<p>Ocean waves hold immense potential and kinetic energy, offering a vast, limitless and reliable renewable energy source. By reducing the dependence on fossil fuels, wave energy fortifies a viable form of sustainable and alternative clean energy. Global wave energy potential is estimated to be around 1.8&#xa0;TW in which only 10–25% of it can be harnessed. However, exploiting the energy from the ocean waves is not equally feasible all across the ocean due to the fluctuating sea state, differing wave energy potential and high deployment costs. Owing to such a scenario, optimized shape, geometry and PTO system and control mechanism of WEC for maximum power extraction have to be identified. Advancements in numerical modelling, experimental research and hybrid integration have significantly contributed to harness huge amount of wave energy. This review explores the various WEC configurations including Single body, two body, submerged, nearshore and hybrid wave Energy conversion systems by highlighting the shape and geometry optimization, power take-off (PTO) system and its control mechanisms, and hydrodynamic efficiency, encompassing both the numerical and experimental approaches with various open source and commercial CFD and machine learning softwares with a special emphasizes on genetic algorithms. While the study does not cover all types of Wave Energy Converters (WEC’s), it provides an in-depth discussion on the different categories of heaving and pitching type of WECs that were taken into consideration, and features the key advancements and areas for subsequent studies. The findings of the study emphasizes that future research should focus on further development of site-specific WEC design, hybrid renewable energy integration and intelligent PTO system thereby considering the factors influencing energy capture efficiency, reducing the deployment and maintenance costs and enhancing the durability of WEC and also to suit different marine conditions.</p>