Wuthering Waves

Wuthering Waves is among the most ambitious action RPGs that competed for gacha game players' attention in 2024, alongside the dominant Genshin Impact. Studio Kuro Games builds the game on an open world full of exploration, platform jumping, and combat that emphasizes fast combos, well-timed dodges, and switching between characters mid-battle – the pace is noticeably brisker than the competition, and combat here feels more like a console action game than a turn-based strategy. On the touchscreen, the controls rely on a virtual joystick and a set of buttons for attacks and abilities, and the layout can be customized in settings; the game also supports controller connection, which players moving from console action RPGs to a phone screen will appreciate.

Characters are obtained through a gacha system with random draws and paid in-game currency, which, just like in other titles of the genre, is set up to encourage repeated spending on the strongest and rarest heroes and their weapons. The game is free to download, but full progress without patient grinding usually requires an investment of either time or money. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world afflicted by a mysterious disease called Tacet Discord, the atmosphere combines melancholy with grand orchestral scores, and the game is regularly expanded with new regions, characters, and time-limited in-game events.

Why play: Fans of action gacha RPGs looking for a snappier combat system than Genshin Impact, but who must expect the need to invest time or money into progress.