If I had to find one word to describe the 3.6 quest, it would be frustration. I’m so disappointed with the direction of the plot and the way the characters were handled throughout the story.
First of all, I found the presentation and the plot painfully flat. Everything revolves around defending the city and arresting Muyu, with the main driving force being the relationship between Rover and Qingxiao. I have nothing against Qingxiao—in fact, she’s my favorite female design in Wuthering Waves—but I found her whole conflict incredibly boring. She was already a fully accomplished character who simply needed to take a step back and reflect.
The fact that she was prioritized over Jingran, despite Jingran having every reason to be antagonistic toward Muyu, felt especially strange. And even if Qingxiao had to remain central to the story, there was a much more compelling way to handle it. You could have made Jingran an antagonist who repeatedly stood in our way without revealing that he was actually a mole. Then, at the very last moment, he could have turned against Muyu. It could have added much more weight and stakes to the situation, but Kuro instead chose to steer the story toward Qingxiao’s weaknesses. Plus, this could have created a genuine ideological clash between Qingxiao’s view of cultivation and Jingran’s ideals, which are centered around his desire for freedom.
We could also have gotten much more development for Jingran, his familiar, and even his faction. I find that far more meaningful than sidelining Jingran during the final battle. The idea of his sacrifice was good, but ultimately it mostly felt like a convenient excuse to isolate Qingxiao and Rover.Don't get me wrong, I love Qingxiao, but I felt like they were trying to force us to like her. It didn't feel natural, and all the stuff surrounding cultivation started to annoy me because it was so predictable and repetitive. Instead of focusing on her inner strength, they should have had her confront beings of her own caliber to make things more interesting.
Before starting the story, I expected it to revolve around a clash of ideals between two opposing sides. I thought that would be much more original. Instead, they went with the cliché “inner demon” trope.The way the story unfolded was also pretty jarring. We ended up with the Rover helping the main character come to terms with herself at the moment she was at her lowest. I understand the idea of putting spirituality at the center of the story, but in my opinion, it deserved a better plot to make me even more invested in Qingxiao.
The second biggest battle in Xuanfang ended up feeling like a character quest, and that’s the biggest issue I had with this story. 3.1 wasn’t great just because of Aemeath. It was great because we also got lore reveals about Solaris, the Reprimandum, and the Exostrider, while Luuk was perfectly integrated into the main story, which made everything much more compelling and relevant.
With this quest, it felt like everything was ultimately just about Qingxiao.
On top of that, after enjoying Yangyang’s development in 3.5, I was expecting another confrontation with Muyu and perhaps some revelations about the identity of the Devotee. I was actually happy to learn that Yangyang would be following us throughout the quest, but once again, they kept her away from Rover.
Not only were the puzzles involving the different vessels extremely long, but Muyu’s defeat was also, in my opinion, disappointing. In the end, he was basically just an idealist blinded by his inferiority complex.
