Motion Twin made a massive impact with their first game, Dead Cells. It moved the roguelike Metroidvania genre forward in new and exciting ways despite the genre being flooded with titles trying to reinvent the wheel.
Motion Twins next title, Windblown, aims to continue the studio’s innovation in a familiar genre. Windblown has not strayed too far from the Dead Cells formula, retaining roguelike combat and progression but instead presents the action in a top-down isometric perspective similar to that of Hades, albeit this time in a bright, cooperative, lightning-fast package.
I played a preview build of Windblown, provided by Motion Twin ahead of the Steam Next Fest demo available October 14th, followed with the early access release October 24th. I’ll go over the various elements of the game and my thoughts of this preview build, but keep in mind this is a full work in progress and will change over time throughout its early access journey.
Windblown’s premise begins on the Ark, a floating peaceful village orbiting a dangerous vortex. Players take on the role of a Leaper, tasked with defending your abode against this vortex and the many monsters and contraptions within. Through the power of the Ark, leapers can re-enter the vortex after death.
After a few cutscenes introducing the various cute cast of characters on the Ark, we set off into the Vortex to see what dangers await. The introductory story has a few funny moments and serves as a good minimal introduction to Windblown’s premise. However, this opening narrative will need to develop over time to pull players more into the Arks mission.
Windblown’s game loop consists of you and up to 2 fellow Leapers launching (literally) into the Vortex in roguelike expeditions. Leapers navigate the various dangerous areas as you collect loot, currency that persists between runs, and fragments that unlock new items to be purchased in a shop back at the Ark.
This run-like formula has a familiarity to it, but Windblown aims to set itself apart by placing an emphasis on its lightning-fast combat and movement, even more so than its other genre competitors. As soon as we enter the vortex, combat and its fast-paced action hit me right away. With the very first enemies requiring quick timing and awareness. Combat is swift, with each relentless enemy having the capability to kill you if you’re not paying close attention. I was constantly zipping between enemies and along environments to the next challenge. There is a dash that has almost no cooldown, encouraging constant movement, and a slowdown effect that’s triggered when diving out of harm’s way.
Players start with a primary weapon and during runs can pickup a secondary weapon. In addition, two trinkets, such as a gloo bomb that slows enemies or frost vortex that freezes. Players also have a healing potion that can have its usage increased via shop upgrades.
Windblown’s areas are split into small floating platforms, with each containing enemy groups, usually more frantic than the last. In between these encounters, Leapers will be presented with branching paths familiar to people of the roguelike genre offering rewards such as currency or another stat boost depending on the route chosen.
Motion Twin has recommended that Windblown be played with a controller over a mouse and keyboard; keyboard controls are serviceable, but I definitely agree with the controller recommendation. Controls are fantastic and simple to pickup; each button corresponds to a different weapon or action. This simple, easy to grasp button layout is almost a necessity, allowing players to jump into its fast-paced content with barely any adaptation to its control scheme.
Leapers can perform alter attacks by combing their primary and secondary weapon attacks, which offer increased damage and critical hits. These alter attacks are prompted with a signal and sound cue, which is a blessing, especially with all the combat going on around. For example, 3 attacks from a primary weapon will then trigger an alter attack if I finish with a secondary attack. These alter attacks are interchangeable and sometimes offer buffs, such as infusing a weapon with a certain effect or element.
As per the roguelike formula, there is a currency that is exclusive to a run, allowing for potion refills, weapon pickups, and two different persistent currencies that go towards unlocking permanent stat upgrades or giving new drops to be seen in future runs. Windblown presents a sizeable amount of various different weapons, trinkets and skills throughout each expedition, offering players different synergy options throughout Windblown. For example, one run I had a full ranged build swapping between Kunai’s and a bow, whereas another run I was full melee with an alter attack that would turn me into a spinning ball of death. To make my ball of death even more lethal, I picked up a skill that spawned a spinning blade when an enemy was killed, making for some truly impressive synergy.
Windblown has a lot of familiar roguelike concepts that are tuned up to 11 with its fast, frenetic pace. Windblown nails this roguelike package; combat is fun, engaging and challenging, constantly keeping me on my toes. Enemies were formidable and very quick to throw out attacks; in the beginning, it may feel almost too quick, but adjustment to this fast pace does not take too long at all. Its quick gameplay also plays to its benefit, adding to that “just one more run” mindset given how easy and seamless it is to jump straight back into the action.
An element that will need work are weapons and their balancing, especially the ranged options, the bow with its auto-targeting, and what feels like no trade-back in damage, making it an obvious choice every run. Balancing is something to be aware of and it will be needed in Windblown, but this is something that will be evaluated as the game progresses.
Windblown continues to set itself apart with the ability to play with up to 2 other friends. The game hints at this during its intro segments, suggesting that additional Leapers will help dive even further into the vortex. After comparing playing solo and co-op. I can say that playing with another friend is strongly encouraged; the fast, manic pace can almost be too much for one player, having an extra person or two will definitely help take the heat off.
The preview build contained 2 biomes with a boss at the end of each, separated by a shop and a recovery spring that refilled your health. This resting pattern would likely continue throughout its many biomes as the game builds. Windblown also offers great quality of life features, such as a shared purchase system; if someone is just short of getting a potion refill, another player can make up the difference. Loot sharing was slightly confusing, alternating between shared and separate depending on the drop.
Audio design throughout Windblown is engaging, responsive, and feels impactful as you dart around. Electronic tracks give Windblown a relaxing backdrop that picks up during its many intense encounters. Sound cues during important combat actions are distinctive and clear, giving great audio feedback on where players are in a combo and keeping us informed of the situation at all times. Some sound effects seemed missing from enemies, but this will likely be added in later updates.
Visually, Windblown offers a cute and cuddly look, which many may feel is misleading as the combat is anything but a relaxed time. Windblown’s cinematic cutscenes have a great anime inspired look, adding personality and a great feel to the world; the in-game cartoon style is lovely to look at; environments look detailed and enemies are unique and apparent in their movements.
One issue I noticed is navigating the environment and a general sense of direction; it was not clear until my 5th run in on where to go next after an encounter. Only then did our group notice patterns on the ground are actually pointers, something that could be a little more obvious, throwing off the fast connected flow.
Considering the fast nature of Windblown, performance running great at all times is a necessity. The recommended specs for Windblown are a 1060, 16GB RAM, and a modern i7. My group and I were much higher than these needed specs. For each of us, Windblown ran smoothly at 60 fps fine in the first biome with only occasional dips during particle explosions or loading into an area. However, we each took a decent frame hit in the 2nd biome, especially scenes that were zoomed out. This is very early, but this is one thing they will definitely need to work on considering Windblown’s fast nature and any dips will hinder that fast gameplay.
Given this is a preview build before early access, bugs are expected along this journey. Nothing major was found; sometimes actions from my co-op partner would not display even though I could hear the sound of their attacks, and some dialogue did not seem to trigger in certain situations.
Windblown shows a lot of promise, demonstrating Motion Twin’s careful consideration of what makes a genre tick and how it can offer a unique spin and continue to innovate. Windblown presents an accessible package that is fast, frantic, and fun. Despite being in its very early stages, Windblown is another example of Motion Twin’s expertise, and with focused changes such as balancing, performance optimisation, and a stronger narrative pull, Windblown’s electric loop gameplay may just strike twice for Motion Twin.
Windblown is available to wishlist now on Steam! A single player demo will be available at Steam Next Fest, October 14th. Early access is available on October 24th.
