Gamertell

Title: LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias
Price: 1,000 Wii Points (US$10)
System: Wii
Release Date: October 19, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Frontier Developments Ltd. (Frontier Developments Ltd.)
ESRB Rating: “E” for mild fantasy violence
Pros: Gorgeous visuals, unique environmental puzzles, excellent use of Wii controls and a cute (and somewhat touching) story.
Cons: Too short and too easy.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 94/100; A; **** out of 5

LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias is a charming little game. I hesitate to say that because it calls to mind singing mice or scruffy puppies with hearts of gold but that’s what Winter of the Melodias is: charming.

It’s also a gorgeous game with some good puzzles, a nice dose of adventure, and fairly unique combat that’ll appeal to gamers of all types.

The Wind Beneath My Toku

The game continues the adventure of the young boy Toku initiated in last year’s LostWinds. You don’t play entirely as Toku, however; you’re also Enril, a wind spirit charged with helping and protecting Toku. The two characters are effectively split across the two Wii input devices: move Toku directly with the Nunchuck, and flick the WiiMote as Enril to lift Toku, slow his descents, fend off enemies and manipulate the environment to his advantage. It’s a wonderful control scheme that pulls you right into the game…you feel like you’re part of the world of Mistralis, not just guiding people through it.

The story of Winter of the Melodias is light but effective. Toku’s mother, Magdi, has gone missing. Setting off to find her, Toku learns she has been cursed by a mysterious enemy who has applied the same curse to the people of Melodia City. Their kingdom has been plunged into an eternal winter and it’s up to Toku and Enril to lift the curse in time to save Toku’s mother.

The story is told through journal entries and conversations with the various characters Toku encounters along the way. These written-word scenes are fairly brief, but were still quite touching, especially those between Toku and his ailing mother. Never sappy or heavy-handed, mind you, just honest. You want Toku to do well, here. These are people worth saving.

The Toku, My Friend, is Blowin’ in the Wind

Toku’s adventure takes him through some gorgeous environments, most of which he’ll visit numerous times, either to complete the game or simply to find all of the collectibles. Each screen is a puzzle of getting from point A to point B, which you must solve by flicking the WiiMote to create wind gusts to lift Toku over obstacles, tornadoes for higher lifts or to drill through dirt and rock and vortexes to trap and throw snowballs and rocks. Some are a simple matter of jumping to the right area, while others involve a complex combination of moving rocks onto levers, lighting torches to reach brush that must be burned away, and even changing the season to freeze rivers or thaw ice walls.

Along the way, you’ll also be fighting glorbs, which are exactly what they sound like: little masses of oil, more or less, that stick to you and drain your health. Your only defense is Enril, who can flick them away with wind gusts or burn them with torches. There is a variety of glorb incarnations—fire, ice, and even birds and crab-like creatures—that are more effectively dealt with when using the environment as opposed to just blowing them aside.

Toku’s Like the Wind Through the Trees

Of course, most of this was in the original LostWinds, so what’s changed? Well, first of all, nothing really needed to be improved. These are WiiWare games, after all, and are therefore quite short. Both entries can be complete in under five hours, so more of the same still wouldn’t be enough. But you do now get the ability to create the aforementioned tornados that are key to solving the game, as well as create storm clouds that can be used to move water from one location to another.

With these new capabilities come improved controls over the original. Although there will still be annoying moments where the gestures are unresponsive for no apparent reason, this happens far less often than in LostWinds.

The developers were also wise to add a map this time, making it much easier to find your way to your goals. The drawback to this is that it dramatically shortens the game, as you spend less time wandering around aimlessly. It’s also much less frustrating, however, so that’s a trade-off I’ll accept.

You Lived Your Life Like a Toku in the Wind

I can’t fault a $10 WiiWare game too much for being short but I will dock it a bit for being perhaps too simple. The puzzles are quite easy to figure out by just observing the screens for a bit although the developers did keep things fresh by starting the game out with a heavy reliance on heat and ending it with two-person puzzles as you guide the King of Melodia City back home. Also, there’s only one real boss battle of which to speak, although it’s certainly a good one. I did get stuck once or twice and I died once or twice, but was rarely challenged beyond that.

These complaints, however, didn’t in any way hamper my enthusiasm for the game. It’s a joy to play. The visuals are gorgeous and serenely animated, accented by some wonderful soundtrack music worthy of a CD release (I was reminded of Bruno Coulais wonderful score for Coraline throughout).

LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias offers a engaging trip into a wonderful little world that manages to be quite - I won’t say addictive - compelling. It’s light enough for casual or puzzle gamers but hard core gamers looking for a momentary diversion from the Metroid Trilogy or Dead Space Extraction won’t do much better.

I would say that I’d love to see what Frontier could do with a larger budget and a release for store shelves but I’m afraid that would pull them away from the simplistic charm and beauty of LostWinds and that’s not something I want to risk losing.

Site [ LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias]