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0 Windblown is an action, roguelite game developed by Motion Twin and published by Kepler Ghost. Motion Twin created the hit game Dead Cells, which is another game that I’ve invested several hundred hours. Most of that making some insane builds of course. As of the time of writing, the game is currently in Early Access with Motion Twin stating the game will remain so for at least one year. With the intro out of the way, let’s head to the eye of the storm and see how Windblown has treated me.
Sudden Death is just another life lesson
Gameplay
Windblown is a game about the peaceful inhabitants of The Ark, a floating village orbiting around the gigantic and deadly Vortex. However that deadly Vortex is, as you can imagine, not so peaceful. The only chance The Ark has is for you to become a Leaper. Which is less about jumping and more about battling than you may think!
When you first boot up Windblown you’re greeted with the recommendation of using a controller. And I would definitely agree, this game is much easier on the hands when playing on a controller! No more gaming hand claw from having to hold my keys in a very precise position. Speaking of movement, usually when playing a roguelite the movement and pacing of the playable character start slow and increase with time. But, Motion Twin took the most harrowing issue to the pacing and speed, by enabling our warrior to blaze around the map. Honestly, the fact that I can just hold the A button and zip across the environment gives me such a rush.
Kaboom
Now, let’s talk weapons. A cool mechanic of Windblown is that Leapers can absorb the memories of other warriors. This in turn not only unlocks special powers but also enables us players to recraft our gear. Who doesn’t love upgrades? Each upgrade unlocks more combinations too. With the various weapons, trinkets and magfishes, I managed to discover many playstyles that I would call my go-to. I’m mostly a ranged fighter with my favourite weapons being the Anchor Boom, Kunai, and Sirocco. Now, even with that list, at around level three, the items will have an extra perk added to them. I highly advise looking at the extra perks, even if the DPS numbers are higher than the other.
The third thing I’m going to cover is the co-op feature. Before you can play in this mode you need to complete a mission: rescue an NPC through our journey of the Vortex. The developers Motion Twin have been clever in their approach to global co-op and already have different regional servers with their pings displayed. This is a great move on their part to allow random people to play with those in their region without a huge lag spike. There’s even the option to create a private lobby to play with just friends. And we all know games are better with friends.
Graphics & Audio
The game is absolutely breath-taking. The biomes, unique mobs, mini-bosses, and even the breakable pots are a joy for the eye. To think these are all procedurally generated biomes is incredible. However, the real eye candy would have to be the attack effects for each weapon and their impact art.
I took advantage of playing Windblown on both PC and on my Steam Deck so I could properly compare. The graphics on PC were pretty clean and I had no issues with the background disappearing. Yet, on the Steam Deck I did have issues. Particularly with PNGs being concealed by some invisible object or certain items not being there at all. There are even moments when I would go into a wind current and a lot of the map would just disappear. Though, when it comes to the audio portion they both have high marks since neither had an issue.
Final Thoughts
I’ve really enjoyed playing the Early Access version of Windblown. It’s great to see Motion Twin so open and receptive to feedback within their community to help improve the game. If you enjoy roguelites I definitely recommending giving this game a go. Windblown has some huge potential.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this preview.
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