It's pretty disappointing.

While the combat flows better than similar games, a lot of Wuthering Waves still feels half-baked, ranging from technical performance to the UI and worldbuilding. The characters' voicelines repeat themselves anytime you open a menu, there are huge lag spikes and I experienced a random crash too. Like I said, it's just disappointing, considering the game already had two beta tests and it still came out like this on release.

As for the story, I didn't find it particularly engaging from what I've played. After a cool intro cinematic, you're subject to an one-hour exposition dump, which could have just easily been explained as "there's dissonance in this world, so these monsters have appeared; you can also absorb their powers", but instead you get to hear increasingly verbose explanations about everything and their cool names. (Tacet Discord? There's a lot of things you could name monsters, but why would you name them Tacet Discords?)

I'm trying to not end this review on a negative note, there's still some enjoyment to be had in Wuthering Waves - the character designs look good, the first city you visit is pretty, the combat feels smooth and the animations flow well, so if you're a fan of Kuro's previous game, Punishing Gray Raven, this might interest you. As for me, I can't really see myself getting hooked on this world because of the established reasons, so I'll continue playing my gacha of choice about some train in space. Some kind of star rail.

i didn't get very far before realizing this game just wasn't going to click with me. at least not in the state it is now. it seems to be a common issue for players that the graphics aren't great and the game is pretty buggy or laggy— it's almost as if they didn't have anyone testing the mobile version. this being said, the combat is super fun and i was very excited to learn it (despite the camera needing some work). unfortunately just about everything else was a downside for me, and i can't see myself coming back to it. the story just wasn't grabbing me at all and i was fairly confused most of the time as i was getting terms and phrases thrown at me with zero explanation. 2☆ because there's definitely potential, i just believe it needed a little more time in development.

A game that so desperately wants to outshine its competitors, yet underperforms in most regards.

While so far having a superior combat and traversal system compared to games like Genshin Impact, it currently sorely lacks the charm and vivacity in its world, narrative, and characters to keep me engaged. Wuthering Waves has the potential to rival some of the biggest open-world gacha games on the market, but with a poorly optimized launch and a mediocre roster of characters, its margins for success are unfortunately slim.