Review: Lost Winds
Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 6:54pm by JakeFrontier’s Lost Winds ultimately represents what Wiiware is all about. Simple games that utilize the Wii’s unique control scheme. It’s what Nintendo wants, and what Wii gamers want. Lost Winds takes all resources available and packs it into one finely built game that should stand as a blueprint for future developers.
You play as a small, young villager named Toku. His homeland is suddenly threatened by Balasar, an evil element bent on destruction. In response, Toku is granted the wind element, Enril to save the land. Enril (onscreen cursor) allows you to manipulate the wind inside the world in order to give Toku the ability to glide, jump, and complete puzzles. This is the overall main gameplay mechanic incorporated throughout the entire course of the game. I’m glad to say it works perfectly. Very similar to the stylus drawing gameplay used in Kirby Canvas Curse for the DS. Simply hold the A button, and draw the wind streams on the screen.
Some instances have you blowing water from a stream onto a dry plant, or swiping an air stream through a lit torch to burn down an object blocking your path. Defeating enemies is quite pleasing via drawing an updraft to hold them in mid-air then quickly slamming them into the ground by swiping a downdraft into them.
The audio/visual presentation in Lost Winds is astounding. This little title looks loads better than over half of the Wii disk-based titles. The art direction draws celshading elements from Wind Waker which gives the title a calm, peaceful look to it. Music in Lost Winds contains subtle Japanese sounds that offer icing onto the already beautiful presentation.
The one minor downfall would be the overall length of the story. You can fly through the title in about 3 hours without too much trouble. Replay value is there, but not enough to start a new file once the credits roll. However, in a time when gamers are beginning to lose their free time (me), Lost Winds offers a perfect pick up and play adventure that can fit into anyone’s schedule.
I really hope both Wii, and Wiiware developers take a good look at Lost Winds. So much can be done with this new service. I applaud Frontier for this title and await the newly announced sequel.
Lost Winds is available for 1000 Wii points.
Pros
-Great IR gameplay mechanic
-Relaxing
-Art Direction/Visuals
-Music
Cons
-A bit short
May 15th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Great review, nice to see the video there, I’m guessing you did the “infendo” intro yourself
I agree Short games aren’t a bad thing. Portal was incredibly short but was definitely worth the money it cost as part of the orange box, this game certainly has the price to reflect the compact but quality-filled package. Short games are a GOOD thing, but a bit of replayability definitely adds to the overall value and is something I look for in what I purchase.
I’m glad to see these small prices for such great titles as we’ll surely see more expensive yet horrible WiiWare titles eventually. Things like Lost Winds gives me hope about what can be done and goes to show that there’s a lot of potential here for indie developers.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Sweet, Infendo video!! It’d be cool to see some video reviews in the future!
I downloaded this game day one and have really enjoyed it as well. My only gripe is the puzzles. I’m about two hours in and thus far, they’re very similar and quite obvious. Nevertheless, a great game and I’m looking forward to seeing how they expand upon it!
May 15th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
that looks like a good game that makes great use of the Wii remote.
By the Way, about how long is the game?
May 15th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I haven’t played the game, but it doesn’t look all that fun from the video. Granted I only had the patience to watch it for two minutes.
May 15th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
It’s fun alright, but I can’t help but feel like I’m patting my head and rubbing my belly when you try to move with the analog stick and swipe the character in the right direction with the Remote.
But, yeah, it’s fun on a bun. Detraction: having a “here’s the story so far” sequence of still images at the beginning. This game didn’t need it and that’s always a drag to click through at the start of games.
I give it 3 out of 4. For the same amount of money, buy Defend Your Castle and gift a copy of it to a friend, too!
May 16th, 2008 at 9:33 am
The music is just genius. After watching the video I started it again, just minimized the browser just to listen to it while I am at work. I am only 20 minutes in and love this game.
May 17th, 2008 at 5:52 am
its a brilliant game i dont why they said in the the review it wasn’t good enough please type a message and put your opinion
thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!