Wuthering Waves: Everything You Need to Know About the Upcoming Anime RPG

I recently reacted to the two trailers Kuro Games released concerning their upcoming Anime RPG – Wuthering Waves.
This is a game that is pushing the boundaries of the genre, and honestly I could not be more excited for what they have planned, given their history with Punishing Gray Raven, arguably one of the best action RPGs available right now.
Yet even with the release of those two trailers… players – you guys, have been sitting there scratching your heads as to what this game is. I’ve received DMs asking me – “Stix, is Wuthering Waves an MMO?” “Is there character creation?” “Is it a Gacha game like Genshin?”
And that’s what we’re here today to discuss. What exactly is Wuthering Waves? And should you be excited?

From what we’ve seen, and the information Kuro Games has supplied – this is a large-scale open-world Anime RPG. The world itself seems similar to something like Breath of the Wild, Genshin Impact, Tower of Fantasy, Xenoblade Chronicles.
It’s large. It’s filled with things to seek out, areas to explore, treasures to find. From the trailer, it looks as though we’re directly capable of interacting with the environment – scaling buildings and walls. Jumping – double jumping. Gliding. And honestly, it looked absolutely sick.

This game looks like it’s going to feature quite the narrative. If you’ve played Punishing Gray Raven, then you know what type of story and storytelling we can expect. I generally enjoyed myself in it, and likewise I feel as though they’ll incorporate that experience into Wuthering Waves effectively.
I’m hoping the entire game is fully voice-acted. And expecting a skip feature so I can make my way through side-content easily. I hate being forced to sit through story you’re not enjoying.
Wuthering Waves features a kind of post-apocalyptic setting. Which admittedly, Arknights: Endfield is doing as well.
And given The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin is targeting a world exactly like Tower of Fantasy and Genshin Impact – bright and vibrant, this might be a better choice, as it’ll allow for Kuro to better distinguish themselves as their own unique game.
I’m sure enough people already perceive this to be another “Genshin Clone.”

Wuthering Waves is not an MMO. I wish it were, because it looks incredible from the gameplay we’ve seen. Unfortunately, it looks like we can expect the vast majority of high quality, innovative games to be non-MMOs, as the genre has fallen into this weird stagnant state.
Kuro have yet to confirm if there will be any type of multiplayer functionality present within the final version of the game. At present, all they’ve given us is “open-world action Anime RPG.”
Given the scope and scale of the game, one would speculate multiplayer would be a component they’re working towards incorporating, but that’s merely speculation, so take that with a grain of salt.

Given this is an Anime RPG as opposed to an MMO, there will not be any character creation.
Kuro released an image of the main character – both male and female. And while the male looks pretty generic, the female looks absolutely stunning.
She’s not hyper-sexualized. She’s not plot-heavy. She’s not a little loli. On the contrary, she’s actually a realistic looking female. And I’m excited to see that. Given their history with characters though, you can bet the rest of the cast is going to be the exact opposite.
This is even more apparent after looking at an unofficial image that was leaked for the game.

The combat is going to be complete action. There is no tab-target. No turn-based. No target-selection. Full, hands-on, fluid action combat, where you’re capable of mashing buttons to your hearts’ content.
And let me reiterate: The combat looks absolutely stunning. Given Kuro developed Punishing Gray Raven, however, this is to be expected.

Kuro haven’t confirmed what platforms Wuthering Waves is being developed for.
As noted, there are various different open-world action Anime RPGs currently in development. Including Wuthering Waves, we have Arknights: Endfield and The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, which are both going to be cross-platform compatible like Genshin Impact and Tower of Fantasy are.
One would expect this game to be built cross-platform as well, given the popularity cross-play has attained recently. It also opens up so many more opportunities for players to play the game – especially if multiplayer is going to be present.
And I feel this game would really excel on PC. Just like I feel Punishing Gray Raven would, if they’d successfully port it over.

Wuthering Waves is going to be releasing Globally. There’s no question about that. Kuro are already looking to localize the game into English, and they’re only partially through the development process.
It’s unconfirmed if the game will have a simultaneous release around the world, or if a Western launch will come afterwards.

Kuro have hinted at holding a Closed Beta test phase some time during 2022. It’s possible to pre-register in anticipation of this, and I have a link to that down below for interested parties.
PC pre-registration is not available at present. Do note that.

Wuthering Waves does not have a confirmed release date at present. 2022 would be expecting a little much I believe, but hey, we’re not sure how far along the development process they are. They could be approaching completion – who knows.
It would be safer to assume a release date of 2023, at the earliest. But miracles happen.

And finally, yes, this is going to be a Gacha game. I know that isn’t something everyone is interested in, and that’s more than fine. But at the end of the day, if you don’t like it, you can just not play it.
For everyone else? Given Kuro’s track record with Punishing Gray Raven and how fair and reasonable they are with their Pity, I daresay this might be one of the most rewarding Anime Gacha games coming out. And I’m damn excited.