A great launch title. Lost winds has found its home on the Wiiware. Real score 8.8
Story 9/10: Set in a small village giving off a somewhat asian culture, a boy is awakened by a small wind spirit. The Spirit of wind named Enril tells the boy a legendary story about an evil spirit and how he managed to seal it away forever. The problem is that the seal has broken and Enril has lost alot of his powers. Its up to you and Enril as a team to restore his powers and trap the evil spirit once again.
Gameplay 9/10: You do have simple actions such as running and climbing but the real gameplay comes from your spirit friend and his wind powers. A cursor on the screen shows your spirit. Waving the remote will cause small amounts of wind, Holding A and thrusting in one direction will create bigger gust allowing you to jump higher, carry boulders by wind and destroy your enemies. You explore caves and villiges solving puzzles. Sometime you may have to splash water on a plant or burn down a wooden door by carrying the fire in the wind. You will gain more unique powers as you go such as a wind vortex which holds enemies or objects in the air allowing you to control its direction a little better. The wind can affect pretty much anything: trees, plaints, windmills, sometimes you'll find yourself distracted or amused because of the reactions peopole get when wind rushes past them. Though the game is enjoyable on many levels, its just a little to short leaving a little more to be desired.
Graphics 9/10: Visually bright and stunning, lost winds is a beautiful looking game. The village is well detailed and wind effects look natural. While places like caves are dark, the plants and crystals in the caves give it a nice glow. They couldve added more enemy designs but the look of the gaming is enjoyable none the less.
Sound 8/10: The main song you hear is somewhat spiritual once again refering to what feels like an asian culture. I say this because their culture gives off the spiritual feeling with dragons, spirits and music like this. Something around a japanese garden. Though enemy encounters change the music breifly, the music itself will get a little repetitive. Its not a big problem since the music is adventurous yet peaceful.
The game flows well with a distinctive feel. Its takes on a new power for the wii remote and executes it properly. Its worth the 1000 point price as it brings the wiiware launch off to a great start.