PlayStation 5 kicks off 2025 with free open-world RPG, no PS Plus needed

A completely free-to-play RPG just landed on PlayStation 5 that is seriously impressing a lot of folks online - and you don’t even need any kind of PlayStation Plus subscription to play it.

As was announced last month at The Game Awards in a brand-new trailer, the popular open-world gacha title Wuthering Waves finally landed on PS5 less than a couple of weeks ago.

Although the title originally had a bit of a rocky launch when it dropped back in May 2024 on Mobile and PC, Wuthering Waves has since gone on to garner a lot of critical praise for its oddly generous free-to-play reward system and its fluid, satisfying combat.

It seems that the PlayStation release of the game has been equally well received, as folks over on a thread on the GameFAQs messaging board had nothing but praise for the PS5 version.

“I’d suggest it to anyone who likes super fluid anime style combat like DMC with endgame content that has Souls-tier difficulty,” commented user kah.

“Graphics are peak, runs great on PS5, story is solid with awesome characters that all play completely different. Doesnt cost anything to jump in and enjoy a ton of content for free.”

“Usually, I dislike gacha games (particularly, the ones on consoles) but I make an exception for Wuthering Waves. It lives up to what it promises and it is definitely worth a try,” replied user TalesOfGod.

“For the reasons that put me off from Genshin, WuWa actually has thrilling bosses with satisfying gameplay and has fluid movement. They are fairly generous (especially compared to Hoyo). The animation looks great, the game is drop dead gorgeous on PC, the characters are endearing and they are showing real signs of improvement where they were lacking on launch.”

No word on an Xbox port for the game yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear of one soon considering its PS5 release is making a lot of waves online (sorry).