LostWinds (Wii)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.5 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Tom McShea
• Reviewed on: 05/15/2008
• Released on: 05/12/2008
• Originally published on GameSpot: LostWinds (Wii) Review

One of the launch titles for Nintendo's new WiiWare downloadable games service, LostWinds is overflowing with unrealized potential. This is one of the relatively few games on the Wii that make legitimate use of the Wii Remote, striving to take the puzzle platforming genre to places previously unseen. Dishearteningly, it falls short of the lofty heights it could have reached. The sometimes sloppy controls and occasional camera glitches are the first evidence that something is not quite right here, but it's the sleepy presentation and all-too-easy puzzles that ultimately doom LostWinds. Frontier Developments should be applauded for bringing something truly unique to the Wii, showing how motion controls can fundamentally change how a genre is played, but LostWinds just isn't a good enough game to make people take notice.

The story of LostWinds is one every person can relate to: boy meets wind deity, deity gives boy special powers, boy and deity save village from evil monsters. Once the roles are established, you'll spend the rest of the game searching for new abilities and hidden memory chests with only brief interruptions from distressed citizens to warn you of the impending darkness poised to envelop their little town. Like much of this game, these interactions lack personality. The characters are stylistically familiar to anyone who has played Okami, but they lack the quirkiness that made that game so memorable.

Visually, LostWinds seems like it's geared toward inducing sleep in people suffering from insomnia. The opening scene will have you believing that you're in for a treat with delicate colors and expressive backgrounds, but that idea quickly blackens as you trudge through the murky depths of the town's underground mines. Beautiful green hills and vibrant cherry blossoms fade away, replaced by a suffocating cavern of dreary blue rock. It's a shame that half of this three-hour adventure takes place in the dank underbelly of this fantastic little village. This is another sharp contrast to the Okami vibe that LostWinds projects: Instead of bringing life to a dying land, you're spending time in ugly locales with no visual reward waiting for you. Combine this with the dreamy woodwind soundtrack accompanying your every move, and you have a game that simply lacks any semblance of energy.

Continue reading