LostWinds

LostWinds

This ‘softly spoken’ game is so compelling that perhaps the only time you’ll want to stop playing is when you’ve become horribly stuck. When this happens you’ll thoroughly hate LostWinds, but immediately feel guilty because the little hero is so adorable. Even more shameful, the solution is probably staring you right in the face – you’ve just been playing too long to have noticed.

LostWinds gently nudges you along a very charming and childlike adventure. Toku the little-boy hero harnesses the power of the wind to solve the many puzzles ahead. You are never rushed to experiment with each new variation of this power; this is the most laid-back ‘action’ game we’ve had the pleasure of playing.

Together with Enril the friendly Wind Spirit, Toku heads off to save his world from an evil Wind Spirit whose minions have been tasked to make his life difficult. It’s a very standard set up but the Wii controls make each new goal more intriguing than the last.

Initially the wind is used to waft wee Toku up onto ledges that his puny arms are incapable of reaching. The most basic enemies can be blown around a bit too, their flimsy bodies evaporating to release life-giving spores. Waterfalls are fanned to nourish nearby magical plants, similarly fire is redirected to consume wooden obstacles. And all of this is done simply by wiggling the Wii remote at the screen; Toku is moved around using the Nunchuck attachment.

Toku’s basic skills are soon upgraded to Slipstream, which lets you draw a wind current for Toku to soar along while clinging onto a propeller-like plant. And shortly after that he learns how to trap objects in a Vortex, adding propulsion to rocks that can break through barriers, but more impressively cause a hollow ball to spin in the air emitting a musical tone that can shatter crystal. None of this is spelled out to you, but it’s so simple that you enjoy figuring it out for yourself. LostWinds isn’t a game that constantly has to explain itself for fear of losing its audience; it is one of a rare breed of games that rewards the player for figuring it out as you go along.

It must be said that Nintendo has a terrific ambassador for its newly launched WiiWare section of its online Wii service. 1000 Wii Points is a steal for what could easily have been £40 on disc. We hope that Frontier has more like this in the pipeline with true cross-over appeal for both hardcore and casual audiences. Modest but magical and in every way outstanding.

5 out of 5