Wuthering Waves, the latest “Genshin Impact” killer, has made waves, no pun intended, throughout the gaming community due to its similar story-driven gacha RPG, but with a focus on an apocalyptic storyline and improved combat mechanics compared to the famous gacha game. Furthermore, the Echo system has made its way to many people’s hearts as a better and more enjoyable alternative to the dull artifacts and materials farming Genshin offers.
However, despite its standout advantages, the game’s core concept of storytelling is lacking and uneven. For example, the lore dump of numerous terminologies like Lament, Retroact Rain, Threnodian, and Waveworn phenomena have caused more questions than figuring out the actual answer to who the protagonist actually is.
In addition, how Wuthering Waves portrayed the six arc story has sparked anger from the Chinese fanbase, with players negatively rating the game on Bilibili, with the rating now standing at 4.4/10. It is a far cry from the positive feedback and appreciation the international fans have for the game, and this article will touch on why the game’s story has such a contrasting reaction.
Wuthering Waves Story and Wording Issues
1) The Jianxin Civilian Incident
Bypassing the early-game shenanigans of figuring out Jinhsi’s puzzles (Which we now know Changli created), the first controversial talking point occurred when Rover (Us), Yangyang and Jianxin met three strange civilians at the Detection Beacon. While the initial conversation proceeded as expected, with the three confessing to stealing the machine to solve their hunger and money issues, the situation took a weird turn when Jianxin offered the three her flatbread and some money.
![Wuthering Waves 6 Arc Storyline Quality Receives Brutal Reaction From Chinese Players (1)](https://player.me/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Wuwa-1.png)
For example, one’s usual reaction to receiving kindness is to thank the person. However, the three civilians decided to repay Jianxin by ambushing her and threatening her for more, which resulted in the Taoist monk handling them a lesson. After the beatdown, the three confessed to being newly joined Exiles who escaped patrollers, which should have sparked some reaction from the Midnight Ranger (Yangyang), but she stood still and watched the scene unfold.
Disregarding Yangyang not arresting them, the three continued to demand more money, and we even had the option to give them some, but obviously, many chose not to. What unfolded next was baffling as Jianxin lectured them and even offered to help them settle down in the city if they couldn’t after everything was over despite their attitude. Then, the scene ended with the trio begrudgingly leaving under the eyes of Yangyang.
While the international fan base had less to say about Jianxin, this character writing has caused a massive outcry from the Chinese community as they sarcastically dubbed Jianxin an existence even more benevolent than the Holy Mother.
Also Read: Understanding Genshin Impact’s 7 Elements and Its Reactions and Resonances
2) Yangyang’s Quote About Frontline Soldiers and Rear Personnel
Unfortunately for Wuthering Waves, the second and most contentious miswriting occurs in the following scene from Jianxin’s incidents. After arriving at the Rearguards Base, the trio met with a busy rear soldier named Xiulan and noticed how swamped she was with delegating tasks.
![Wuthering Waves 6 Arc Storyline Quality Receives Brutal Reaction From Chinese Players (2)](https://player.me/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Wuwa-2.png)
It all looked normal until Xiulan thanked us for helping her bring the frontline soldiers to the medic, and Yangyang spoke this exact phrase: “Things are always like this in the rear. The frontline soldiers focus solely on battles, following orders and striking enemies. But in the rear, personnel must juggle numerous tasks.”
At first glance, the phrase has no issue as it conveys that the frontline soldiers and rear personnel each have things to deal with in war. However, when you reread the phrase, the words “Solely” and “Must” feel out of sorts. For example, the words bring out an ambiguous meaning of only praising the rear personnel as they need to handle much stuff while the frontline only needs to defeat the enemy. In response, Kuro Games removed the phrase on the Chinese version overnight. However, the mistake seems irrevisable as many players spammed this formula under Wuthering Waves, Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail’s feed.
For instance, a Bilibili user stated: “This is Kuro Games. Rovers focus solely on topping up, but the developers must consider numerous things.” Another Bilibili user stated under Wuthering Waves latest post, picking 10 Rovers, celebrating the 30 million downloads worldwide before Wuthering Waves eventually distributed the rewards to every Rover. “This is Wuthering Waves. Millions of players focus solely on competing 10 Lustrous Tide, but Wuthering Waves must contemplate on numerous tasks.”
3) Jiyan and Geshu Lin
Lastly, one of the most egregious talking points from the Chinese fan base was the story depiction of Jiyan and Geshu Lin. The sentiment began before Wuthering Waves even fully released as their Story Cinematics: Battle Beneath the Crescent was supposed to show General Jiyan’s ascension and the sacrifice of Geshu Lin. However, the narration only brought more confusion to the role of the two when Jiyan seemed to disobey Geshu Lin’s last command of holding the line when the Retroact Rain began and led the soldiers away from the battlefield.
After playing the story and understanding the terminologies, we could understand why Jiyan issued a hard-won retreat as the Retroact Rain made it hard to distinguish friends and foes. However, why was Jiyan awarded for his deeds and Geshu Lin blamed and deemed someone with innumerable crimes for his noble sacrifice?
Wuthering Waves failed to answer the question in the storyline and it has left many players puzzled as to why the game would deem someone who single-handedly held back the threat for years a notorious reputation. The Chinese fanbase was evidently unhappy with the label used to describe Geshu Lin as Wuthering Waves used a more than harsh idiom “罄竹难书 (Innumerable Crimes) in the Story Cinematics.
Furthermore, the players began questioning whether Wuthering Waves truly understands military laws as is it, not the first rule to obey the orders of your superiors at all costs on the battlefield? Hopefully, we will see the answer to this question in the future. But, for now, Jiyan has unfortunately earned himself the label of General Coward in the Chinese fanbase.
Also Read: 10 Best Tactical RPG Games to Play in 2024
Wuthering Waves Story Will Only Get Better
All in all, the story in Wuthering Waves had much room for improvement but to give props to Wuthering Waves, parts of the story were better when Rover met up with new characters like Verina, Camellya, Encore and Aalto. The interactions with the antagonist Scar and the Fractsidus also bring much potential for the plot moving forward.
With all that said, the main storyline has now temporarily ended and plot-seeking players will have to wait until June 28 for new story content when the 1.1 version drops with eagerly-anticipated characters such as Jinshi and Changli arriving. To catch up on the latest news of Wuthering Waves and other gacha games, follow us on Twitter for timely updates and more.
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