Where Winds Meet: Imperial Palace Expansion Preview – Pursuing the Truth Beneath Stone

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Where Winds Meet, launched in November 2025, has rapidly gained popularity, bringing its unique take on ancient Chinese mythology – a wuxia story set during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period – to a wider audience. Just before the mobile version’s release, NetEase showcased a new trailer at The Game Awards 2025, revisiting Qinghe’s story and hinting at a 2026 expansion centered around the Imperial Palace. Players who’ve been exploring the fantastical Hexi region will soon be able to journey to the Imperial Palace, and Final Weapon recently got an early look at the expansion’s campaigns, side quests, and combat.

Wisdoms Sealed Within A Vault

In Kaifeng, a growing number of thefts has angered locals, who confront a police officer. The officer tries to calm them, but accidentally reveals too much about the crimes and flees. It’s discovered he was the thief – he’d stolen a guard’s seal and lost it while running away. The Wanderer finds the seal and decides to take on the thief’s role, targeting the Sealed Treasury. During this endeavor, they uncover secrets about the treasury and learn about Emperor Big Zhao’s past.

When you begin the Throne and Tempest questline, you play as a palace guard. Soon, you’ll notice problems that threaten the peace and need to investigate. Your main goal is to solve these mysteries and meet your contact inside the palace. However, the investigation is cut short and put on hold as the story moves forward, shifting focus to the Sealed Treasury. This leaves the initial mysteries feeling unresolved.

After finding the Sealed Treasury, the Wanderer manages to sneak inside, triggering a simple stealth section. This leads to a confrontation with The Blackclad. While the story generally feels slow, the mystery surrounding the truth is engaging. The subsequent chase is exciting and leads into a fight with The Blackclad, which unfortunately isn’t very memorable. The most interesting thing about The Blackclad is what drives her actions.

Confined Truths Only Show False Ideas

Soon after the issues at the Sealed Temple were dealt with, Emperor Zhao Guangyi announced a challenge to all thieves: successfully break into the palace, and they would all receive a reward. One of those interested was a thief known as Big Zhao. However, the challenge was disrupted when a thief attempted to assassinate the emperor, revealing a betrayal within their ranks. While escaping, the assassin played a tune that unexpectedly trapped everyone in a shared, dreamlike reality.

The Tower embodies the assassin’s bitterness, acting as a distorted reflection of the Sealed Treasury. It starts strong with engaging puzzles, including a memorable sequence where Big Zhao transforms into a tiger. However, the level soon becomes a long, winding path leading to the battle with The Lone Tyrant. This fight is incredibly difficult, but offers a satisfying reward for overcoming its two stages. Once the Tyrant is defeated, a previously unresolved story thread is quickly tied up, bringing the level to a positive conclusion.

The story within the Confinement Tower delves into Big Zhao’s history as a Song Dynasty emperor. Hints about his origins as a commoner before becoming emperor were first given in Kaifeng. This background sharply contrasts with the assassin’s desire for revenge for his father’s death. However, the story loses some momentum in the second half, particularly during another lengthy stealth section. This feels like a forced attempt to make the game longer, as some puzzles are unnecessarily repeated.

Even A Palace Has Its Surprises

The Imperial Palace is a vast and intricate area in Where Winds Meet, and it’s easy to lose your way. Running across the rooftops is consistently enjoyable, despite some areas feeling repetitive. The Sealed Temple within the palace requires skillful jumping to evade guards. Beyond the main path, there are optional activities to try, and your actions can have consequences. Overall, the Imperial Palace is a welcome and expansive addition to the game, offering plenty to do and explore.

The Imperial Palace update brings a lot of new things to do, with interactive elements and minigames scattered throughout. You can try your luck with cricket betting, or even play a cooking game similar to Fruit Ninja, ensuring there’s always something fresh to experience. The update also includes new Jianghu Legacy quests. One explores spiritual traditions focused on helping spirits find peace, offering a unique and moving story – almost like watching a performance. The other questline revisits a character from the main story, who shares a heartfelt and imaginative account of her rescue.

The Imperial Palace expansion introduces several new world bosses, ranging from playful to frightening. The Gilded Lament, a ghostly presence within the palace, was a particularly interesting encounter, though it felt unnecessarily drawn out due to her habit of creating shields before each phase. Unlocking the fight against the Cat Emperor was a challenge, requiring players to fish at a precise time. While the Cat Emperor disables the stun mechanic, the fight itself is full of amusing and unique elements.

The Imperial Palace’s Delights

Once you’ve explored everything the Imperial Palace has to offer, you’ll find plenty to enjoy. The content will be released in two parts. The first part, available May 28th, includes the Sealed Temple, The Blackclad, and world boss battles. The second part will focus on The Confinement Tower and The Lone Tyrant. We’re expecting to hear about the release date for the second part soon.

The story sometimes feels slow and could be more concise, but the main storylines offer a fascinating look at the psychological side of ancient Chinese history. There’s also plenty of extra content and activities to keep things engaging. I had a good experience with the new expansion, and it will be available soon – the first phase launches on PC and PlayStation 5 on May 28th.

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2026-05-25 20:15