the location we’ll be going to).
We had the opportunity to preview the new content so we could share some of it with you. Before we begin, I should note that what I played was still a trial version and not the launch version. This means that some things I talk about here may be changed or fixed when the update goes live.
The preview was set up right at the entrance to the dream world, which happens to be an unfinished scroll. Looking at it immediately takes you to the first of three areas that will expand over time: a vast desert. If you’ve watched the dev stream, you know you’re about to witness the story of an old man trying to deliver a sack. It would be misleading to say that you play this man all the time. Rather, you move in and out of your story, sometimes meeting other desert residents along the way. And of course, there are plenty of side activities that can easily distract you, such as collecting collectibles.
There are a whole host of new collectibles scattered across the desert. Some are strange creatures that you have to hunt. Others to watch out for: Bells in the desert lead you to the remains of camels and the treasures they hold. And since one of the focuses of this update is a moon that hangs in the sky regardless of the time of day and shows every character the way home, there are of course moon-related items to collect as well.
Why bother with this strange dream journey? Because you’ve been told that you might find answers – not just about long-ago history, but answers relevant to your own journey.
I have no intention of spoiling the story for you. It’s a great experience that will captivate you. But honestly, that’s true for a lot of Where Winds Meet.
The pace is such that you can explore at your leisure and not feel like you are delaying the completion of the main story content. In all open-world RPGs, it’s easy to get distracted by another quest or activity. But when I do that, very often I can feel like I’m ignoring what’s important – like now isn’t a good time to do something on the side. And in many games the pace is such that it never feels like the right time to do anything on the side. That’s not the case here, where the side story that ended up distracting me was just an addition to the main story I was working on. This story in a dream feels very vivid and real and more than a little sad.
Exploring the first area in the Hexi update will be a little different from the previous zones. If you’ve ever spent time in a desert, you probably know what I mean. While there are many attractions in the other zones: roads, villages, lakes and rivers…, in the Hexi desert region there are large strips of golden sand dunes. That doesn’t mean everything is just sand. In some areas there are sparse fields of grassy vegetation, and there are villages and other structures. Although some of it might turn out to be a mirage. The point is that it can be a little difficult to navigate.
Of course there are markers on the minimap and the quests (mostly) point you in the right direction. (Sometimes the quest obviously wants you to feel lost, so you get text instructions but no marker.) The other good news, as far as navigation goes, is that there’s some sort of magical road in the sand. It’s not a street as such, but rather a painting in the sand. This sand has a bit of magic that allows players to transform into a giant fish. Granted, you can do this anywhere in the desert, but if you follow the road you’ll move faster than the fish. And yes, there is still a mount. Her horse was replaced by a camel. Absolutely suitable for the desert.
As for combat, the development team was kind enough to provide us with the latest abilities for the umbrella and rope dart weapons. Both are fun, but I think the umbrella ability is my favorite. There’s something amusing about standing on the handle of an umbrella as it spins like a top, dealing damage to everything within its reach. It would also be a fun form of transportation, although I haven’t been able to hold it long enough for it to be useful.
I tried my hand at one of the bosses shown in the live stream – the General. While there is a mechanic at the end that I can’t quite get past (I tried twice just to see), the majority of the combat isn’t all that difficult. Of course, this could be because I’m playing with a character that was created for this special experience. I feel like I might suffer a little more if I brought my own to the fight.
The update definitely expands on the things that make Where Winds Meet a great game. The story is captivating and the battles are fun. With that in mind, it seems that some of the game’s problems remain – for example, a bug where the player character occasionally switches between male and female voices. This has been there since publication, and to be honest I decided to overlook it before. Still, I hope the issue can be fixed in the future, as it can take you out of the immersion a bit. As mentioned above, what I played was a trial version, so the issue may already be resolved.