Where Winds Meet Hexi Expansion Hands-on Impressions: Dreaming in the Desert

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The first part of the Where Winds Meet expansion, Hexi, is a really promising start. It introduces changes to the original game that feel natural and impactful. While there’s still some room for improvement, we’re optimistic the developers will address these issues before the final release.

If you haven’t played Everstone’s action-RPG since it came out last year, or if you stopped playing after a while, now’s a good time to pick it up again. The new expansion’s first big area, Jade Gate Pass, offers plenty of content and might even encourage you to revisit the original game if you moved on to something else.

What makes this new expansion so engaging, especially considering how much content the game already had? What captured my attention and kept me playing (for the most part)? And what are my thoughts on all the new features and content the developers added in what they’re calling their largest expansion yet?

I’m here to answer your questions and help you figure out if you’re interested in exploring the first region’s vast deserts to experience the Tang Dynasty – the historical period this expansion is based on. Let’s get started.

Let’s talk about the new map and what it’s like to explore. The original game was known for its beautiful visuals and artistic style, and that continues here. The desert is stunning, with its sweeping sand dunes and wide-open spaces. You’ll find ancient, crumbling ruins scattered throughout the landscape – they hint at a lost civilization and also help you get your bearings as you discover the new world.

You’ll find plenty to do and discover in this new desert area, with windswept sands under your feet. It offers a good amount of content, though it’s less overwhelming than the main game, where it was easy to get sidetracked constantly. If you prefer a focused experience, the Jade Gate Pass might be a better fit. But if you enjoy exploring and getting distracted, this new map might not offer enough to keep you entertained.

There’s a lot to do in the desert, but it doesn’t quite offer the same amount of content as the main game.

However you choose to experience the game, you’ll likely find yourself frequently pausing just to take in the beautiful scenery. The sounds, the moon imagery, and the changing day and night cycles are all incredibly immersive and almost magical. It makes me curious about what the next two maps will look like, and I wonder if the developers intentionally made this first map a little less crowded to fit the desert setting, gently introducing players to the expansion’s style before fully showcasing it in the upcoming chapters.

Throughout the story, I had a persistent uneasy feeling. It began slowly, almost dragging at times, but gradually gained momentum as I progressed. The overall tone felt heavier than the original game, which likely reflects the story’s focus on the Tang Dynasty and the experiences of those who lived through its triumphs and failures.

Compared to the original game, I felt the writing and voice acting weren’t quite as strong, but it was still good enough to keep me engaged. I really enjoyed exploring every part of the desert, especially with the new ways to get around – the traversal mechanics were a lot of fun!

The Sand Chaser is a brand new way to travel, and I really enjoyed using it. It’s a fun and smooth way to quickly move across the large sandy areas of the Jade Gate Pass, and I felt like I didn’t lose control even at high speeds.

Sand Chaser and Cosmic Reversal are both fun additions to the game, but they don’t really improve how players think about exploration as much as I’d hoped.

The game introduces a cool new feature called Cosmic Reversal, letting you rewind time to fix broken paths or use objects in new ways, opening up access to previously unreachable areas. I thought it was a good addition that added some engaging puzzles – some were cleverly designed and really made me think. While a few puzzles felt a bit similar to others, that’s pretty common in a large expansion like this one.

Sand Chaser and Cosmic Reversal are fun additions to the game, but they don’t really improve the core exploration experience as much as I’d hoped. They’re solid mechanics, but don’t fundamentally change how the game plays. However, they do add a lot of flair to movement, which fits well with the game’s wuxia style, and mastering them together allows for some really impressive moves.

Venturing across such a large desert landscape is definitely risky, but you’ll have two new fighting styles to help you. The Umbrella class gains the Spring Dreamscape style, which is incredibly fluid and graceful – it really feels like a dance. Your attack combinations can be very long and varied, limited only by your imagination and skill in using the new moves. This mix of speed and power kept me going throughout most of the new content.

I’ve been playing around with the Rope Dart, and the Fleeting Clouds style is seriously good. It does awesome area-of-effect damage, so it’s great for taking on groups of enemies, but it also holds its own in one-on-one fights. I did have a little trouble getting the targeting right sometimes, but I’m hoping they’ll fix that in the final version. Definitely worth checking out then!

I was really impressed with how well the new combat styles handled all the new enemies I faced while exploring the new areas! Each enemy type comes at you differently, so it took a little getting used to learning the new moves and really watching their animations to know when to strike or block. But once I got the hang of it, it felt great!

The Wandering Ark really stands out – it’s one of the most creative boss battles I’ve encountered recently.

The bosses are particularly challenging, and I struggled a lot with Guo Xin when I first fought him. I suggest practicing your ability to block or deflect attacks to get through the first part of the battle. Save your healing items for the second half, because that’s when he really shows you why he’s so well-known and feared.

The Wandering Ark is a particularly impressive boss fight. This massive creature roams the desert, relentlessly attacking anyone who approaches. The challenge lies in finding the right locations to strike its weak points while also ensuring you have enough protection from its powerful counterattacks. It’s a battle that requires both strategic thinking and skillful combat.

The expansion features side quests that are just as engaging as those in the original game, offering fun and well-made stories. However, the expansion isn’t as stable as the base game was at launch – it has more bugs. I even ran into one that stopped me from continuing the main story. While there are issues, they seem fixable with a couple of updates.

“Hexi gets a lot of things right, and they’re ones that matter to an entertaining gameplay loop.”

Hexi’s first chapter is a great start and promises a lot more content for Where Winds Meet in the coming months. I’m really excited to see what happens next, especially to try out the new Heng Blade!

Generally, I’d recommend giving this a try. If you loved the original game, even with its flaws, you’ll probably enjoy this one too. However, if you didn’t stick with the first game for very long, you might feel the same way about this. Even if that’s the case, it’s still worth a look to see the improvements. The developers, Hexi, have done a good job focusing on the things that really make the game fun. It feels like a more polished version of Where Winds Meet, with enough new content to stand on its own as a worthwhile experience.

This game was experienced on PC.

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2026-03-04 15:13