When it hit the market, the genre of metroidvania and roguelite titles showed great potential to evolve, especially in the indie scene, with studios that were able to really differentiate themselves from the norm. Six years later, Motion Twin returns with the early access launch of and demonstrates a potential we were unaware of, with a new game proposal that goes far beyond its previous title.
Even though it is still in its safe haven, developing roguelite games with a metroidvania feel, Motion Twin repeats its strategy with Dead Cells with early access for a year to improve what already seems to be good and very promising. With five different biomes and 12 weapons for you to explore, Windblown leaves aside the visual pixel art to gain a 3D and very colorful art direction. The previous single-player game gave way to support for up to three players, with a very interesting online multiplayer option.
And I believe that this is the main attraction for this new game, which I hadn’t tried before: how fun can a multiplayer roguelite be? Very fun! The answer couldn’t be any other, as Windblown expands the survival formula with hack and slash and adds hints of strategy, so you can experience all the gameplay mechanics while sharing the challenge with other players. During singleplayer matches, you need to be cautious and rely on luck to loot weapons, skills and improvements, but in multiplayer the three players complement each other and can help each other so that any combination is viable for your build.
The best thing about this is that the proposal fits perfectly with the game’s story, as throughout the runs we join other warriors, known as Leapers, and find memories of those who perished on the battlefields spread across the Vortex, which threatens the peace of the world. floating village The Ark, our home island, with support from the evil emissaries. Exploring, dying, returning, learning, evolving and continuing are fundamental steps that also build Windblown’s narrative, joining the genre and exploring the game with up to three players, as travelers through the Vortex in search of eradicating the villains.
Gifts are another interesting mechanic that is connected to finding fallen heroes on the battlefield by absorbing their memories, acquiring new skills and increasing the variety of active or passive effects for your character. In addition to the two weapons, accessories and two powers, you gain random special effects when you encounter the specter of another Leaper. With online multiplayer, the combination of builds turns combat into something fun and interesting, opening up space for healthy competition as to who can do better during the phase.
Betting on faster and more frenetic gameplay, Motion Twin simplifies the level design, leaving the scenarios interesting and with well-built paths or hideouts from Dead Cells, to focus on portions of smaller islands that favor the characters’ quick movement. Without innovating much in the way you play, Windblown stands out for its dynamic combat and combination of elements from each build. A combination of blows exists during the combo, to integrate the use of both weapons, in addition to being able to create a more strategic battle when communicating with team partners in online multiplayer.
With the possibility of attacking, dodging and defending, common enemies don’t offer much of a challenge, leaving this step to the bosses, however you have elite enemies in the way to disrupt your entire strategy. Death in Windblown is punishing, yes, as in every roguelite, but you can carry unlocked weapons and the necessary elements to upgrade your character. You will need patience, but you will certainly be able to progress little by little and if it becomes too difficult, the companionship of other players can meet this need, including the option to revive heroes killed in combat.
Even with the story still in development and with a lot of content to be worked on, including community participation via Discord, on a level that I haven’t seen before, for example, the discussion about the impact of teammates’ deaths on multiplayer, Windblown managed to draw much more attention than the last games of the genre that I have come into contact with.
Motion Twin managed to work very well on the story, gameplay and visual proposal, in a pleasant evolution of its previous work, with a world rich in details and very beautiful. Even though the soundtrack is a little generic, the fluidity of combat and the diversity of weapons make up for anything, especially since we have the combination of this style of play in cooperative matches and everything is very well localized for Brazilian Portuguese.
For the value of the game during this early access launch period, it is certainly one of the best purchases you can make in 2024.
