In the age of video game blockbusters, it is nice to be reminded that something simple can still be something quite good
In Lost Winds you control Toku, a little boy from the fictional island of Mistralis. Early on in the game you stumble across Enril, a wind spirit that is encased in a stone. He tells you that an ancient evil that he and his fellow spirits had locked away has escaped, and tasks you with saving the world. To say the least, it's not the most interesting premise for a game story, but it never gets in the way of the game itself.
Lost Winds presents a lot of interesting puzzles for players to solve. None of them are brain-busters, per se (unless you forget a key game mechanic like yours truly, but I'm not going to mark down the game because of my own stupidity) but you'll come across plenty of puzzles that will make you take inventory of what items are at your disposal, what your objectives are, and then plot out what you have to do from there. Everything flows logically and within the rule set that the game teaches you, allowing you to think through your steps.
The highlight of the game is the way Lost Winds is controlled. Enril, the spirit that accompanies you, grants Toku the ability to manipulate the wind. What this means in the game world is that with a flick of the Wii remote, you can essentially push Toku to regions that seem unreachable. Simply "draw" a line under Toku and the wind pushes him up in the air--do it again, and it pushes him a bit higher. You'll unlock other abilities throughout the 3-4 hour storyline, which allow you to create slipstreams to cover greater distances, the ability to manipulate fire, among others.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect about Lost Winds is how natural the controls feel from the start of the game. One of the biggest hurdles Wii games face is making the controls feel right, and Lost Winds nails it. The only difficulty I had with the controls was executing multiple jumps, but after spending a bit of time with the game, the controls became second-nature. The way that it takes advantage of the Wii's unique control scheme is to Lost Winds' great credit. There is no way that the game would be nearly as interesting or fluid on a controller.
Lost Winds could definitely could have been made better with a map. It has a 2D Metroid feel about it--you're dropped in and told to have at it. The game world is not going to overwhelm you with its size, but you might not remember where certain areas or individuals are located, so you'll be forced to walk around for a bit until you find what you are looking for. There is also a bit of back-tracking that you'll have to endure, but you won't mind taking in some of the beautifully rendered backdrops for a second or third time. The artistic design is decidedly minimalist, but extremely picturesque and colorful. The harmonious and soothing Far-Eastern tunes that accompany your travels as Toku add to the overall cathartic feeling the game evokes.
Lost Winds is not going to blow you away. But what it will do is help you appreciate what the Wii is capable of and give you a pretty dang solid, albeit short, adventure. In the age of video game blockbusters, it is nice to be reminded that something simple can still be something quite good.