Sun, 11 Oct 2009 by Marcel Van Duyn
Is this Winter warmer as good as Toku’s first adventure?
LostWinds was one of WiiWare's launch titles, and is still one of the best games on the service. Now, almost a year and a half later, it has finally gotten its long-awaited sequel.
For the uninitiated, in LostWinds you took control of Toku, a young boy who found a magical crystal containing the spirit of wind, Enril. Using Enril, Toku could take advantage of the wind by manipulating it in various ways to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. Ultimately, Toku and Enril managed to rid their hometown of evil, but of course, the root of all the problems was not yet gone, leaving us waiting for the eventual sequel.
In this game, Toku is looking for his mother, Magdi, who has gone missing somewhere on the Summerfalls Mountain; a seemingly odd name, as the mountain is completely frozen over! As luck would have it, monsters have also appeared on the mountain, so the duo will have to get rid of them as well.
When you first start the game, you'll play a short prologue section as one of the titular Melodias. Right before something is about to happen, however, the progloue ends. Not much later you find out that these Melodias are now apparently a thing of the past: the only thing left of them is a ruined city on top of Summerfalls Mountain, leaving you to wonder what happened.
After this short introduction, control switches over to Toku, who almost instantly goes off in search of his mother on top of the mountain. Before he reaches the peak, the game throws a short tutorial section your way, a good thing as the first game was released over a year ago and you could easily have forgotten how to use certain moves. Each ability from the original game is still available, minus one: pay close attention to the beginning of the game and you'll see why it's gone!
The snowy environments of the mountain instantly offer new abilities and challenges - your old vortex ability, which could be used to propel objects in a given direction, can be used on falling snow to create snowballs, which in turn can be thrown or used to weigh down switches. The freezing cold is your biggest foe at the start: stay away from heat sources for too long and Toku will slowly begin to lose health to the frost. Thankfully, soon enough he gets a warm suit, meaning you no longer have to worry about it.
Not long after that, you'll begin to learn new abilities. The most important one by far is the ability to transform the mountain from a winter environment to a summer one, defrosting any lakes, removing icicles and more. Naturally, it can also be done in reverse, but you're only able to perform this switch at special shrines, as it'd be a bit too easy otherwise! There are a handful of other useful new abilities as well, but you'll have to find out about them yourself.
The game is quite a bit more story-driven this time; bit-by-bit you'll begin to unravel the mystery of the mountain and what exactly has happened to it and the Melodias, both by talking to people and finding pages of a journal written by Toku's mother. Aside from that, not much has changed, meaning you'll understand everything almost immediately and will have no trouble enjoying the game just as much as the first.
The original game has been compared to the 2D Metroid games quite frequently, and this sequel makes the comparison even easier. Frontier has made the great decision to add a map you can view at any time, so you can view exactly which rooms connect to which, and how many collectibles you're missing in each of them.
Speaking of collectibles, they actually have a use now: getting 100% in the first game did absolutely nothing, but this time, there is a "Secrets" menu you can access from the title screen, where you can unlock things by collecting all the well-hidden trinkets in the game.
The original game's graphics were great, but those here are absolutely stunning. It is without a doubt the best-looking WiiWare game yet, and you will be blown away by how good some sections look. The music is similar to that of the first game, it's mostly just atmospheric, and fits the environments well.
1. Nintendork
11 Oct 2009, 21:56 BST
Sweet.
NOW HURRY UP AND GET TO NA!!!!!!!!!!!
2. SonicMaster
11 Oct 2009, 21:57 BST
OMG, sounds great, hope it comes tomorrow!
3. Mickeymac
11 Oct 2009, 21:58 BST
I'll be getting this.
4. cheetahman91
11 Oct 2009, 22:00 BST
Might have to skip the 1st one and get this after I get Cave Story judging by the review.
5. pixelman
11 Oct 2009, 22:06 BST
I'll get this one this winter. Cave Story, first though!
6. JamieO
11 Oct 2009, 22:08 BST
Each Winter I build a catalogue of snow themed games and play them all at Christmas time, but Marcel's review is too good, I do not think that I should wait to start launching snowballs in a Summerfalls Mountain adventure.
The addition of a map is brilliant and 4 hours play time is good value for what is obviously a must buy WiiWare title. Frontier are a class developer/ publisher. Great reviews like this make you excited to download the game. Thanks Marcel.
7. Objection_Blaster
11 Oct 2009, 22:09 BST
Exactly the review I expected. Good work (to Frontier as well), I can't wait to run through the original in preparation for the NA release of this sequel, a very exciting prospect!
8. WolfRamHeart
11 Oct 2009, 22:09 BST
Excellent review Drake! I am definitely getting this! I hope we get this soon!
9. Dazza
11 Oct 2009, 22:13 BST
Nice review Drake, looks like you had a lot of fun with this one. I really enjoyed the first LostWinds game, so with these improvements I am sure I will love this. I'll be sure to download this soon for some fun in the snow.
Congrats Frontier, you've done it again!
10. Xkhaoz
11 Oct 2009, 22:21 BST
I never played the first game, but I wanted to. But now, I guess I'll wait for this.
11. Nero
11 Oct 2009, 22:27 BST
I got this the moment it was out and yeah it took about 4 hours to complete and some more to find the additional statues I missed and I liked the switching season mechanics and there was some more puzzles this game. Map helped a lot as well. Wonderful game!
12. Awesome5
11 Oct 2009, 22:56 BST
Great review! I'll probably get it once it comes out in the states.
13. Odnetnin
11 Oct 2009, 23:14 BST
Ditto cheetahman, pixelman, and Xkhaoz.
14. KnucklesSonic8
11 Oct 2009, 23:19 BST
Thanks for the great review as always! Glad to hear there's some replay value this time around.
15. Draygone
11 Oct 2009, 23:28 BST
Remember how launch titles like the original Lost Winds paved the way for hope of an online console with lots of inspired and well-designed games? Who would've thought that games like this would've actually been a rare breed on the service?
16. pie4prez
11 Oct 2009, 23:29 BST
I'll be getting this!
17. ATRUEZELDAFAN
12 Oct 2009, 00:09 BST
im definitly gonna pick this up, i might go back and play the first one again first though.
18. pinta_vodki
12 Oct 2009, 00:12 BST
Nice review and nice game. Gonna get it soon! =)
19. Twilight Crow
12 Oct 2009, 00:23 BST
Thanks for the nice review Drake! This game looks great, better than the first, and I love the first; definitely a must have. I wonder which I will end up buying first this or Cave Story.
20. Odnetnin
12 Oct 2009, 00:31 BST
@TC Cave Story, me thinks should you.
21. Grim_Heaper94
12 Oct 2009, 01:28 BST
I should play the first one sometime...
22. Swerd_Murd
12 Oct 2009, 01:35 BST
Woohoo! Frontier you guys rock--kudos on the artstyle for this game...vurry nice. One of my favorite 2.5D's, difficulty-be-damned. It's just a good atmosphere, through and through.
23. irken004
12 Oct 2009, 01:49 BST
I need to finish the first one. After that, I might download this.
24. Mayhem
12 Oct 2009, 02:03 BST
Get thee to an NA now...! And hopefully something to enjoy across an afternoon or two...
25. Fleeman
12 Oct 2009, 02:22 BST
i don't see any reason why this game wasn't given a 10 the by the review it seems like its better then the first game in every way but still got the same score maybe the reviewer could explain why
26. Kid_A
12 Oct 2009, 03:32 BST
So what I'm wondering--as are many people here-- is, why didn't get a 10?
27. brandonbwii
12 Oct 2009, 03:56 BST
Does this game end on cliffhanger like the original?
28. djshep1973
12 Oct 2009, 04:18 BST
This game looks top...
I haven't played all the way through the original yet, but I certainly feel inspired to go and do so now, before downloading this sequel! Thanks for the excellent review by the way Marcel, nice one.
29. odd69
12 Oct 2009, 05:47 BST
Woot woot! I know what I'll be downloading Monday..er..
30. Nosferajew
12 Oct 2009, 06:15 BST
Get out of my dreams and into my Wii!
31. Objection_Blaster
12 Oct 2009, 07:18 BST
I'd like to know the answers to the two mentioned questions as well:
was there anything holding this back from a 10/10?
is the ending a cliffhanger (and not a very good one) like No1 again?
32. Ricardo91
12 Oct 2009, 07:18 BST
Awesome! I really wanted to try the first LW, but passed it up due to it's short length (2 hours of gameplay for $10 is just a ripoff!). But since this is double the length, I'll definitely try it out.
33. Omega
12 Oct 2009, 09:14 BST
I don't understand why everyone is complaining that the first LostWinds is "only two hours long". That depends on how fast you run through the game. I mean relax people, are you getting paid for beating games as fast as possible or what? I have played it 7-8 hours before I finally beat it with all Melodia Idols collected. Lean back from time to time, drink a coffee and watch the beautiful graphics. Why hurrying?
34. Gavin Rozee
12 Oct 2009, 12:53 BST
Took me 3 and a half hours with all the collectibles. Would have been less if I'd realised sooner that you had to break the walls during the final boss.
Awesome game though.
35. Kirk
12 Oct 2009, 13:27 BST
I didn't like the first game that much but mostly because of the issues that they seem to have addressed in this game...
I'm not sure if I should try this or not!
36. Drake
12 Oct 2009, 13:56 BST
The reason I didn't give it a 10 is because, quite simply, in my opinion the first one should've gotten an 8 instead of a 9. This one is slightly better, therefore a 9 is the logical step up.
37. roro44
12 Oct 2009, 14:38 BST
Huh. I guess I got to get 'em both for $20 later. Sounds good.
38. Streakk
12 Oct 2009, 14:52 BST
I thought the first one was great, so I'll have to download this one soon for sure.
39. LEGEND MARIOID
12 Oct 2009, 21:06 BST
I see what Drake is saying, but......
....for me the first game was a clear 9/10 (the same mark this site's reviewer gave it btw) and therefore this is a 10 for me as it builds on and improves the first game....IMHO...
Make no mistake, this is an outstanding game, up there with world of goo and swords and soldiers.
40. Machu
13 Oct 2009, 12:50 BST
I played through Lostwinds again at the weekend and was reminded how beautiful it was, but how short too. I'll save downloading the sequel until I'm really desperate for an evenings entertainment.
41. ODOGG618
13 Oct 2009, 17:07 BST
Kid A: Why didn't it get a ten? For starters, it's only 4 hours long with zero replay value.
PUT ME TO SLEEP! You must eat a handful of pills to enjoy this game.
42. LEGEND MARIOID
14 Oct 2009, 21:27 BST
That was one fracking wierd comment.
The L.Winds concept is pretty much regarded as dang good. Its a 10 for me....
43. Elguapo
15 Oct 2009, 08:18 BST
When a review says "all the hype for this game was justified," that's a pretty good sign. I'm anxious for this to come to NA!
44. Thomas
18 Oct 2009, 21:54 BST
Getting my Wii back sometime this week. Definitely looking forward to this one, among others I missed this summer (Contra, NyxQuest, et cetera).
45. VALERHU
27 Oct 2009, 01:23 GMT
Drake, that doesnt mean it shouldnt get a 10. You just love goo to much, and think it should be the only 10.
46. Tony
27 Oct 2009, 14:51 GMT
After playing this game and Nyx Quest it really has changed my impressions of the Wii Ware service to the point that I am excited to see what some of these talented developers like Frontier can do.
47. KoopaTroopa007
01 Nov 2009, 06:06 GMT
Such a fantastic, calming game.
48. Prof
11 Nov 2009, 22:39 GMT
Lost Winds is exactly the type of third party game needed by the Wii (along with World of Goo). I picked it up about a week ago, and am still amazed at the outright beauty in such a simple little game (I love the rock "giant" that carries Toku from place to place early on). One can only hope Lost Winds 3 is already in the works.
49. davegorack
17 Nov 2009, 11:53 GMT
Ill be geting 5000 wii ponts next week so i might buy this and the frist one. they do look like fun platformers.
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