When it comes to video game redemption arcs, a few titles immediately come to mind. No Man’s Sky and Final Fantasy XIV remain the prime examples of games that were released poorly, only for the development team to massively improve them with updates, fixes, and new content post-launch, resulting in a much better experience and a healthy dose of goodwill from fans.
NetEase and developer Everstone Studios’ free-to-play wuxia RPG Where Winds Meet faced a similar journey, as the game launched in a rather poor technical state, especially in terms of its use of AI machine translation for its English localisation, but like any great redemption story, the team has worked hard to not just nullify its issues, but also support the game with numerous substantial pieces of additional content to further expand an already content-rich title.
Since its launch on 14 November 2025, the game has already received six major post-launch content drops, including Hexi, its massive third explorable region with three distinct biomes (Jade Gate Pass, Liangzhou, and Qinchuan) from March to May 2026, its Imperial Palace expansion in June, and most recently, the arrival of Where Winds Meet 2.0, which introduced a three-part story expansion titled the Hidden Mountain, among other gameplay tweaks and new weapons.
With the first two parts of the Hidden Mountain already released in July and August, Where Winds Meet is gearing up for the launch of the expansion’s final chapter on 16 September, which marks the epic conclusion to the game’s main chapter and sees players facing off against Qianye, the villain who destroyed the protagonist’s home and stole their loved ones early in the game’s campaign.
Geek Culture was able to get our hands on an early preview build of the game at the Where Winds Meet launch event in Hanoi, Vietnam, which comprised two major boss fights seen in the upcoming Hidden Mountain Chapter 3 alongside the Reflection Temple quest, the time-limited game mode currently in the game to celebrate the Ghost Month, a celebration observed in many Asian countries.
Apart from these main segments, the preview build also allowed us to get hands-on with the expansion’s upcoming new weapon and fighting style inspired by the Drunken Boxing style seen in Jackie Chan’s 1978 martial arts comedy, Drunken Master. Armed with a gauntlet, this style comprises fast-hitting blows with its basic attack, and when combined with a well-timed press of the Y button on the Xbox, allows players to take a gulp of alcohol from a gourd bottle.
Other than looking particularly cool when drinking mid-combo, this move also builds up a “binge” meter that increases as alcohol is consumed, which can then be spent to perform powerful special attacks that can be chained together for big damage. Taking everything into account, the Drunken Fist style presents a combo-heavy playstyle where players must balance performing relentless strikes and knowing when to drink in between.
Jumping into the preview’s first mission, players start off with an on-rails section where the protagonist parkours his way up the expansion’s almost steampunk location in the new quest, the Skyward City Ruins, avoiding attacks by a giant mechanical bird as they jump from platform to platform on their way to the top.
Once there, players will encounter Halcyon, one of Chapter 3’s new bosses. Armed with a giant mechanical hand, Halcyon was a tough enemy to beat, as her basic attack combo features numerous fast moves in succession that players will have to consistently parry or dodge. Like many bosses in the game, the fight with Halcyon was split into multiple phases, with each bringing deadlier and more complex attack combos players will have to overcome.
Rounding off the new campaign missions teased in the preview was the main chapter quest, A Borrowed Self, which saw the protagonist encountering Qianye for the second time. Again, this segment was basically an extended boss encounter, but unfortunately her fight wasn’t as interesting as Halcyon’s, especially considering she is set to be the expansion’s climactic boss encounter. Qianye’s moves are far too slow and easy to predict, making the fight relatively easier than the previous one, with the boss mostly re-using the same moves she did in her initial boss fight earlier in the main campaign. Still, the player doesn’t actually get to defeat her in this preview mission, hinting that this fight will simply be one of the many build-ups to what will hopefully be an epic conclusion.
Aside from two campaign missions, the preview build also allowed us to freely explore set locations that will be introduced in the expansion, including Lodestar Vista, Stellabed Rocks, and Mirkvale, although these small segments don’t really offer much in the gameplay front, as the preview merely included a few side activities for players to take part in. Perhaps the most interesting was Mirkvale, which again, featured a very steampunk-esque vibe with lots of gear-operated machinery, and even some robotic NPCs roaming around and performing their chores. The location also introduced a unique locked chest mechanic, where some containers were locked behind a block puzzle mini-game, where players would have to move numerous interconnected blocks in a certain direction and order to untangle them and get the loot inside.
The preview didn’t just include upcoming content, but also some of the more recently added ones, most notable of all being the time-limited Reflection Temple quest. Added to the game on 27 August and available for one month until 27 September, this mode transforms the game into a horror experience (it was created to celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival in Asia after all), and was created in partnership with Kevin Ko, director of the acclaimed 2022 horror film Incantation.
The mission starts simple enough, with the protagonist coming across a mysterious temple on his journey. Things quickly take a creepy turn, as he discovers not just bodies strewn about, but also a mysterious note with some “taboos” listed on it. Here lies the twist of the game mode – players will have to make their way through the temple while following a certain set of rules listed on the note, some examples being to not turn towards voices beckoning you, or to refrain from interacting with the shadow people, with more being added as the mission goes on. Going against the rules results in an immediate game over, making it an interesting game of trial-and-error as players figure out how to progress with no traditional objective markers, just vague instructions on a piece of cloth.
Another interesting addition to this mode, apart from the horror elements and jump scares, of which there are many, is the ability to play it entirely from the first-person point of view, a new addition to the game. This really ups the thrill factor, as the more limited field of view means players won’t be able to see what’s around the corner or look behind them while moving forward.
This mode also seemed rather comprehensive, as it added new mechanics along the way, with the example seen in the preview including making deductions based on gathered clues, and most interestingly, encountering a child-like dummy that comes to life and chases you when not looked at, much like the Weeping Angels made famous by Doctor Who. While the mode features many scary moments, there will also be options for players not used to horror, such as the ability to play it in the classic third-person perspective, or switching to a less intensive mode that reduces the scare factor.
With how interesting this new Reflection Temple mode is, it’s a shame that it will only be available for a limited time. As Where Winds Meet is also gearing up to receive a new Extraction game mode, which we unfortunately weren’t able to experience in the preview, here’s hoping that the game will also add something similar to Reflection Temple as a permanent addition down the line.
Just from a handful of new missions, it’s clear that the team is dedicated to supporting the game in the long run. Hidden Mountain Chapter 3 is set to close off a major chapter in the title’s narrative, but that’s not to say that the journey of Where Winds Meet is anywhere close to being over, as the game is still set to receive a host of new content as it approaches its one-year anniversary in November. No news has been revealed about what this would entail, but in any case, Hidden Mountain Chapter 3 will no doubt serve to hold fans’ anticipation when it launches on 16 September 2026 as a free update to the game.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Si Jia
