Wuthering Waves is Hopefully Only the First of Its Kind

Genshin Impact’s overwhelming presence in the gacha space has been nearly uncontested for five years now, occupying an enviable position as one of the most popular gacha games of all time. Many games, referred to as Genshin clones, have tried and failed to recreate miHoYo’s success, but none have come as close as Wuthering Waves, an open-world action RPG that isn’t content to simply copy Genshin’s formula, but rather takes it further. With Wuthering Waves’ success, developers would be wise to take notes and understand what made this Genshin Impact clone different from all the rest. Wuthering Waves has proven that Genshin’s position isn’t unassailable, and there is room for more games like it in the industry.

For fans of gacha games, titles that try to replicate Genshin Impact aren’t a bad thing. Before Genshin, many gacha games were cash grabs with poor gameplay, relying solely on the lure of gambling to pull players in. Genshin is an expensive game in its own right, but at least it uses that money to make the game itself better. It offers fun exploration, interesting characters, new zones, and the ability to realistically play all content in the game as a free-to-play player. Genshin clones like Wuthering Waves attempt to offer the same value proposition: actually engaging content that players can sink hundreds of hours into and not feel bored. Most importantly, more of the same would give miHoYo reason not to rest on its laurels. Fierce competition in the gacha space would mean that no matter which studio loses, the players win.

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By Hajrudin Krdzic

Wuthering Waves’ Genshin Impact Imitation is Accompanied by Innovation

A Successful Genshin Clone Needs to Take a Page Out of Wuthering Waves' Playbook

There are quite a few aspects where Wuthering Waves goes beyond its inspiration and builds on top of Genshin’s art style and world design with something new. Combat, in particular, is a major improvement. Lightning-fast attacks, impressive visual effects, and heavy emphasis on dodging and parrying allow it to outshine Genshin. The smaller party size—three instead of four—also means there is more incentive to switch party members quickly in order to pull off satisfying combos.

Wuthering Waves’ version of exploration is also a lot more engaging than Genshin’s. Thanks to the incentive to echo farm, players are actually required to explore Kuro Games’ lovingly crafted open-world map multiple times instead of simply once when they first unlock it. Traversal mechanics like Inferno Rider’s bike make it so that movement abilities aren’t character-specific but rather available to any party member with an empty echo slot. Additionally, Wuthering Waves is distinctly different from Genshin Impact in terms of tone and vibes. While the art style is definitely the same, the mature characters and muted colors make for a somewhat somber atmosphere that feels more grounded in reality, despite the sci-fi setting.

The takeaway from Wuthering Waves’s success isn’t that its version of the Genshin formula is the best one, but that new games should attempt to differentiate themselves from their inspiration. Any other game shouldn't merely try to be Genshin Impact 2 from another company; Genshin Impact is already plenty popular. Fresh, new ideas are what allow new games to avoid being lost in the shuffle, a rule that holds true for all games, not just gachas.

Genshin Impact Already Has Ton of Upcoming Competition

From all accounts, the aftershocks of Genshin Impact’ s, well, impact on the gaming industry are about to bear fruit in the form of dozens of games inspired by it, its approach to combat, gacha mechanics, and world-building. With Wuthering Waves’ success, these projects are revitalized and more ready to come onto the scene than ever before.

Titles like Ananta (previously Project Mugen), Arknights: Endfield, Dungeon & Fighter ARAD, Azur Promilia, Crystal of Atlan, Honor of Kings World, and Neverness to Everness are just the tip of the iceberg. Even Monster Hunter is jumping onto the gacha bandwagon with Monster Hunter Outlanders, a game with an extremely promising concept. These are just the games that have been announced and have a somewhat confirmed release window. There is every reason to believe that many more titles inspired by Genshin Impact that remain unannounced, but are already being developed, waiting for the opportune moment to announce their arrival.