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The Dead Cells developer’s new roguelike Windblown has a dash so potent it makes the game seem disposableHyper Light Speedrunner
Hyper Light Speedrunner
Image credit:Motion Twin
Image credit:Motion Twin
A terrible confession: I almost fell asleep during the presentation for Motion Twin’sWindblown. This wasn’t really Motion Twin’s fault. It was the afternoon of day four at GDC, my adrenaline reserves were spent, and there I was, in a warm, shuttered hotel room, with two men gently bombarding me with French-accented details of synergies, stackable trinkets and i-frames (I’m aware that the scenario I’ve just described is probably somebody’s kink - let’s move swiftly on).
Windblown itself is an airy, bright fusillade of Saturday morning cartoon vibes, a series of breakneck arena fights waged on procedurally generated island chains floating against a whirlpool sky. It’s all shaping up very nicely, and if I’d been playing the demo, I’m sure it would have woken me up better than any emergency deluge of instant coffee. But watching somebody else tear through this stratospheric world simply overloaded my depleted senses, and I came perilously close to nodding off.
Windblown | Gameplay TrailerWatch on YouTube
Windblown | Gameplay Trailer
Windblown has a hell of a dash. The key thing is that there’s no cooldown: you can spam the button to streak through the entire layout in a zig-zag of anime energy, likeTracer chasing Widowmaker. Each biome has its open-ended sections that encourage exploration, with secret areas tucked behind destructible scenery. But at times, it feels like a race course: there are bridges and staircases of astral rock that are clearly designed to be scurried along at maximum pace, as though hammering a single chord at the end of a rock ballad inGuitar Hero.
Image credit:Motion Twin
The developers' previous Dead Cells aside, the game blends inspirations from more expressive and frantic Japanese action games such asDevil May Crywith the methodical preparation and pattern-reading of a Monster Hunter. “Regarding Monster Hunter, it’s also a huge inspiration in the way they address multiplayer and co-op,” Berthier explained. “There is not a real boundary between the two - it’s as seamless as possible.” Windblown has co-op for up to three, but it’ll also be entirely solo-friendly, and its roguelike build-tailoring appears just as rich and open-ended as that of Dead Cells.
Image credit:Motion Twin
I can’t see Windblown panning out badly, but I’m still waiting to discover what really sets the game apart from the nowadays-prosperous crowd of roguelikes with proper action game elements and very ribald presentation. The dash is the standout feature at a glance, but the three-way co-op could be the big distinguishing factor, though I already know that I’m going to forget which character I am and get myself clobbered. Here’s hoping we’re actually allowed to play the game - preferably following a solid night’s sleep, and perhaps, a quick dip in a real-life onsen - before itgoes into early access later this year.
