Where Winds Meet
A free-to-play wuxia RPG set in China's Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
Where Winds Meet is a wuxia action-adventure role-playing game from Everstone Studio, published by NetEase Games. Players take on the role of a wanderer—known in Chinese tradition as a youxia—during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The game launched on PlayStation 5 and Windows on November 14, 2025, followed by Android and iOS on December 12, 2025, and Xbox Series X/S on June 7, 2026.
The game offers both single-player and multiplayer modes from a third-person perspective. Players can customize their character's appearance, including physical traits and clothing, and pursue professions such as healer or scholar. Combat involves a variety of weapons: swords, dual blades, spears, rope darts, fans, umbrellas, mo blades, heng blades, and gauntlets. Each weapon type is tied to distinct martial arts that define skill sets and fighting styles; for instance, umbrellas can be used with Soulshade Umbrella, Ninefold Umbrella, or Spring Dreamscape techniques. Two weapons can be equipped at once, and attacks include light strikes, heavy attacks (some with charge variants), martial art skills, special skills, and dual-weapon skills that combine a weapon switch with an attack. Depending on the build, these moves can deal damage, control enemies, or heal. Defensive options include dodges, blocks, and deflects (parries). Enemy attacks are telegraphed by color: a red glow means the attack cannot be blocked, while a golden glow means it cannot be blocked or deflected.
Mystic arts provide skills usable both in and out of combat, serving offensive, movement, or general purposes. For example, Tai Chi can throw a target, gather leaves in certain areas, or create ripples in water that make fish leap. The open world is expansive, with quests divided into main story, lost chapter, encounter, and exploration categories. The lost chapter "One Leaf, One Life" involves a mystery about golden leaves and the interconnected stories of several Kaifeng City residents. Players can also engage in player-versus-player arenas, cooperative dungeons, and various casual activities. In-world sects offer distinct rules and incentives, and player guilds can be formed. The game supports cross-platform play and progression, with adjustable exploration guidance and combat difficulty. It is free-to-play, with monetization limited to cosmetic items.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Everstone Studio
- Publisher
- NetEase Games
- Platforms
- PlayStation 5 · Windows · Android · iOS · Xbox Series X/S
- Engine
- Messiah Engine
- Genre
- Action-adventure role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Producer
- Beralt Lyu
- Designer
- Chris Lyu
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Where Winds Meet is set in China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, spanning regions including Qinghe, Kaifeng, Hexi, and the Hidden Mountain. The game draws heavily on wuxia traditions, integrating the concept of the jianghu. The player character, a wanderer, can wield weapons such as swords, dual blades, spears, rope darts, fans, umbrellas, mo blades, heng blades, and gauntlets, each associated with different martial arts. Combat includes light and heavy attacks, martial art skills, special skills, dual-weapon skills, and defensive maneuvers like dodges, blocks, and deflects, with enemy attacks telegraphed by color: red means unblockable, gold means unblockable and undeflectable. The Chinese title 'Yanyun Shiliu Sheng' refers to the 'Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun' (Yanyun Shiliu Zhou), a historical region and territorial cession during the Five Dynasties period.
Reader's Guide
Where Winds Meet is significant as a major wuxia open-world RPG that emphasizes cross-platform play and progression, being entirely free-to-play with monetization limited to cosmetic items. Its development by Everstone Studio, based in Hangzhou, China, began in November 2019 using the Messiah Engine. The team aimed to combine wuxia immersion with an open world, designing exploration in emotional layers and integrating skills with strong wuxia characteristics. The game's worldbuilding for each region—such as Qinghe's focus on xiake legends, Kaifeng's juxtaposition of prosperity and decay, Hexi's poetic dreamscape, and the Hidden Mountain's pursuit of wisdom—was guided by core thematic concepts. The developers conducted extensive research on historical documents and paintings, including Along the River During the Qingming Festival, to authentically represent the period. The English title 'Where Winds Meet' symbolizes converging forces and individuals, while the Chinese title 'Yanyun Shiliu Sheng' references the Sixteen Prefectures and a musical system devised by Wang Pu. The game's legacy lies in its attempt to bring wuxia to a global audience through emotionally resonant, culturally grounded storytelling.
Did You Know?
- The Chinese title 'Yanyun Shiliu Sheng' alludes to a musical system of sixteen tones devised by Wang Pu, a minister of the Later Zhou dynasty.
- The game's English title uses 'winds' as a symbol of freedom and forces that converge, collide, and merge.
- The development team researched historical works such as the painting 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival' and 'The Night Revels of Han Xizai' for authentic scene design.
- The game supports cross-platform play and progression across all released platforms.
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