Many would instantly assume this game is dogshit on the basis that it's gacha, I'm calling this game dogshit because it's dogshit, plain and simple.

Look, Genshin and HSR are guilty pleasure games, so while I enjoy them, I also loathe them at the same time. Gacha is a disease that taints anything it touches, but I enjoy those games despite the model.

Hearing Wuthering Waves was a Genshin competitor, but with good combat, my interest was piqued. Genshin's combat, while interesting in its own right, hardly leaves any room for skill expression. Having now played a decent amount, it's clear that Wuthering Waves exists only as a decent combat system, the rest of the game attached is so abysmal, there is no realm in which anyone could even remotely compare it to Genshin. That's not to say it's not a Genshin clone, that much is certain, Wuthering Waves apes Genshin at literally every conceivable design decision. When you actually compare them as games though, it's the coughing baby vs. hydrogen bomb meme incarnate. Every single aspect of Genshin bar combat is superior and it's not even remotely close.

Looks-wise, Genshin is miles ahead of Wuthering Waves, more so from an art direction standpoint. Genshin is downright beautiful, especially in the newer areas of the game. Wuthering Waves' world is lifeless and dull, there has yet to be a single locale that has stood out or garnered even an ounce of recognition for its appearance. While a lot more subjective, character design is also much better in Genshin, I have yet to see a single character in Wuthering Waves that is not incredibly generic manhua slop with very little variety.

With the writing, Genshin is definitely not known for its storytelling prowess, but frankly, anything is better than the total shitshow that is Wuthering Waves. For starters, there's no beginning, you're just dropped into this dull world and suddenly a gang of generic waifus start salivating at your very existence, literally zero reason given whatsoever. You're summoned to the capital to meet the leader of the city, again, no reason whatsoever given, but when you get there, she's inexplicably on a fucking trip and will be gone for 3 days even though she just summoned you not 10 minutes prior?!? But wait! She's got a puzzle for you to solve in her absence which is just fuc-... I wrote more, but deleted because the point was dragging, the story is complete dogshit, we'll just leave it at that.

The open-world, oh boy the open-world, where to start... the problem is too systemic with Wuthering Waves to completely isolate and fully explain, but the process of exploration and navigating the world is just So. Fucking. Boring. The root cause is still likely the look of the game, the world is so dull, the enemies, while unique, aren't visually interesting. The puzzles are ripped straight out of early Genshin (when the game was a lot less interesting) and feel very unpolished. There are thousands of intangible details that just feel off, like a very cheap imitation. The reason I still play Genshin is because I enjoy exploring the beautiful locales that each come with new gimmicks, puzzles and enemies. Nothing is too mechanically difficult, so it's a meandering and meditative experience to explore the map. Since every aspect of the game is so well-crafted, it's effortless to explore every little nook and cranny even if it's not that experientially rich.

Even the combat isn't so clear-cut that it completely leaves Genshin in the dust. Yes, Wuthering Waves is much more frenetic, relying on twitch reactions during combat; it's deeply satisfying to parry and dodge bosses, stringing through characters using the intro/outro skills and animation cancels. The combat system allows for a lot more skill expression and as such, it's definitely the highlight of the game. That said, Genshin isn't necessarily horrid when it comes to combat, the reaction-based nature of combat is certainly less high-octane, but interesting, nonetheless. The problem lies in overworld enemy difficulty, nothing in Genshin is strong enough that a moderately built team can't absolutely eviscerate. I have yet to reach endgame, so I can't say for certain, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Wuthering Waves will run into this same issue. Outside of endgame bosses and game modes, you'll steamroll everything, resulting in the same problem Genshin has arrived at. Boss fights will likely always be superior in Wuthering Waves, hooray, it's got that going for it!

I could go down the line and list every little aspect, the worldbuilding, the character writing, the fucking music... it's all so much better in Genshin. Maybe it's unfair to compare Genshin and Wuthering Waves, Genshin is making billions and is closing in on its 4-year anniversary. That's what I would say, if Wuthering Waves didn't blatantly copy Genshin so egregiously at every single turn. If you're going to directly steal even pointless minute design decisions like arbitrarily discounting monthly pulls, you're opening yourself up for the comparisons, sorry, I don't make the rules.

At the end of the day, Wuthering Waves is a gacha which inherently stacks the deck against it; Genshin is able to overcome that blight with the competency it exudes at every turn, Wuthering Waves not so much. In constantly grasping and awkwardly trying to mimic the success of Genshin, Wuthering Waves has doomed itself to always live in its shadow, forever the "Genshin clone with slightly better combat" - a pathetic existence.

Last year, I became a fan of Nitro+Chiral after playing all of Slow Damage during summer. It made me want to read VNs again for the first time in a while, so i decided to slowly play through their entire catalog.

I really liked Sweet Pool, i thought Togainu was honestly pretty bad and I found Dramatical Murder to be nice. I had Lamento downloaded for a while, but it wasn't until last week when I decided to play it on a whim, it was the only game i had left (not counting Dmmd Re:Connect, i'll get to that someday) so I figured it was time to finally get to it.

I finished the game yesterday, and honestly I'm so glad that i played it. It really clicked with me, and while I think there are a few parts that drag quite a bit and I wouldn't call the game perfect, I have really few problems with it. Every route of the game follows the same story structure, and while that got a bit tiring for me towards the end, it somehow really didn't feel repetitive.


I loved the characters, way more than I expected to do tbh, this is the only N+C game where I didn't dislike any of the LIs and I found the chemistry between Konoe and them to be excellent. I'd say Asato was my favorite one of them with Bardo being a close second, but I have a hard time choosing one right now. Outside of the LIs, Shui and Leaks and their relationship was one of the highlights for me.

I struggle a bit writing reviews, but honestly it was just... peak, it's peak. While it's not my fave N+C vn (because Slow Damage exists), it's easily my second favorite one.