I was delighted to get a glimpse at new content coming to Wuthering Waves 3.0 after Kuro Games invited us to a hands-on preview of the update. While I spent dozens of hours in this open-world action gacha game when it first released, I haven’t been back in since then, and it was nice to see what new content was coming and what had changed since I stopped playing.
I got around two hours to dive into both some campaign content from the 3.0 update, as well as in-depth gameplay of the new, speedy motorbike you can ride across the region of Lahai-Roi. Despite the build I was playing not being the exact one that will be released on December 25, the important aspects of the update were intact and available to play around with.
Class is in session
My initial preview of the Wuthering Waves 3.0 update was the new main story content taking place in the nation of Lahai-Roi. Chapter 3, Act 1 began with Rover entering Startorch Academy, a school meant to teach Resonators such as our new friend Lynae.
Although outgoing and friendly, Lynae is lazier when it comes to attending important classes. She may be on the edge of failing, but she certainly doesn’t act worried about it. The reason she’s helping Rover get accepted into Startorch Academy is that she had previously hit our character with her Expedition Motorbike by accident. Feeling guilty, Lynae is eager to help us in any way she can, although off-screen, she would act slightly distrustful of what Rover’s true intentions here were.
The main reason we’re here is that Rover wants to get her resonance checked out, as it was destabilized after being attacked by a voidworm. We soon meet Doctor Luuk Herssen, a calm and likeable doctor who is in charge of analyzing Rover’s resonance. Later on in the story, we also meet a professor named Mornye, who helps us burn Rover’s cassette, giving us a glance back at Rover’s memories throughout the main story of Wuthering Waves so far.
A new ride
Although our resonance was certainly disrupted, Rover is healthy enough to leave, so we are finally enrolled in the school. And what better way to incentivize attending classes than to give us a beautiful bike? The Expedition Motorbike was the most enticing part of the entire preview, a high-speed vehicle that you can whip out anywhere in the region.
Not only can you traverse Lahai-Roi on long-stretching highways, but you can also jam to music on the way through the Heart Radio Channel. Other than that, you can customize the look of the bike and even upgrade it. By opening Supply Chests, defeating enemies, and completing quests in Lahai-Roi, you can even raise the level of your bike to improve its performance.
You’ll earn Modding Points, which you can spend to upgrade the bike in what looks like a skill tree. My favorite part, though, was seeing the options available for customizing the bike’s appearance. You can tweak the look of the Left and Right Fender, as well as the front and rear. Some of the paint jobs can be obtained through the main quest, while others are available to those who upgrade their bike.
Fresh battles and mini-games
Outside of the main story content, we also got a chance to roam the open world, fighting difficult bosses and completing motorbike mini-games. We were given a pre-selected team of three characters, including Lynae, Chisa, and Mornye. They all felt pretty similar, as I had yet to experience playing as any of them before. But the first two boss battles we got to experience made me feel strong enough to beat them, yet difficult enough that I couldn’t just spam buttons when fighting.
They also allowed me to try one extremely tough battle, but thinking I had the chops to tackle anything, I strode inside the battle bubble, only to see my health slowly drain. The crew of level 100 enemies appeared in front of me and took me down in less than a minute, while the area I was fighting in also slowly chipped away at my health.
Although I knew I didn’t have what it took to beat that fight, it’s nice to know that even the most skilled players with high-level characters can experience exhilarating fights without feeling bored. After that bloodbath, I got a break and was able to tackle some motorbike mini-games around the region.
The first two games were timed races that included tracks with simple twists and turns, allowing me to learn how to drift and use my boost smartly. I was feeling like a bit of a challenge, so they brought me to a mini-game that had me drive through rings and leap off ramps. This was more my kind of mini-game, which really tested my driving ability.
Overall, the hands-on preview for Wuthering Waves 3.0 offered an intriguing glance at what the new main story content had to offer without getting too deep into what the rest of Chapter 3 would look like. The Expedition Motorbike and its related side activities were enough to rein me back in and urge me to redownload Wuthering Waves to get ready for the upcoming update. There’s surely more to offer that we didn’t get a look at, but Wuthering Waves’ new update is sure to make returning fans happy and bring in new players when it launches on December 25.
