LostWinds review

The arrival of WiiWare channel attempts to address this imbalance by offering games that would not normally reach the market, yet are potentially brimming with new ideas and uses for the system. On such a premise, our first purchase was LostWinds from UK studio Frontier Developments. The storyline is typical Zelda, but with a refreshing minimalist presentation. You take the role of Toku, a young boy who stumbles across Enril, a previously lost wind elemental. Toku's home landscape is littered with caves, mines and underground networks that have remained undiscovered for years. These environments that have been breached have yielded few answers and the extinct civilisation remains a mystery, with only engravings and statues to remind locals of their legacy. Enril is very much the key to this past and through your adventure, Toku discovers how the ancient civilisation fought to trap the evil elemental (Balasar) for eternity, but his rage grew to explosive proportions. Now this evil spirit is very much on the return, his followers debuting as strange creatures, who will try to stop you at every turn. Together the boy and wind elemental must work together to restore memories and prevent the return of Balasar.Admittedly LostWinds may not feature the most original good versus evil storyline, but the stark static cut scenes and use of text combine to relay the story with ease. Here we could mention Zelda The Wind Waker as an understandable genetic link to the genesis of LostWinds, but if anything this game does a far more impressive translation of the possibilities of wind power in a gaming environment, thanks to the Wii Remote.The control system is simple and as we've seen before in countless games, keeping it this way allows you to enjoy and explore the levels with ease. The nunchuk device controls Toku, allowing you to move him left and right across the terrain, with Z providing the actions when necessary. The remote oversees the wind elemental powers and the D-pad allows you to zoom out of the side-on perspective in the quest for alternate routes or ledges. Toku's powers grow as you progress, initially the remote will allow you to usher the power of wind without much effect; you can rustle trees or annoy passers-by with sudden gusts of nature if you so desire. When Toku's abilities increase, the game is transformed from a cute platformer into something far more deserving of your time.Soon you can direct wind power to push Toku to reach new areas or make longer, more sustained jumps and soften landings on leaps of faith. This skill can be utilised on objects, turning innocent rocks into effective battering rams or weights to unlock trap doors. Not content there, Frontier Developments have pushed the envelope further giving you power over further elements such as fire and water. How these components are integrated into the level design and the possibilities they bring to the game play is simply fantastic. Most important of all is a certain freedom is granted to allow you to experiment and come up with your own solutions and this could be expanded up in future. A friend can also plug in and experience the power of wind as an added bonus.LostWinds is far from being a perfect experience, containing some annoying features that could have been so easily overcome with more focus on the design and planning stage. These become very apparent as you reach the later stages of the game, especially when you open up new areas, thanks to your increased abilities. Perhaps the situation was comprised by the need to keep the download size reasonable, so the emphasis is on backtracking and reaching previously unattainable ledges and locked doors. Frustration arises out of trying to find the next new area to move the game forward. As LostWinds has no map function and a limited hint system, youre often left to randomly explore the cavernous landscape.The solitary viewing perspective includes the zoom out function, which ideally should have been increased in scope given the lack of a map. Save points are identified by specific statues, but their placement can vary often prompting the need to go back rather than carry on. If LostWinds had included some form of portal system, much of the frustration would have been diminished.The audio is simplistic and this allows you to fully appreciate the sounds of nature and its power. Visually LostWinds is very distinctive and the enchanting quality of the graphics is surprising, given its download origins. Some may highlight the issue of size, as LostWinds is not the biggest experience weve played in 2008 by far. However for the few hours it does last, Gamestyle was thoroughly entertained.The biggest compliment in spite of our criticisms is that LostWinds leaves you wanting more and this is a rare commodity on the Nintendo Wii. With the news that a sequel is in the works, LostWinds is a great start to the WiiWare channel and almost an essential purchase.