Windbound Reviews
Windbound shines at first glance for its beautiful landscapes and a mix of survival themes with good sea-navigation mechanics, yet it falls short putting these ingredients into action. It's a game that becomes fun if you manage to overcome the learning curve, but it becomes very tedious and frustrating after a few hours.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Windbound looked to be a great many things, but it turned out to be a standard survival-roguelike crossover with some promising areas that never reached their full potential. An overly cruel death mechanic and repeating vistas are what ultimately drag down an otherwise solid and partially fun survival game. With the right expectations, Windbound is a solid offering that doesn't stray too far from its survival core.
In survival games, death is supposed to mean something. Loss of progress represents the stakes; repetition is the barrier of entry. For players ready to take that plunge, there are some far-and-few-between moments of Windbound which are exhilarating.
The start of Windbound feels very promising - the world looks beautiful, the sailing wonderful, and the development of the crafting system well done. However, after the first few hours, things start to fall apart. The repetitive nature and lack of growth of the core mechanics really hold it back from what it could have been. There's still an enjoyable experience here, but it is obvious it could be so much more, and ultimately feels a little unfinished. This is only the second game to come from indie developer 5 Lives Studios, and it's exciting to see what the team comes up with next.
Some problems collaborate to not show all the potential that Windbound has. Navigation and creation system are excellent and fun. However, the narrative development could be less repetitive and clearly lacking a free game mode where gameplay would be better used. Still, the title from 5 Lives Studios is a rewarding experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Windbound blends gorgeous visuals, an effective soundtrack, and survival mechanics together to create a fun, mostly relaxing experience.
If the gods of random generation line everything up in your favour, Windbound could be a truly captivating adventure. It’s unlikely to happen that way though, and sadly its many frustrations outweigh the beautiful game it could have been.
Windbound is a brief but enjoyable journey that merges Legend Of Zelda-style adventure with survival crafting.
undefined.Windbound succeeds in how it balances so many different elements. Sometimes it can get precarious - sailing definitely had some moments of exasperation - but more often than not, the world of the game was in harmony, with exploration feeding into crafting, combat leading to rewarding resources, and sailing providing the calm middle. Every aspect works together to provide a winning, endearing experience that makes Windbound a special game on the Switch, especially if you're looking for a survival game with a little bit of Zelda.
Windbound's visual appeal is sure to lure in players expecting an entirely different experience. That said, I grew to love a game that I initially couldn't stand. It's beautiful, charming, captivating, and completely brutal without apology. One of my favorite games of the year so far.
Starting out with an admission I’ll say that, in general, I’m not typically an automatic fan of survival games...
Windbound is a fine survival game, if you want to build very specific kinds of ships and kill indigenous wildlife for twenty hours.
Windbound is a decently fun game. Through the story didn't pull me in, the visuals and upgrading the ship were what kept me wanting to play more. If you're a fan of Windwaker, Windbound may not satisfy your craving with the survival pieces added in. But if you're looking for a different survival game, or if the premise of Windbound sounds like it will float your boat? Grab it!
Earlier in August, another boat-faring game by the name of Spiritfarer was also released, and which I also reviewed, and if you are going to get one game about boats and oceans this month, get Spiritfarer. In fact, I would have a difficult time recommending Windbound over almost any game, and for almost any reason. In most regards, Windbound struggles to feel like a game at all, instead playing like a demo for a far-from-release Kickstarter project, or the alpha build of a new engine, where game mechanics have only been implemented for testing purposes. This isn't an early access project, but is a full release with an audacious asking price of $29.99 for an adventure that, according to Steam metrics, took me all of 4.3 hours to breeze through. The best part is that it only took me less than five hours to see the ending credits. Oh well, at least Tony Hawk comes out this week. DON'T LET ME DOWN, TONY!
The sound and art style of windbounds makes it standout on the adventure genre, sadly this is a tough act to follow and the combat and mechanics are a bit lacking.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
With just a single trailer, Windbound captivated the minds of many gamers. As more news came out about this indie title, anticipation grew larger and larger. Developed by 5 Lives Studios and published by the illustrious Deep Silver, the journey known as Windbound has finally seen its release on today’s consoles.
Overall, though, Windbound’s visual and atmospheric aesthetic just can’t save the gameplay. I wanted to love Windbound as a fan of survival games and cel-shaded visuals, but the world was too empty and uninteresting to make the adventure worth it. The survival mechanics were almost unnecessary, making the trek through the world feel even more pointless and empty than it should have. Windbound is an attempt to combine narrative, survival, exploration and aesthetic into one package and fails on every count.
Windbound is fine for a short pleasure cruise, but you're unlikely to want to complete the full voyage.
Whatever potential Windbound had went down with the ship.
Overall I can’t say I fully enjoyed my experience with Windbound, but I could have without the issues