The official release date for Wuthering Waves has been announced, and fans are eagerly anticipating the game’s potential to surpass Genshin Impact. In recent years, the open-world RPG from Hoyoverse has faced criticism, with the studio facing consequences for their handling of the Chinese New Year rewards. While this is now in the past, members of the gacha community are hoping for Wuthering Waves’ success in order to break Hoyoverse’s monopoly with Genshin Impact.
Despite Genshin Impact being a great game, the development teams have made several mistakes that have caused frustration among the fans. As a result, fans are now seeking competition in the form of Wuthering Waves, which could potentially draw players away from Genshin Impact and push the developers to make improvements.
Today, we will discuss the significant factors that can lead to Wuthering Waves overpowering Genshin Impact, or potentially bring about significant changes to HoYoverse’s open-world game.
Why Wuthering Waves Could Outshine HoYoverse’s Genshin Impact
1) Battle System
Despite the interesting battle system in Genshin, combat can be a matter of personal preference. While the elemental reactions add an additional layer, it can still become monotonous. As a player who has been with the game since its release, the introduction of Sumeru and Dendro were the only times I truly engaged in Genshin Impact’s combat.
Wuthering Waves, on the other hand, heavily relies on your skill and ability to learn enemy patterns, much like a typical Soulslike game. As with its predecessor Punishing Gray Raven, the combat in Wuthering Waves is fast-paced and requires strategic switching between characters and echoes, as well as utilizing their unique abilities. Precise timing of your parry can also stun larger enemies, giving you an opportunity to unleash your full strength.
Although there is nothing wrong with seeking a relaxing experience, there are also individuals who prefer more intense combat. It is evident that Kuro Games is prepared to provide them with the experience they were lacking in Genshin Impact.
2) Prioritizing community feedback
Despite receiving feedback from the community over the years, the development team for HoYoverse’s Genshin Impact has failed to adequately address and implement necessary changes. In comparison to other gacha games, the title is lacking in basic quality-of-life improvements. This issue was brought to the forefront when the release of Honkai Star Rail featured the convenient ability to dispatch expeditions with a single click, leading to heated discussions and ultimately pressuring the developers to implement the same feature in Genshin.
Kuro Games has a reputation for valuing community input and making significant modifications to Punishing Gray Raven based on it. In fact, they went to great lengths to completely revamp Wuthering Waves after receiving less-than-positive feedback during the initial Close Beta Test. With the recent CBT 2.0, Kuro Games has stated their commitment to addressing all community concerns before the official release of Wuthering Waves.
Considering the nature of live-service development and the high stakes for the success of its upcoming open-world game, it would be illogical for Kuro to suddenly cease taking community feedback and leave its fans in the dark.
3) Vast open-world environment
Despite the costly nature of creating a live-service game of such magnitude, Genshin Impact was able to attract a large audience due to its expansive open world. While Tower of Fantasy did attempt to compete by also incorporating an open world, it was unable to match the level of exploration and immersion offered by Genshin Impact.
Despite taking into consideration community feedback, HoYoverse has not successfully enhanced the open-world exploration experience in Genshin Impact. The movement remains sluggish, the stamina bar takes an excessive amount of time to refill but depletes quickly, and navigating buildings can be frustrating as one can easily get stuck on edges.
Despite the developers’ efforts to improve the gameplay experience in Sumeru with the introduction of new mechanisms like grapple points and the Adeptal energy system in Chenyu Vale, the exploration can still be underwhelming for players due to the lack of stamina, especially in the vast Sumeru area.
Wuthering Waves, in contrast, boasts highly impressive open-world exploration mechanics. Rather than experiencing defeat and death from falling flat off cliffs like in Genshin, your character gracefully slides down them. The added bonus of a freely usable grappling hook only adds to the game’s appeal. Additionally, Wuthering Waves allows your character to smoothly vault onto rooftops without getting snagged on any edges.
4) Improved gacha system
Through the second Closed Beta Test, our knowledge of Wuthering Waves has greatly expanded. The gacha mechanics, which involve using real money to summon characters and weapons, bear a strong resemblance to those seen in Genshin Impact, with some notable modifications.
The main difference is that the Weapon Banner guarantees a 100 percent drop rate, whereas Genshin’s ratio is 75:25. Additionally, the Standard Character and Weapon Banners are distinct from each other. This sets it apart from HoYoverse’s open-world game, and the added perk is that players can choose their desired 5-star weapon.
You may also purchase two armbands, which are the constellation equivalent, for a Wuthering Waves character from the shop. However, in order to use it, you must possess at least one copy of the character.
Despite the fact that gacha titles typically have stingy systems in order for the developers to make money, it is highly unlikely that Kuro Games will revert the free-to-play friendly features of Punishing Gray Raven. This means that even though Wuthering Waves may have some stingy aspects, it will still be a better experience than HoYoverse’s Genshin Impact due to the already implemented player-friendly system.
5) The Final Showdown
Despite numerous requests from Genshin Impact fans, HoYoverse has not fulfilled the desire for additional endgame content. Currently, the only available endgame mode is the bi-weekly rotating Spiral Abyss, similar to a tower-style challenge.
Wuthering Waves CBT 2.0 provided us with a preview of two endgame modes: a rogue-like combat mode that takes inspiration from Star Rail’s Simulated Universe, and a tower-like mode similar to Spiral Abyss. Both of these modes are anticipated to be included in the game’s final release.
The limited exploration opportunities in a live-service game are due to the difficulty of consistently producing new content every day. Therefore, it is crucial for the studio to include game modes that can challenge players’ skills in order to retain its player base and prevent them from leaving. The inclusion of two endgame modes in Wuthering Waves serves as proof that a team that listens to the community will always offer something that can keep fans engaged and invested in the game.
Wuthering Waves could potentially be the catalyst for more frequent implementation of community-requested features and improvements in Genshin Impact. It takes a David to bring about change and challenge the powerful Goliath.
Despite its immediate success, Genshin Impact may face potential competition from Kuro Games’ Wuthering Waves, which could potentially lead to a decrease in revenue for HoYoverse’s open-world RPG.
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