Easily one of the most compelling games I played while at GDC, Island of Winds takes the adventure formula and gives it a empathic twist.
After a childhood filled with games that were liberally stuffed with Norse, Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology, I’m always excited to play something that’s steeped in another culture’s history and folklore. In that regard, Island of Winds is perfect. It’s a great mix of the familiar and otherworldly; Heavily inspired by Icelandic folklore and rife with strange magics and creatures, but on slightly familiar, windswept islands.
Critically for me though, it also subverts the expectation that comes with a third-person, ‘magic-wielding’ game, in that your magic is more of a solution to a problem than a destructive force. You’ll clear fallen rocks, rotate and slide objects, investigate missing Balance Keepers and calm dangerous beasts rather than simply destroying your way around the island.
This feeling of going around, soothing and repairing the world feels new and fresh, and actively seeking out troubled creatures to try and shake them out of their aggressive state feels much more natural than bunny hopping over hills and headshotting enemies.
Part of that also comes down to the ‘not quite open’ world design of Island of Winds, which I probably wouldn’t have mentioned if it wasn’t for the strange place that adventure games currently find themselves in at the moment, with ‘soulslikes’ focusing on maps that play out like interconnecting corridors full of shortcuts, run-based roguelikes and open-world games having all had their time in the spotlight over the last dozen-or-so years. Here it’s reminiscent of the PS2-style, ‘open corridor’-style, with large barriers like mountains and cliff-edges blocking your passage and steering you between larger areas. It works well, with smaller caves (even those filled with sunlight or puzzles) feeling claustrophobic and focused while wider areas just feel wide enough that you get surprised if something sneaks up on you.
I’m keen to play more of Island of Winds, and am looking forward to its (eventual) release.
Island of Winds doesn’t currently have a release date, but when it does release it’s due to do so for Windows PCs.
