Review: LostWinds: Winter of Melodias
Game: LostWinds & LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias
Format: Wii (WiiWare)
Developer: Frontier
Publisher: Frontier
A little while ago we featured an interview with developer Frontier regarding LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias. Frontier, founded by David Braben, co-creator of the classic Elite, is based in Cambridge, UK. They are the proud developer of the now highest selling WiiWare** title, LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias. Now a successful franchise on WiiWare, LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias is the second part of the story of a brave little boy, Toku and Enril, the Wind Spirit and their quest to save the world of Mistralis from the evil spirit Balasar. As most people haven’t played the first instalment, I’ve took both games in the series into account in this review.
**If you’re unsure about what WiiWare is or how to get it, skip to the bottom of the page for a little guide.
The first and second LostWinds games are both chapters of a larger adventure, neither concluding with the defeat of Balasar. I really like the way the story’s broken up into these glorified chapters (1 game = 1 chapter), as it makes the player feel like they’re on a long journey and that there’s a long way to go to defeating Balasar. The story here is really rich but not too complicated. There are no ambiguous gendered characters, no half baked love story, no inevitable best friends betrayal. There’s no voice acting but fantastic expression using the sounds and animation along with good dialogue is better than gambling on voice actors. Like in Zelda, you don’t always need voice acting to convey emotion. The relatable characters really help make a connection with the player. Whenever I see little Toku pottering along, stumbling up tiny steps and struggling to open chests I always think of my own little boy and I never get over how the cute he is. When Toku’s Mum turns up in the second game you can really feel the love. So sweet! And by that I mean it’s totally action packed and manly, of course.
Mistralis just got a little colder
One criticism of LostWinds (both instalments) is that the chapters are very short in length, neither games taking longer than 5 hours to complete. Although for a great game costing 1000 Wii points (£9) each, you are still getting a lot of value, as far as I’m concerned. If they get to 4 chapters, you’ll have spent £36 on 20hrs of game that’s extremely replayable. I’m ok with that considering I played the first instalment 3 times through while waiting for Winter of Melodias to arrive. So if I play each chapter that many times, that’ll be… 3 times… £9 per… carry the 1… erm… a lot of quality time and a lot of value.
In the game, you control Toku with the nunchuk, running back and forward and using the Z button on the nunchuk to interact with objects. With the Wii remote you control Enril, the Wind Spirit, pressing A and drawing a line across the screen using the pointer to produce a gust of wind that sends Toku flying up into the air. This is the basics of movement and there are other powers and power ups that you gain along the way, all of which are used to progress the game. For example you learn how to make a vortex that can spin objects in the air and then fire them into things to cause “massive damage!”. This can be used to break through barriers and access new areas. The gameplay is a unique experience and the puzzles that come out of the gameplay ideas are clever and fun. There are so many games out there that like to think they have “puzzle elements”. Most of these, however are completely pointless because you are told how to solve each type of puzzle then just do the same thing every time you come to that kind of puzzle. These kinds of games have no place claiming that they have puzzling sections to them. There is no use of logic or thought past remembering what you’ve been told to do. This is luckily not a problem we have to suffer in LostWinds. There are some puzzles that you have to do to progress in the game that you are never guided through. They aren’t extremely hard, but you do have to think logically and more importantly; you have to think for yourself! Unless you use a game guide of course. The puzzles are all about manipulating the environment and this is even more prominent in the second game when you gain the ability to change the world between Summer and Winter. One of the effects this has is changing water to ice or vice versa, which is a really nice development giving 2 worlds for the price of 1. You will need to use both seasons and your brain to make your way through the game.
Winter adds new gameplay and it looks awesome
Considering that Wii game discs can hold about 40 times the amount of data as a WiiWare game, it’s very impressive to me that LostWinds (both in the series) look better than most disc based Wii games out there. It’s largely due to the simple 2D, cell shaded (block colours/cartoony) design but there’s some nice effects too. I really love that when you hold down the A button to use Enril’s gust power, the game switches into slow motion while you gesture. Completely insignificant, of course, but just I like it. The second game improves on the first in terms of animations, character models and environments in almost every aspect. From the start of the first game it is extremely satisfying to wave the pointer around and watch as the bushes and trees rustle in the wind that you are producing. There are also 3-4 new types of enemies as well as a new boss to fight, all of which make the game more challenging. The difficulty level is still not very high and people who click with the game won’t find themselves losing any lives from start to finish. I hope that the future games continue to build on the difficulty level as I’d be sooo disappointed if I finally got to the almighty Balasar and he went down with the traditional 3 hits.
LostWinds isn’t about ‘tearing your hair out’ difficulty. It’s about an experience. For me, the sounds in the game are a big part of this. Inspired by ‘high altitude’ cultures such as the Tibetan and Andean people, the music of the game has an amazingly relaxing tone. Wind instruments were an appropriate choice but there is a mix of instruments from all over the world as well as midi sounds all put together with a naturally changing pace as your situation changes. I could, in fact I have, fell asleep with the game running because the music is so soothing that it gives your eardrums a musical massage. I think everyone has one of those games that they love so much that they ache for that feeling of playing it for the first time to come back. Great music can really aid to create that attachment and Frontier definitely did a good job to create it in LostWinds. It’s not just the music either. From the opening menu you will notice that moving the pointer around produces an extremely satisfying sound of wind through grass and leaves.
This looks totally safe for a small child.
You could say it’s a pity that LostWinds is on WiiWare only. Does it have the sales potential of disc based Wii game? I don’t know. But on the bright side, this allows the game to be the top in it’s field. It’s the highest selling game on WiiWare and Nintendo knows that it’s a quality title. That’s why Frontier have the pleasure of having one of the only WiiWare games that has seen any kind of a marketing boost from Nintendo. I WANT YOU to buy this game. Partly to support a great UK developer, partly because I care about you and partly because I want need the next chapter as soon as possible and you money might help make that happen!
REVIEW ROUND UP:
GRAPHICS: 5/5 A downloadable game that makes most disc based Wii games look like amateur hour. Environments and characters react to the wind as you wave around the Wii pointer. The cell shaded goodness looks even more lush in Winter of the Melodias.
SOUND: 5/5 At treat for when your ears have been really good. If you really need to relax, just leave the game running on the opening screen. And swish the Wii remote pointer around for some satisfying wind sounds.
GAMEPLAY: 4/5 The controls are great, but fine wind control could still improve slightly. The map in Winter of the Melodias is a welcome addition for the 2D platform adventuring – it’s absence in the first game can lead to confusion. I look forward to more powers in chapters to come.
LONGETEVITY: 3/5 4-5 hours first time around each game. Not long enough. I want more!
OVERALL: 5/5 It’s telling that the biggest criticism I have of the games is that I want more. Great story, style, sound and unique gameplay. One of my favourite games.
[starreview tpl=16]
**Here’s a little explanation of what WiiWare is all about. I’m not trying to patronize so if you already know all about it, just keep walking (surfing) because this isn’t here for you.
WiiWare is a service that you can get through your Wii that allows you to download games straight to your console. All you need is your Wii, an internet connection and some money. Some don’t realise that the Wii can connect to the internet wirelessly the same way as a laptop does, so go through the options on your Wii and get it setup using your SSID (what you named your wireless) and your password (you should have written these things down!). If you don’t have wireless then just connect to the internet using your Ethernet cable to your wireless hub or internet box (virgin box etc). If you are connecting straight to an internet box, you may need to unplug the internet box, after setting up, for 20 seconds and plug it back in (leaving your Wii on the whole time). When you’ve got that setup you may need to update which you can do from your options on the Wii or the shop channel may ask you to update when you go to it.
When that’s done, go to the Wii Shop and buy (“add”) some Wii Points using your credit/debit card. There’s a button to do this from the Shop main page after you’ve started shopping. Once you have your Wii Points go into the WiiWare section of the Wii Shop. Search for your game and press “Download”.
Once you download your game it will appear on the main channel menu on you Wii. There’s loads of WiiWare games available but I’d recommend LostWinds (1&2), World of Goo and Bonsai Barber, Excite Bike and NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits.
Great review Joe…the game looks awesome…really really nice. If I actually played my Wii i would definetly pick this up.
Thanks. It’s well worth getting, even if you don’t play your Wii very often. Each chapter can be completed in a couple of sit downs so it’s worth at least giving the first chapter a try.