LostWinds (PC, 2016)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-8 Control-6.5 Challenge-5.5 Story-5.5
Level Design-7 Frustration-6 Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Pretty creative physics-based puzzles and movement (wind theme - the mouse controls wind gusts which are used to make your avatar air dash in any direction (your main way of moving around, after upgrading early on you can basically triple dash with it and then hover for a bit more - after falling for a while you can repeat the dashes) as well as to interact with various objects)
Some interesting movement abilities gained (slipstream - draw a path that for example a torch's fire takes or a sapling you're holding onto moves (similar to Okami), ) and other tools (vortex - charge a mid-air object with kinetic energy which lets you throw it with more force at obstacles to break them+make crystals break - a bit like Ecco or Kirby Super Star and similar to Zelda: BotW as well, temporary flight via the cape - lets slipstreams affect you as well)
Some nice visual effects
Metroid-like gameplay (ability gating, interconnected world, hidden items and paths)
Pretty good puzzles overall (some systemic elements (burn a plant to create a seed then move it, plant it and water it to grow the plant in a different patch of soil), )
The soundtrack is fairly unique (new age/"world music" folk vibes)
Pretty fun movement once you have all the upgrades
Various shortcuts (there could've been a few more out of dungeons though)
+/-
Linear structure overall (can choose between two dungeons after the first two (after getting the cape), )
Some backtracking and looping back around to progress
Fairly frequent save points (one slot per game, can be tricky to avoid using these)
Vaguely Zelda: Wind Waker-inspired art style
Semi-automated regular jump for your avatar (jumps when moving off of ledges, jumps like in Prince of Persia rather than Mario)
Artwork and text-style intro and ending cutscenes (can read it at your own pace as you can speed up each text box)
Only one boss and it's easy
The restoration theme could've been developed further than just the boss and the elder's memory
-
Destroyed walls don't stay removed
Various control/interface issues (overly slow mid-air movement right after using a wind gust, mid-air movement for objects and your avatar feels a bit restrained almost like you're on the moon or in water, sometimes inconsistent physics - can reach higher if you interact with a rock at the same time, pretty vague map - shows the general layout of rooms and connecting paths but no items or doors and no room shapes or topology, can't place markers on the map, can't look around with the mouse - some leaps of faith, dashing horizontally could've been a bit faster - it's like the game is stopping you from using it efficiently at times, unskippable in-game cutscenes - overly long at times such as when eating fruit, having to stand next to an object and press the icon that pops up to interact with it feels a bit slow, unskippable bootup logos, can't give yourself a horizontal boost without leaving ground+you lose acceleration rather quickly afterwards and the default movement speed is pretty slow so you have to keep spamming wind gusts and it gets tiresome after a while, no mini-map, kinda slow climbing of ledges after grabbing them, the camera tends to share its focus between your avatar and the enemies when near them and battle music plays - can be annoying when trying to avoid combat and move quickly, keeping small round objects still where you want them is a bit too finicky at times, kinda choppy upwards flight when near the edge of the screen)
Combat feels bland and is too easy (not enough oomph when flinging enemies into the environment)
Collectibles don't affect gameplay and some are too easy to find
Some tedious aspects (dialogue is a bit overly wordy at times, some fairly long backtracking after falling down during a platforming segment, saplings automatically destruct a bit too quickly, after using up your 3-4 gusts per jump/leaving the ground you can't even make yourself drop down faster with downwards gusts which makes moving around slower at times, no fast travel - boring backtracking out of dungeons)
Some trial & error (the boss)
Sometimes too far between checkpoints
Short - only about 2 hours, maybe 3 if you get everything
Pretty one dimensional characters and generic story
Unskippable staff roll
Notes:
-Originally from 2008
Bugs:
-Sometimes crashes
-Some visual glitches
-Some physics glitches when moving both your char and a rock
-Sometimes can't alt+tab (sometimes can't get back to the game, sometimes it makes it so you can't interact with objects or NPCs when going back)
Level Design-7 Frustration-6 Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Pretty creative physics-based puzzles and movement (wind theme - the mouse controls wind gusts which are used to make your avatar air dash in any direction (your main way of moving around, after upgrading early on you can basically triple dash with it and then hover for a bit more - after falling for a while you can repeat the dashes) as well as to interact with various objects)
Some interesting movement abilities gained (slipstream - draw a path that for example a torch's fire takes or a sapling you're holding onto moves (similar to Okami), ) and other tools (vortex - charge a mid-air object with kinetic energy which lets you throw it with more force at obstacles to break them+make crystals break - a bit like Ecco or Kirby Super Star and similar to Zelda: BotW as well, temporary flight via the cape - lets slipstreams affect you as well)
Some nice visual effects
Metroid-like gameplay (ability gating, interconnected world, hidden items and paths)
Pretty good puzzles overall (some systemic elements (burn a plant to create a seed then move it, plant it and water it to grow the plant in a different patch of soil), )
The soundtrack is fairly unique (new age/"world music" folk vibes)
Pretty fun movement once you have all the upgrades
Various shortcuts (there could've been a few more out of dungeons though)
+/-
Linear structure overall (can choose between two dungeons after the first two (after getting the cape), )
Some backtracking and looping back around to progress
Fairly frequent save points (one slot per game, can be tricky to avoid using these)
Vaguely Zelda: Wind Waker-inspired art style
Semi-automated regular jump for your avatar (jumps when moving off of ledges, jumps like in Prince of Persia rather than Mario)
Artwork and text-style intro and ending cutscenes (can read it at your own pace as you can speed up each text box)
Only one boss and it's easy
The restoration theme could've been developed further than just the boss and the elder's memory
-
Destroyed walls don't stay removed
Various control/interface issues (overly slow mid-air movement right after using a wind gust, mid-air movement for objects and your avatar feels a bit restrained almost like you're on the moon or in water, sometimes inconsistent physics - can reach higher if you interact with a rock at the same time, pretty vague map - shows the general layout of rooms and connecting paths but no items or doors and no room shapes or topology, can't place markers on the map, can't look around with the mouse - some leaps of faith, dashing horizontally could've been a bit faster - it's like the game is stopping you from using it efficiently at times, unskippable in-game cutscenes - overly long at times such as when eating fruit, having to stand next to an object and press the icon that pops up to interact with it feels a bit slow, unskippable bootup logos, can't give yourself a horizontal boost without leaving ground+you lose acceleration rather quickly afterwards and the default movement speed is pretty slow so you have to keep spamming wind gusts and it gets tiresome after a while, no mini-map, kinda slow climbing of ledges after grabbing them, the camera tends to share its focus between your avatar and the enemies when near them and battle music plays - can be annoying when trying to avoid combat and move quickly, keeping small round objects still where you want them is a bit too finicky at times, kinda choppy upwards flight when near the edge of the screen)
Combat feels bland and is too easy (not enough oomph when flinging enemies into the environment)
Collectibles don't affect gameplay and some are too easy to find
Some tedious aspects (dialogue is a bit overly wordy at times, some fairly long backtracking after falling down during a platforming segment, saplings automatically destruct a bit too quickly, after using up your 3-4 gusts per jump/leaving the ground you can't even make yourself drop down faster with downwards gusts which makes moving around slower at times, no fast travel - boring backtracking out of dungeons)
Some trial & error (the boss)
Sometimes too far between checkpoints
Short - only about 2 hours, maybe 3 if you get everything
Pretty one dimensional characters and generic story
Unskippable staff roll
Notes:
-Originally from 2008
Bugs:
-Sometimes crashes
-Some visual glitches
-Some physics glitches when moving both your char and a rock
-Sometimes can't alt+tab (sometimes can't get back to the game, sometimes it makes it so you can't interact with objects or NPCs when going back)