Windbound Isn't The Zelda Copycat It Looks Like

Look at a screenshot of Windbound and its art direction (a vibrant, watercolour style), will likely remind you of a very well-loved Legend of Zelda game--Breath Of The Wild. Watch a video of Windbound in action, and seeing its focus on sailing through vast oceans might instead remind you of another Legend of Zelda game--Wind Waker. Actually start playing Windbound, however, and it's quickly very clear that despite those stylistic influences, it plays nothing like a Zelda game. Which is, honestly, a relief.

Windbound is the second release from 5 Lives Studios, a team of Australian developers who previously released Satellite Reigns, a spiritual successor to the much-loved Syndicate games. Neither of those games are like Windbound either. Alright, alright--Windbound is a third-person survival game, the kind where resource gathering and crafting tools and supplies to stay alive are the main concerns that dominate the second-to-second gameplay loop. These things are very popular, I hear.

Windbound structures its survival as a single-player rogue-lite, much like Don't Starve. You start the game as a woman named Kara, who is shipwrecked and separated from her clan. She wakes up on a tiny island, which barely has enough resources for you to build a basic canoe to row your way outta there. From there, your goal is to head towards the next procedurally generated landmass that makes up Windbound's archipelagic world and hopefully find a way to get back to your people.

Continue Reading at GameSpot