Windblown is as cute as it is violent and I’m here for it | Hands-on preview
It’s fair to say that Dead Cells had quite an impact on the roguelike and Metroidvania genres. Combining tight, precision gameplay with mad-as-hell speed-running, and a macabre world with genuine humour, it put developer Motion Twin firmly on the map. So firmly, that people nearly rioted when the dev announced that, after almost six years, it was moving on from endlessly tweaking and growing Dead Cells to bring us something new. That “something new” is Windblown, an action-packed roguelite that features tight, precision gameplay in a humorous yet macabre world. Way to push the boat out, guys.
I joke, of course, because after spending a few hours with Windblown I can honestly say that Motion Twin has lost nothing of its touch. What I’ve played so far is a little bare-bones, but we’re only just about to head into early access, and there’s plenty of room for it to grow yet.
It’s set on a series of floating islands, where special warriors called Leapers wear magical devices that resurrect them on death. Leapers keep the islands afloat by bringing back valuable items and gear from the deadly world beyond, often at the cost of multiple lives. As a Leaper you’re able to grow and become stronger, switching out bodies as you see fit. The body itself doesn’t matter, only your soul and knowledge do. It’s an interesting world, but one that’s bright and colourful and doesn’t really live up to the gruesome promise of that first reveal trailer – at least so far.
The gear and progression systems follow the Dead Cells template in many ways. You have a primary and secondary weapon that will randomise at the start of each run from a pool you’ve unlocked. Once you’re literally blasted into the world in a giant cannon, you can pick up different options and swap them out, then spend currency with a vendor to permanently unlock them.
Now and then you’ll come across a trio of spirits who each offer you a different buff for the duration of the run, but you can only choose one each time. These buffs aren’t as clean-cut as the red, green, purple boosts in Dead Cells, and have a more Hades-like spread of skills and bonuses.
Each run will see you heading out to smash through enemies and bosses, and gather materials, upgrades and currency to bring back to your base. You’ll help the various NPCs and vendors with side-quests like retrieving items and in turn they’ll open up new services. It’s a tried and true system that works as well here as in any roguelike.
In fact, Windblown may not really do anything you’d consider “new”, but what it does do, it does fantastically well. The combat is super, and even the movement, aided by a very responsive dash, feels satisfying. The core loop can and will be built upon, but with the option to play in coop and the runs being procedural, Motion Twin do a lot with a little here.
A lot of that is down to sheer charm. Little things like the way the characters animate when they walk, or just the fact that you can be a sword-swinging guinea pig hacking your way through armies of murderous machines – there’s a lot of character weaved into Windblown, and that combined with Motion Twin’s excellent game design could be an incredibly potent mix.
Windblown is heading into Early Access on PC via Steam in Q4, 2024.
