Free RPG Where Winds Meet’s huge new DLC adds its best region yet

Where Winds Meet is now available across PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S after it recently launched on the latter platform.

With more players than ever now able to step inside this thrilling, free open-world experience, there’s no better time for developer Everstone Studio to drop a hefty expansion; it’s one that adds an entire region.

On July 23, Where Winds Meet players will be able to enjoy the Hidden Mountain expansion - and if it isn’t already abundantly clear, both the Where Winds Meet base game and Hidden Mountain expansion are free.

The expansion was actually first teased during June’s Xbox Showcase, but now we know that it’s merely days away from launching with that July 23 date having been locked in.

This marks the game’s third major expansion after the previous Hexi and Imperial Palace - and it could be the game’s best expansion yet.

Hidden Mountain introduces a vast new region that’s built around verticality, allowing players to make use of Where Winds Meet’s wuxia traversal controls in order to explore.

As per an Xbox Wire blog post, the design “adds entirely new dimensions to exploration, rewarding curious players with hidden surprises at every elevation”.

Hidden among these mountainous peaks is the secretive Mohist sect and encountering the group promises to bring new martial arts mechanics, narrative twists, and new mysteries.

The key hub of this expansion is a brand-new mechanical city which, assumedly, is where the Mohist sect resides although that’s not been explicitly said.

The latest trailer for the DLC shows ziplines and carts being used to navigate the area.

In terms of the enemies we may encounter, those very much appear to be mechanical too.

In the aforementioned trailer, we see a mechanical spider-type creature that can evolve into a snake, mechanical undead human warriors, and mechanical horses that are all set to stand in our way.

There also looks to be a new little mechanical companion, a bird that the player can release with the voiceover teasing that it can “bring friends back to you”.

Of course, amid all of the new combat challenges, there are plenty of puzzles included within the expansion as well as new tests of your skill when it comes to traversal.

The team at Everstone Studio don’t look to be short of ideas with Hidden Mountain shaping up to be a brilliant addition to the game.

Hopefully, as we countdown to its release on July 23, we’ll get detailed patch notes, outlining exactly what we can expect when it comes to new quests, side quests, and challenges.

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The Hidden Mountain trailer is another victim of PlayStation’s all-digital controversy

While I’m sure the trailer is drumming up hype for the expansion, it’s hard to tell.

That’s because PlayStation has the exclusive on the trailer and it’s still facing backlash for its new all-digital policy.

From January 2028, PlayStation will cease producing physical games as it enters a new all-digital era.

This is hugely harmful to consumers. You don’t own your digitally purchased games, and they could one day be lost when a console’s store and general software is eventually abandoned.

Physical games are often cheaper than their digital counterparts plus you can sell the games you no longer want or pick up reasonable secondhand copies.

It raises immense concerns over the preservation and financial accessibility of gaming.

Where Winds Meet’s Hidden Mountain trailer is flooded with backlash on PlayStation’s YouTube channel.

“We want to own our physical games”, “Greed has no limits”, and “Give us physical media” are all among the comments left.

It’s a shame for the innocent Everstone Studio devs but PlayStation is going to be facing this kind of response for a long, long time.