How Much Wuthering Waves Is Like Genshin Impact

Summary Wuthering Waves launched to massive excitement and has largely lived up to it so far.

Wuthering Waves shares similarities with Genshin Impact in open-world exploration and team/character building.

Wuthering Waves differentiates itself from Genshin Impact with a soulslike combat system and different damage combo focuses.

With another gacha action RPG joining the market, comparisons have begun between newcomer Wuthering Waves and the current throne holder, Genshin Impact. Wuthering Waves, or WuWa for short, has taken the gacha market by storm, excelling with over 50 million preregistrations. The game did have some rough technical issues the first few days, but that was quickly fixed. Because of these issues, developer Kuro Games gave out generous compensation gifts that caused a wave of hope for the future.

Wuthering Waves' gacha and pity system has received early praise so far for its generosity. The beginner banner guaranteed a standard 5-Star character after 50 pulls, with a banner after that would award a selected standard 5-Star after at most 80 pulls. For limited banners, characters are still 50/50, but weapon banners are separate and guaranteed after 80 pulls. Though the gacha is still a large gamble, WuWa's more rewarding system is a welcome boon.

Related Wuthering Waves Hands-On GDC Preview: "Another Open-World ARPG With A Very Strong Hook" Wuthering Waves might have some familiar looking features, but it's the elements that set it apart that have potential to make an impact.

How Wuthering Waves Is Like Genshin Impact

Taking Inspiration From The Best

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As many of these games take inspiration from each other, WuWa has many similarities with Genshin. The most obvious one is the open-world map both games have. Both worlds are filled with side quests and exploration puzzles to enjoy. Which is easier is dependent on the player, but neither game is necessarily complicated. Exploration events range from races to small battles or puzzles that involve using some of the in-game mechanics.

The team composition in both games is the same for the most part but with slight differences. Where Genshin uses four characters, WuWa uses three. These characters cover six elements, four of which are the same as Genshin in Fusion (Pyro), Glacio (Cryo), Electro, (Electro), and Aero (Ameno). The other two elements are Havoc and Spectro, similar to Quantum and Imaginary from HoYoverse's other popular gacha game, Honkai Star Rail.

Character building in Wuthering Waves is also similar to Genshin Impact. Each character has a weapon that is split up between five different types. WuWa's version of Artifacts is known as Echoes and work fundamentally the same as in Genshin. Characters have five abilities to level up: Basic Attack, Resonace Skill, Forte Circuit, Resonance Liberation, and Intro Skill. This is similar to Genshin, except for Forte Circuit and Intro Skill.

How Wuthering Waves Is Different From Genshin Impact

A More Engaging & Easier Grind

Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic.

Though many of the two games' systems are similar, they have huge differences that set them apart. WuWa's combat is closer to a soulslike game, where perfect time dodges give immunity and some attacks can be parried. This is especially important for bosses that have a stagger bar that needs to be depleted to weaken them and massively increase damage. Character rotations are generally much quicker in WuWa, with characters able to build up to intro and outro skills that either buff the next character or deal massive damage.

Wuthering Waves does not have element reactions like in Genshin Impact, instead focusing on team synergy with buffs.

The Echo system will also feel pretty different when compared to Genshin Impact's Artifacts. Echos in WuWa are earned by defeating monsters or farming Echo fields. These monsters come at one of three cost levels and with two main stats. Once leveled to max, they can be tuned to unlock sub-stats. Unlike in Genshin, these sub-stats are maxed from the start. Overall, WuWa's system feels more rewarding and easier to grind in comparison.

Though early, Wuthering Waves does lose out when it comes to storytelling. At times the story can feel bland with loads of exposition dumped onto the player. There is a sense of where it is going, but it can feel rushed and heavily carried by the addictive gameplay and systems around it. Genshin's story at release wasn't nearly as exceptional as it has become, but it still offered more engaging characters and foundation when compared to WuWa.

Is Wuthering Waves Already Better Than Genshin Impact?

The Benefits Of Competition

Custom Image by Bruno Yonezawa

After suffering a rough technical launch, unless unforeseen circumstances sink it, Wuthering Waves has a great chance to compete with Genshin Impact. Story and gameplay enjoyment will come down to player preference, but many systems in WuWa are already huge improvements that many had been asking for. A simple but great example of this is movement, where, in Genshin, characters slowly climb walls, but WuWa allows walls to be run up. These quality-of-life changes can make a huge difference.

Even the gacha system differences, while still a controversial gamble, make WuWa appear to be the better choice. Overall, it will take continuous development and proper decisions for Kuro Games to compete long-term with the current king of gacha games. The foundation that has been created and a warm response from the player base is as good of a start as the game can hope for.

Even if it can't top Genshin, the competition is good for both games. As it could push Genshin to make changes that improve the game and keep fans happy. Though unconfirmed, a recent Resin increase has been theorized to be in response to the massive excitement about Wuthering Waves. However, this could also be due to a rumored level update. Thus, players who have the time and willingness to play both could reap the benefit of a good competition.

Overall, the two games are bound to be compared to each other unless a massive shift is made to either. However, it is good to see WuWa made the effort to put significant differences in it, rather than become a carbon copy of Genshin Impact set in a different franchise. There is still a lot for it to improve, but Wuthering Waves' successful start has granted it the time and capital to accomplish this.