![]() In populated areas, the framerate can sink making encounters and hunts less satisfying and more of a chore. As mentioned before, their song will play, but they are inside of a rock or the ground. Secondly, sometimes creatures aren’t actually in the level geometry. Firstly, when dismantling the boat and its accessories, and when dismantling an item used to hold storage, the items within don’t come back, adding an unnecessary step to preserve storage which makes organizing a pain. Sadly, the immersion is often broken by a list of technical issues. The visuals, although cartoony, are still vibrant and full of depth, and together with the audio design and music, create a really enjoyable experience. The tracks can be repetitive, but also catchy. The atmosphere each track creates certainly adds to the immersive feelings of being at peace on the sea, or the terror of having a shark circle around the boat. Of course, sailing through the ocean has its own theme, and varies depending on the weather. Eventually, before even visually identifying a monster, knowing of their existence will come by the soundtrack that is attached to each one. Audio and VisualsĪ cool part of Windbound’s presentation is the soundtrack. Accompanying these historical sites is an awe-inducing soundtrack indistinguishable from other areas. Walking through these areas will make somewhat cryptic text pop up on-screen, but a good chunk of it is understandable, especially the further players get into each chapter as context builds up. There are ruins of old architecture, pottery, and other pieces of the past that give way towards understanding the current state of the world. Besides that, islands contain a history of Windbound’s world. They also host runestones that can increase the amount of health, stamina, or sea shards, a currency that can be used to obtain specialty items, status changes, or unique abilities between each chapter. Islands don’t only include a variety of monsters, ingredients, and other crafting materials. Attacks with all weapons are slow and weighty leaving the character open and vulnerable a lot of the time, but this makes encounters all the more dangerous and exciting. There is a lock-on button that needs to be pressed after each enemy, and it locks onto the closest one, making fights with multiple enemies cumbersome. In general, every upgrade lowers the sense of danger when travelling and hunting beasts.įighting against enemies is a fairly simple task that requires dodging, running, and the choice between two close quarter melee weapons, the knife and the spear, or two ranged weapons, the sling and the bow. Crafting recipes are discovered whenever a new item or combination of items are found, making new biomes a joy towards which to venture. The boat is the crown jewel of customization here, but there are an assortment of weapons to build, status-changing clothing, and other useful gear to make. Despite that setback, it’s still faster and safer to make a better boat. The boat will flip back, no damage occurs, but it happens a bit too often. However, the bigger, upgraded boat is more easily flipped by the wind compared to the smaller one, which seems counterintuitive to the power grinding gameplay structure. Controlling the boat sail by reacting to the direction of the wind can be tricky, making sailing more than just directional movement on the analog stick. Having a nicer boat also speeds up the pace between finding new islands and crafting materials. The boat is the equivalent of a base, and building it to be as formidable as possible is a reward within itself. Even in storyteller mode, dying still presents a huge risk as the boat and items on it will be lost forever. On storyteller mode, the game restarts with all inventory items, but with a newly generated ocean. On survivalist mode, once dead, the game restarts all the way from chapter one, but with items in the small “Held” inventory. It’s possible to live off mushrooms and berries, rarely upgrade anything, and only go for the three nautilus shells, but it’s a risky strategy. To get these keys, sailing and keeping an eye on the hunger gauge is vital. In addition, obtaining the three keys also offers a picture explaining the story. These nautilus shells act as keys to progress to the next ocean. Within each ocean there are three nautilus shells found on easy-to-identify towers. In Windbound there are five chapters, or oceans, to discover. Windbound’s survival and crafting elements are a stimulating, but ultimately short-lived challenge as it’s all designed around the fleeting story. ![]() This game offers procedurally generated oceans with islands to explore alongside a story to uncover. Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC, Stadia Release Date: August, 28th 2020 Developer: 5 Lives Studios Publisher: Deep Silver MSRP: $29.99 ESRB: E for EveryoneĪ seabearing, survivalist adventure awaits in Windbound.
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