Where Winds Meet

Where Winds Meet transports you to ancient China at one of its most disorderly times – the time of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. You are an aimless sword-master with a history that you cannot recall, and it is half the business of playing to find out who you really are.

It is a Wuxia game on its own. You have seen the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero, so you have experience of the atmosphere martial arts, honor codes, roving heroes, rooftop battles. The fighting in this case draws upon the same tradition of using weapons you would anticipate (swords, spears, dual blades) and ones you would not (fans, umbrellas). Martial Mystic Arts available to learn are more than 40 in number and you can change the style of fighting in the middle of the battle.

The open world encompasses over 20 regions of the 10 th century China. Big towns, shrines in the wood, mountain walks – all the common composition, though executed in a superior way. The time of day and weather actually make a difference and there are more than 10,000 NPCs who go about with their own schedules and opinions of you. How you treat people matters. Assist a village and they will recall. Get yourself into trouble and you will hear.

Neither are you a warrior-captive. Take up a vocation – doctor, merchant, assassin, bounty hunter – and do that in parallel to the main narrative. The solo campaign can last 150+ hours provided you are thorough but you can invite up to four friends to play in co-op at any time you desire.

NetEase did this free-to-play and without the standard pay-to-win rubbish. You may purchase cosmetics, in case you wish to make your character appear fancier, yet you will not be stronger spending money. Available on PS5, PC, and mobile, cross-playing and cross-progression.