Windbound Reviews
Windbound offers an enjoyable blend of survival and adventuring gameplay, though some technical issues and a tricky difficulty can make for some frustrating moments. There’s certainly more good than bad to be found on your journey through the Forbidden Islands and there’s plenty of enjoyment to be had sailing through its turbulent seas, but there’ll also be times where a particularly brutal (and sometimes unfair) battle with an enemy or a random glitch will annoy you too… Still, if you’re a fan of adventures that implement some neat survival elements, WIndbound will certainly appeal to you. It might not be perfect in all facets of its design, but it still manages to offer an entertaining adventure that’ll keep you hooked to your Nintendo Switch for some time.
Windbound is a game trying to do something but never nails the formula and instead comes off as an almost incomplete experience.
Windbound may look like a Zelda knock-off, but it has a lot more going for it. The core gameplay is solid as a rock, and aside from some niggles with combat and the pressure to survive, it’s a really fun game.
It presents a wonderful world, sadly the gameplay isn't at the same level due to some big errors that have more weight than the good things it has, finally getting a boring game fruit of a great idea.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Windbound is an intriguing game full of mystery and wonder, and does a lot right. I’m not the biggest fan of survival and crafting games, but these systems are well implimented and balanced properly. They also add a lot to the feeling of being lost, but pushing forward in order to uncover this mystery.
In its early moments, Windbound had my attention, and I was completely ready to discover more about this world. However, after the first chapter, I was left mostly disappointed with the lack of execution the game provides through the systems it introduces. A rather tedious travel system enhanced this feeling. Through its colorful scenery and a heartwarming soundtrack, are some decent experiences to be found, with the help of some fine-tuning.
Windbound is a fun experience that often finds you wishing for a little bit more: more responsive combat, a few quality of life features, and the ability to control the wind to name a few.
Don't think that Windbound is another The Legend of Zelda's tribute, maybe its graphic style reminds Breath of the Wild a little bit but the game concept is so different. Prepare yourself to craft and survive as the same way as Conan Exiles or The Forest and be aware that death is closer than you think. This is a big experience full of mistery.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Windbound strikes me as a victim of overachieving — it wants to do so much that it ends up tripping over its own feet. Is it a survival game? Yes. Is it an exploration game? Also yes. Is it a crafting game? Yes again. Is it a story-driven game? Yep. Does it do any of those things perfectly? No. You need to explore to move onto the next area, but you’re tethered in place because the survival mechanics are a little too overbearing. Topped off with a more nuanced story told through a repetitive loop, Windbound’s balance is less a scale and more a see-saw, swinging from one side to the other with the player clinging on for dear life. It’s still a solid experience and one that I would recommend, but carefully, and only to fans of the survival genre. If you’re looking for another Breath of the Wild or Wind Waker, breeze past this title.
GOOD - Windbound attempts to combine Zelda-like visuals and gameplay with the survival genre of gaming that has become so popular over the past decade. For the most part it works, but there are some small issues like long loading, pop-in graphics, and less than ideal UI that hold it back from greatness. Still, there’s a lot of fun to discover here!
A Rogue-Like Survival games that put the player in the role of a shipwrecked girl looking for the remains of her tribe. While it’s falling into common trappings for the genre with annoying inventory management and a ridiculously hungry protagonist, the overall charming atmosphere and surprising late-game depth make this indie game worth checking out!
Review in German | Read full review
There’s a lot to learn from Nintendo’s initial offerings, and Brisbane based indie studio may have a bright future but much like the title’s “Survival” mode, Windbound sets sail into tumultuous tides that may have washed them ashore, and back to the drawing board.
In the end, after figuring out every Chapter was essentially second verse, same as the first, I stopped exploring. I stopped trying to get better gear. All I needed was enough food to keep me alive as I sail from one island to the next, climbing towers, activating beacons, rinse, and repeat.
Windbound almost feels like a mixing pot of some of this decade’s most visually striking and compelling games, and for the most part, the end result is surprisingly effective. It could do with more depth, but its focus on exploration and fantastic ship-building mechanics make for a pretty liberating survival experience.
Windbound seeks to move beyond the “emergent story through gameplay” standard among survival games, and while it succeeds somewhat, I think it still has some room to grow. There are also some balance issues with some of the systems that the developers have talked about tuning post-launch, so it is entirely possible that Windbound will grow into something that feels overall really polished, but at present it just isn’t quite hitting all the right notes for me. There’s a lot to like about Windbound, and maybe with a little more time and care, there will be a lot to love. For now, it’s a strong concept with some really well implemented mechanics that just leaves me wanting for the better, more fleshed out version of this same thing. In the meantime though, it is a joyful, bright game that has enough going for it that you may want to keep dipping your toes back in. Just know that the waters may be a tad more shallow than they appear.
So overall, Windbound is a lighter survival experience that I would recommend if you’re looking for a more relaxing experience. Regardless of the modes, there’s never anything that will outright destroy your rafts or kill you because you landed on its island. Taken at your own pace, this is perfect for those quiet Sunday afternoons where you have nothing planned and simply want to listen to the sounds of the waves or some light ambient music.
Windbound offers some great ideas but never delivers on them. It's a gorgeous video game bogged down by tedious survival mechanics and the lack of freedom to explore the open sea.
This game was certainly a unique experience. I enjoyed its simplicity, struggled with its challenges, and had fun in the process. The visuals were pleasing, accompanied by clean image quality, and the music was fitting and a tad charming in the process. Despite my frustrations with the moments of platforming here and there and the eventual repetitiveness of the gameplay loop, if I were to ever hunker for a survivalist’s challenge again, I would definitely come back to Windbound.
Though a few rough edges keep the game short of perfection, Windbound nonetheless is an excellently crafted and conceived take on the survival-exploration genre built on gorgeous aesthetic and storytelling.