This short puzzle-focused Metroidvania was actually the very first 'digital-only' game I purchased, way back on WiiWare. I recently stumbled upon it and its sequel on Steam and decided to blitz through both in a single night.

The core mechanic of controlling the wind with the Wiimote/Mouse independent of your character (on the Nunchuck/Controller) is still novel to this day. Unfortunately, the potential of this mechanic is not fulfilled, with the puzzles remaining simple throughout the approximately two hour playtime.

The aesthetics are simple, but do the job. The music is mostly just 'ok', but the song that starts whenever you encounter an enemy is incredibly irritating.

A cool side project from a studio who mostly do Simulation games, however there are a lot of far better alternatives these days.

LostWinds is an example of a game that’s mostly charm and very little substance. Okay, maybe that’s being too harsh, but when you have a concept as interesting as a platformer with wind manipulation and you squander it on cause/effect schemas that barely constitute as puzzles, you can imagine my disappointment.

Unlike other platformers, LostWinds has developed a decent mythology about its world, and while that mythos is solely used to fuel an archetypal good vs. bad conflict, it’s evident that some effort was put into it. You play as a boy named Toku who finds himself united with a spirit named Enril. Long ago, Enril helped seal away an evil demon named Balasar, but years of festering in the prison have lead to Balasar growing too powerful for containment. And with Enril’s power weakened, it’s up to Toku to help him save the world.

As I said, it’s relatively simplistic, but there were some touches I liked, namely that Toku avoids falling into the “chosen one” trope- he just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (or rather, right place at the right time since it is ultimately positive), and Enril avoids having a personality. That latter point might seem strange, but one thing I am not a big fan of in these types of fiction is the spirit partner having a wisecracking or pestering personality: think Tatl in Majora’s Mask or The Watcher in Darksiders. I’m not saying they don’t have moments, but most of the time they come off as more irate than enjoyable. Enril, by contrast, is a straightshooter who is consistently encouraging progression to Toku over moments of pointless relief.

That being said, the biggest flaw with the narrative here is how it’s all set-up. Lostwinds feels more like the first half of a game than a full-fledged title- you don’t fight Balasar at the end, nor even encounter him, nor do you even restore Enril to her full potential. If this was done because they wanted to end on a cliffhanger, then it’s lackluster; if it’s because they wanted to forcibly create a sequel, then that’s just borderline scammy.

Graphically, Lostwinds is definitely enjoyable. As a former WiiWare title, LostWinds reminded me why the Wii lacking HD was never an issue- the art styles employed by various developers more than made-up for it. Here, I was reminded a lot of the Clash of Ninja and Donkey Kong Country Returns series, which featured 3D models against 2D backdrops. Do I think Lostwinds would’ve been better off being purely 2D? I do, but the aesthetic here is pleasing: warm colors, well-proportioned models that are stylish without being flamboyant, and backdrops that are always filled with some natural or architectural vista. A lot of effort was put into creating each area and it shows. Characters are also dressed uniquely so that they stand out without standing out if that makes sense (i.e., not feeling like they belong there at all ala Oxenfree). Some cutscenes are present and depicted in a cross-stitch style that's also very beautifully rendered.

Sound is a huge huge let down. There are only 2 tracks that play throughout the game that I recall: first is this panflute melody that is your general overworld track, and the second is this drumbeat that is the battle music. Both are fine, but as they are the ONLY pieces of music to transpire on screen, they get tiring very fast. The former, in particular, has too many high notes to qualify as soothing. Also, I just couldn’t help but feel that they came off as too stereotypically Asian, though your milage will vary on that front.

Sound effects are lackluster- you have a single din for each wind action that does not differentiate depending on what object you’re using it on: weight, mass, length, duration don’t make a difference. It also lacks power- you would think a gust would carry more oomph than the gentle breeze you’re left hearing. And no voice acting outside of grunts means the category is essentially nonexistent.

Gameplay is probably the biggest letdown. Obviously, this is a title that was made with the Wiimote in-mind: you create air currents to move Toku via drawing directional lines. On PC, the controller for these has been substituted with the mouse, which in theory should give more precision but in actuality feels like it plays harder than it would’ve on the Wii. This is because the Wiimote, even with Motion Plus, were never true 1:1 compared to a mouse, and so Lostwinds lacks that input : response here. I’m not saying there’s a huge delay or anything that makes it broken, but it was noticeable and will create occasional moments of frustration that may add up depending on your mileage.

The biggest disappointment has to do with what I alluded to in the introductory paragraph, which is how minimal the gameplay is. Lostwinds’s world is divided into 24 areas, and the developers had the potential to have each of these areas brimming with secrets locked behind puzzles that would require unique power utilizations or combinations. Yet, in incorporating a Metroidvania overlay, Frontier Developments went the minimal route- almost every time you revisit a previous place, it’s to do the ONE thing that your newly acquired power is stated to do. For example, the initial slipstream is only used to transfer fire to a wooden barricade (or move an object faster) while the vortex is only used to hit a metal barrier with a fast object. That. is. it. The limitless creativity that could have come with wind manipulation is reduced to bare bones X = Y. By comparison, think about the myriad of puzzle variations that came with Batman’s gadgets in the Arkham games when tackling the Riddler challenges. I’m not saying Lostwinds had to be that sophisticated, but when I’m destroying a bramble blockade for the 20th time in the endgame, you can bet I’m disappointed.

Also hampering things is the “combat” , which should have been scrapped completely given how pitiful it is. All the enemies are these globs said to be remnants of Balasar’s magic. While there are variants on them, those changes mainly amount to their protections. Outside of the rock-covered ones, you defeat them the same way: smash them into a wall or the ground or hit them with fire from a nearby torch. It’s lame, they’re an annoyance over a genuine threat, and any damage you do sustain from them can be easily replenished via fruits that grow everywhere. Considering they respawn constantly and don’t give any reward for being defeated, you’re honestly better off avoiding them entirely when they get in your way. And when combat becomes unnecessary, that’s a sign that it’s a failed gameplay system. I would’ve much rather had more puzzles over it.

So yeah, Lostwinds wasn’t worth it. A beautiful artstyle with well-drawn backgrounds can’t overcome the barren soundscape, cliffhanger set-up, or flat-out lack of imagination in terms of the usage of abilities. And considering, even with all the collectibles, it only took me 2.5 hours to beat, its content falls well short of the $10.00 asking price.