After the coral incident, I vowed that I would never be sunk at sea again, and worked proactively to build the biggest, toughest boat I could. Losing your boat feels like a kick in the gut. Losing all your materials when you die is rough, but that stuff is easily regained. The focal point of all of this crafting is your boat, without which you won’t get very far. Of course, the further you get, the more you stand to lose if you stupidly fall off a cliff. Materials are steadily added to the game to allow for a very nice upwards curve to Kara’s abilities. Pick up a few animal bones, and now she can add a tip to that spear, making it far more effective. Grab the grass off the ground, and Kara learns how to make a little grass canoe. This isn’t Monster Hunter, but there are still patterns to be observed, and one wrong move can lead you to a sad Game Over.Įach new material Kara picks up for the first time unlocks a new recipe (or three). ![]() Killing a little pig is one thing, but eventually Windbound will have you facing off against much deadlier foes for materials. To really get things off the ground, you are going to have to take a series of increasingly risky gambles. The first island is none-too-threatening, and Windbound does a nice job of offering just enough environmental sustenance-berries and such-for players to survive, but not thrive. The player ventures onto the first island and starts poking around for goodies. Kara needs to find something to eat and materials to build up her inventory. You likely know the drill, but the way it is implemented is smooth as butter. Armed with just a knife and her wits, she must survive. A young woman named Kara awakens on the beach of a tiny island, her companions nowhere in sight. As the sea rages, everyone is thrown off their boats and into the drink. Windbound begins with a bunch of folks attempting an ocean crossing that goes terribly awry. This is a great game to play with kids, especially ones that won’t freak out when you put an arrow through the back of an Eevee-lookalike’s skull. Every discovery, every triumph, every setback, we have enjoyed together. ![]() The time I saved myself from starvation at the very last second by following a wild hog around until he finally unearthed a truffle for me to eat, we both cheered with delight. The first time I died (running my grass canoe into coral and then drowning) we both howled in horror. I have played through the game in its entirety with my seven-year-old daughter perched by my side, and we have had a complete blast riding the ups and downs of the experience. And survival games can be awfully satisfying when you learn how to actually survive. Roguelike mechanics can add stakes to a game that make it absurdly exciting when things begin to go wrong. It turns out that when done with care, procedural generation can create natural-feeling worlds that are a pleasure to explore. ![]() And it is utterly delightful.Įvery now and then a game comes along that breaks through the barriers I have carefully constructed in my mind and reveals to me why people enjoy certain genres. It shares a bit of DNA, but Windbound is indeed a roguelike, procedurally generated narrative survival game. Yes, the promotional materials lean heavily into the aspects of Windbound that make it seem like a Zelda-like, but Windbound is a completely different thing. But I’m here today to testify, I’ve spent most of the last week running through Windbound (1.8 times, to be precise), and this ain’t Zelda. ![]() Reading comments on the internet, it looks like most gamers saw Windbound’s trailer and thought the exact same thing-that Windbound must be a Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild clone. I had to play this game as soon as possible. I saw the gorgeous cartoon-ish visuals, saw images of the main character sailing across the open ocean on a skiff, saw what looked like some ancient temples, and my body immediately dumped a truckload of Zelda-flavored dopamine into my brain. Somehow, while viewing the advance materials for Windbound, I completely missed the fact that the game is a procedurally generated roguelike survival game. I want a nice, hand-tailored game with levels carefully planned out by a human being a game that doesn’t require me to die every 10 minutes in order to progress. I need intentional design in my experiences. Combine those words with “survival gameplay” in a game’s description, and I would rather scrape the paint from my front porch with a toothbrush than play that game. The terms “roguelike,” and “procedurally generated” give me hives, almost guaranteeing that I will avoid games bearing them like the plague. There are a few words that-when I encounter them in a game’s description-typically send me scurrying in the other direction.
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