In the past hour, while playing Where Winds Meet, I completed a five-part dungeon with a bunch of randos—one of whom kept “liking” my performance even though I was actively hurting the team—faced a boss whose visual design was something out of Elden Ring, got my ass handed to me by a goose, played through a heart-breaking side quest about an old woman and her journey through unrequited love, had a heated debate via an elaborate mini-game with a random NPC, went fishing, and read a dozen hilarious sign posts from active players from around the world.

Safe to say, this game is a lot. Yet developer Everstone Studio somehow manages to weave all these ideas into a cohesive, collaborative, kaleidoscopic experience. An experience that showcases its love for the wuxia genre and Chinese history. Sure, the breadth of its ideas and systems can at times get muddied and is definitely overwhelming, but taking the time to take it all in, bit by bit, is a part of the experience. Does it do all of its systems and apply all of its inspirations perfectly? Of course not, but I’ll be damned if I don’t tip my hat at the effort 

This is a game I’ll likely keep on my dashboard for a long time, and I say that as someone who’s never truly invested their time into an ever-expanding multiplayer experience like this. I’ll do so because I find this world and mythology incredibly interesting and gorgeous to look at and get lost in, and because this combat system, though it has its annoying quirks, is so much fun to play. 

For the price of free-99, you really owe it to yourself to check out Where Winds Meet.