Have You Played Where Winds Meet?

 Have you tried this game?

 I've been playing off-and-on for a few days and I'm starting to understand the complicated battle strategy.  Button mashers beware!

The developers, the artists, and everyone putting the game together have put their best into it.  It's obvious that they've worked hard on it.

 

The worst thing I've seen is the reaction to it.  People try to categorize it.  Don't!  It does so many things and you can do so many things that you should just enjoy it.  One moment, I'm in a battle.  The next moment, I'm solving puzzles.  That sounds like Genshin Impact or Wuthering Waves but it doesn't feel anything like those.  I even saw something about building a house.

I've been playing a bunch of games from China, South Korea, and Japan.  However, it's surprising to me that I'm seeing or hearing some of the same places mentioned.

I seem to find that playing one game that leads to another gives me a versatile viewpoint and I can switch to another game and find my way more quickly.  Then, I can return to the earlier games and solve problems that gave me headaches. 

This game has a Solo episode to start.  Apparently, there are co-op episodes.  It's funny how it feels a bit like real life.  However, I never thought that I'd play Mah Jong as a dog, but that has happened.  One thing I did was to activate all of the teleport/fast travel locations as soon as possible.  Trying to find the resources to finish a quest may require something far away.

 Hopefully, I can make some progress.  I've been spinning my wheels a bit on Wuthering Waves because the ability to level up the 5-star characters is a bit much using 4-star characters.  Solo Leveling: Arise is still interesting.  Finishing the stories can sometimes be too easy, especially since I've been playing from the first day.

Upgrading weapons and armour in WWM can require additional resources. 

 

 I haven't seen a need to buy anything.  I usually don't, but I did it for a while with Solo Leveling: Arise.  It made sense for a while.  However, WWM is something new and whether I will last or it will last are yet to be determined.  They supposedly had over 250,000 players on Steam at one time, but the average is lower.

 

There is a test of ascension via combat. Making it past level 20 is the trick right now.  I missed some snakes and was defeated.

Update 2025.12.14: Got through the ascension test and I'm at level 25 now.  I would tell you about what's happened but all I can say is that I'm not going to Kaifeng City yet. 

Oh, a couple of hours later, I'm at level 31 and had another ascension (breakthrough) test.  It's still weird seeing/hearing Qinghe because that's been mentioned in two other games I've played.  I've been able to tie up some loose ends and finish quests.

 

 

They sent me a survey request and I was pleased that the survey was so precise.  They asked me if I had any other suggestions and I mentioned that I'd like the iPad version to be modified to work on Mac, as Wuthering Waves is. 

 

Update 2025.12.16: I finished another breakthrough last night.  This time, it used the mausoleum trials.   I wonder if I finish trials levels 3-5 early, if it will help.  The latest only grants access to levels 50-55.

According to Steam, I have got 8 of 34 achievements.

Draining a lake was interesting. 

Update 2025.12.18: I have another breakthrough/ascension test to handle.  At this rate, I should be at level 1300 by next year (with only two weeks remaining) as long as I can surpass the tests.  I never expected that my knowledge of Daoism, Buddhism, and astronomy would be helpful in a game.

I'm not as slick with the battles and I have one battle with an angry woman in the lowest level and she isn't about to be beaten.

Update 2025.12.24: This game is a bit of everything and should be game of the year.  It requires so much of a player, as it calls on knowledge that westerners might not have, and some extra keyboard combinations (macro time?) that I don't have in muscle memory.

 It's beautiful and sometimes disgusting, but you can see that the artists went 100% to get the look and sound that make you feel something.  Then again, I'm seeing a lot of that in the free-to-play games.

Update 2026.03.16: I've been playing in Hexi, and I've done okay.  Last night, I finally tried the breakthrough/ascension again and did okay.  I'm at level 52.  I'm definitely not great at it, but some situations make so much sense and others are a reach for me.

The bigger bosses are still a problem and a world boss is going to remain a while.

Update 2026.03.26: I'm at level 55 and waiting for the Mausoleum trials.  I've been clearing outposts, which requires some strategy but isn't too difficult.  I've got 12 of the 44 Steam achievements, which is probably sufficient.  I went from 10 to 12 fairly quickly, but it took a while from 8 to 10.

Finishing some of the quests doesn't seem possible.  I keep seeing "buggy" around the bad quests.  Maybe, there are several possible directions but they didn't make allowances for the quest to work that way.  Progress is progress.  I've solved more in Qinghe lately. 

Update 2026.04.02: Cleared all of the Qinghe outposts the other day.  Even cleared a World Boss, the Puppeteer.  I came close on the drunken boss with the enormous wine jug but was killed just before the finish.

I've been trying to clear quests, but suddenly, there is dialogue during a fight and I can't fight any longer.  My character can be hurt but can't respond.  I first noticed this during a gold leaf quest but it's happened a few times since then. There have been two large patches since version 1.5 was released.  Haven't been able to complete the photos quests in Hexi. 

Update 2026.04.07: The odd thing about photo requests is that Qinghe looks about the same but says "complete".

Is Hexi Sexi?

I've been into the snowbound areas of Hexi, and made some decent progress.  I've activated most of the teleport locations.  I did not arrive through Whitecrown Fortress, so I can't active the desert teleports.  There is a sandstorm.

I haven't been to all of the "cup" locations, although everyone has to make it to the Governor's Mansion regardless.

Most of them don't seem to have any combat.  One only seems to have combat.  Remember to have your "Q" ready when you're falling hard.

I was impatient during the Moonlight Wine quest and advanced the clock too far and I'll have to try another day. 

In the past week, I noticed that a lot of the Kaifeng quests have fallen into place and they're finished now.  Perhaps, WWM is impatient with my progress. 

 

Update 2026.04.09: The cups are overflowing with bloody wine.   I completed the Moonlight wine bit with a lot of retribution.

I've completed Whitecrown Fortress and the path from desert to snow.  It's strange how I was so close and my defeat caused me to believe that I wasn't close to finishing.  However, the first defeat is automatic, regardless.