Today we got a new patch release of Gathering Wives… cough cough… Wuthering Waves, introducing Chisa as the new character to roll for. She is the only limited unit in this patch, which gives us a nice bit of breathing room to gather rolls in preparation for the new zone coming in the next major update.

This patch also brings a completely new area called Honami City, a contemporary Japan inspired zone that immediately stands out from anything we have seen so far. It is a strong contrast to Rinascita, which had a medieval fantasy vibe, and to the initial region, which leaned more into post apocalyptic sci fi.

I already played through the entire story of the patch. I honestly was not planning to, but the pacing was so smooth and the flow so natural that I kept thinking “just one more part” and suddenly a few hours had passed and I was done. I still have all the gameplay content left, so there is plenty of fun waiting for me.

The story this time revolves around the Black Shores detecting a resonance between the Leviathan gem we obtained earlier and something unknown. While investigating the source, Rover gets dragged into a Sonoro Sphere by an unseen hand. Inside, Rover meets Chisa, who has been trapped in a looping version of Honami City for the past two months.

The city is frozen in the moment it was destroyed by the Lament, and Chisa, along with a friend who was trapped with her, tried to survive by using her power to separate things and create temporary hideouts. Unfortunately, we eventually discover that her friend actually died long ago. She was the one who reached out to drag us into the Sonoro Sphere in a desperate attempt to save Chisa. Due to the different flow of time between the sphere and the outside world, Chisa has effectively been trapped for twenty years even though it felt like two months to her.

Her backstory is fairly standard for Wuthering Waves standards. She faced discrimination because of her power, eventually found a place where she felt accepted, and ended up attending an academy designed for people like her. It is simple, but it works well enough for her character arc.

The visuals are, as always, phenomenal. You can see it in the images I attached. The ruined Japanese city aesthetic is beautifully done and perfectly matched to the decay caused by time and the Lament. And Chisa herself is gorgeous, with her schoolgirl outfit, gentle expressions and soft, delicate face. They really nailed her presentation.

Two scenes in particular made me laugh a lot. First, the post credits moment where Abby gets mad about the existence of another mascot that could steal his spotlight. And second, the scene where Chisa and the Shorekeeper start a completely dead serious staring contest with their cool faces. Absolute gold.

We're definitely not beating the gathering wives allegations though, because Chisa and Rover get close in like minutes of being together and you know how these things go. She's yet another wife to join the never ending harem of girls. Hopefully she doesn't get forgotten after one patch just like the others though... 

It was nice to see Camellya back though (she had quite a few lines in the post-main story section) and I'm looking forward to seeing what they deliver in the next area. Expectations are high after the incredible work they did with Rinascita, and I really hope they manage to keep this level of quality going.