Review: Wind Story (Nintendo Switch)

Any way the wind blows.

Wind Story is a simulator similar in which you farm, fight, socialize, raise animals, and can even add facilities for amusement, all in the hopes of gaining more traction in your town. However, the game seems to lack any real personality, and therefore does not stand up against its competition.

You’re given the option to customize your character at the onset, but the controls are already a bit strange; just clicking “A” starts the game. I had to quit the game and restart so I could pick my hair color and clothes. Then, once you figure the customization, you see your character being flown to a village where, once again, you are thrown into a confusing world. There’s an elder who gives you seeds and talks to you a little but doesn’t explain much about the village’s deal is or what you’re supposed to do. You are also given a Boka, which is a little creature that follows you around and helps in whichever field it’s best in. One helps with crops, one with logging, and the other with feeding.

As you continue the game, it doesn’t give you much insight into anything. You can see which buttons do which action, which is helpful, but you aren’t told why to do these actions or how they benefit you or the game. A lot of it is just exploring on your own and hoping you figure it out. You can pull up a goals menu, which tells you to cut down trees, plant seeds, and break rocks, but it doesn’t reward you for doing this and doesn’t explain why it’s necessary.

I also had problems with the social aspects of Wind Story as well as theart style. None of the people you meet have much to say, and I found myself ignoring a lot of the characters I passed. Sometimes they hint towards what your goals should be, but no one seemed to actually explain why talking to them was beneficial.

The art style is originally what caught my eye, but I quickly realized the graphics could use some work. They mix 2D pixelation with 3D art, which seems cool at first (and in some ways still is), but the effect often made the game look like it couldn’t decide how it wanted to look. Even some of the characters are extremely underdeveloped compared to others.

At first glance, Wind Story seems like a fun game, and perhaps it can be with some updates or DLC. For now, it’s actually just underdeveloped and confusing. It promises a lot but doesn’t live up to the expectations it sets.