Windbound Reviews
Neither compelling as a survival simulation nor captivating as a story-based experience, Windbound is all at sea.
Windbound drops you in a world of wilderness and open water but fails to make exploration compelling.
From a distance, Windbound is a gorgeous oceanic adventure with a fun sailing system that isn't afraid to push back, but up close, the cracks start to show. The game makes a great first impression that ultimately wears thin by the time you've mastered its repetitive resource-gathering roguelike loop.
Windbound is a game that presents a great approach, but fails to execute. However, despite its mistakes, it manages to stand out thanks to its artistic design, its own identity and a solidity in its survival system.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The barriers that Windbound puts up makes it a tough game to enjoy, at least initially. It will take time to appreciate what it brings to the survival genre with its clever boat-building and authored open world action, though these smart nuances often go hand-in-hand with tedious, sometimes frustrating stretches of playtime.
Unfortuntely, if you’re looking for a great survival roguelike to put your time into, then you’re probably better off setting sail in more abundant seas.
Windbound starts off promisingly, but after a few hours it already seems to have shown everything it has to offer and from there we will only be hooked on solving its narrative mystery based on repeatability of objectives.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Windbound is a pleasant and not too challenging survival game, ideal for those who love the sea and want to explore incredible natural landscapes.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Windbound is a story based survival game set across five procedurally generated worlds. It features a cool boat building mechanic and a strong sense of discovery, but some of its systems and mechanics get in the way and can strip the fun away.
The more I played the less the goings-on of the narrative bothered me, and the more I relished the wavelike rhythm of the action: the roll and crash of sailing and breaking to alight for supplies.
Windbound was most definitely inspired by Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but with a much heavier focus on survival and crafting. If you enjoy survival games and want something to scratch that Zelda itch, you should check this game out.
More enticing systemically than it is narratively, Windbound nevertheless succeeds as a sojourner's adventure of striving for survival and greater understanding.
Windbound wants to offer a deep story backed up by rewarding exploration, crafting and survival in a beautiful open world. However, it only really lands the beautiful open world part of this, with it getting close to the line with the rewarding exploration and crafting aspects. The problem is that for all it wants to offer, Windbound is just too shallow and repetitive and offers no real replay value.
Windbound is a serviceable survival game that offers a unique sailing experience to keep hardcore fans of the genre interested. But with simplistic and bland-feeling combat and an experience that doesn't engage with its narrative (despite promising to), Windbound isn't recommended at full price.
Windbound has several interesting ideas and is very nice to look at and listen to, but unfortunately the experience suffers from some flaws – for example, the procedural generation doesn't make for particularly interesting level design. But above everything else, it lacks rhythm.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Windbound is a fantastic adventure wrapped in a questionable package.
Windbound has lovely visuals and some solid ideas. But it's held back by how old the game's loop gets. Plus, the sailing is so slow and janky that it really . . . takes the wind out of the game's sails. Okay, I'm sorry about that one.
Windbound is a beautiful, relaxing experience that uses its survival mechanics not to force tension, but encourage you to keep moving forward.
Windbound is a delight. With a few UX issues and a bit of repetition holding it back from all-time-great status, this game is still a wonder to explore and discover. The sailing is fantastic, the island exploration is intriguing, and the sting of dying isn't so bad that it should scare away roguelike-haters. The world of Windbound is so well made that you may want to dip into it just to hang out for a while. Fun, exciting, and rewarding.
This is certainly one of 2020’s hidden gems, and survival enthusiasts will want to get stuck into this gruelling but beautiful experience.