I live very close to the office I work in. There are great advantages to this, specifically anime and/or video games during my lunch hour. Today, I decided to download LostWinds and see if my excitement for this game was founded or silly hopefulness.



Upon loading the game, I first noticed the very soothing and somewhat Asian background music. In some odd way, it reminded me of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon score - sweeping yet subtle and soothing. The music was played over a scene of the protagonist of the game sleeping in a forest. The forest was filled with lush colors and had an overall softened effect that made the entire image appear welcoming and cartoony. I would love to say more about the beginning of the game but I feel it would ruin some part of the experience.

The boy is controlled by the analog stick and the wind is conducted by holding down the A button and moving the Wiimote in the desired direction. The wind mechanic is both accurate and forgiving at the same time. It just feels right. The use of the analog stick is good but it functions more like a D-pad than an analog. Moving the stick all the way in one direction does not result in the protagonist running. The Z button is the contextual button and is used for many activities such as talking with NPCs, picking up items or eating fruit and vegetables.

I've only played the game for about 25 minutes but I was overjoyed for the whole experience. The game has a very nice art style and looks better than most disc-based games on the Wii. The gameplay style is familiar yet fresh and the music is great. All-in-all, this is one of the most charming games I've played. I look forward to experiencing more of the title. This game is another example of the importance of Indie games.