The game follows the story of a young boy called Toku who emancipates a wind spirit named Enril from a magical stone. Together they must prevent an evil, malevolent spirit who’s preparing to emerge into the world, after years of forced confinement, in order to destroy the tranquillity of not only Toku’s village, but the entire land of Mistralis in which the game is based.
LostWinds requires the Wii Remote and Nunchuck. The player guides Toku through the world using the Nunchuck’s thumbstick. Although the game is set up like a 2D platformer it is nothing like what you would expect. Rather than hitting buttons to climb or jump, this is all done automatically for you by the young boy as you run him around the land of Mistralis. Instead, all of the difficult things that we’ve come to know and love about platformers, such as getting to high up places and battling enemies, involve some involvement from your new friend Enril.
Toku braces himself against his invisible friend.
The invisible nature of wind makes it a force filled with mystery that seems perfect to have as a character within a game but at the same time an incredibly difficult element to bring to life. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was one of the first titles to focus the players attention on the wind and it did this by rendering comic strip-esque ‘action lines’ to illustrate the winds path. LostWinds instead takes a different approach to portraying the unseen force. Our everyday interaction with these gusts of air is through the effects it has on the our surroundings, and that’s what the game’s focus is on.
Enril acts as the Wii Remotes cursor. Dragging him around the screen is an extremely tactile experience. Grass swishes in the foreground and trees sway in the background as the wind spirit passes them by on his journey from one side of the screen to the other. The wind also affects the characters within Mistralis too. Hold down the ‘A’ button, sweep Enril across your view and Toku will brace himself against the strong gust. Villagers also react to the wind in an fashion appropriate to which direction it is coming from.
For the most part the game's controls work beautifully, in fact better than in many bigger budget titles. And at no point do they feel like the gimmicky, attention seeking controls of many other Wii titles. The only issue that we ever had with them was when things in the environment, such as boulders, could be interacted with, our gusts would sometimes accidentally blow them into Toku, causing him damage. Fortunately for the game - and Toku's noggin - boulders are scarce in Mistralis.
Underground development.
As you progress through LostWinds Toku and Enril unlock extra powers, such as being able to control the path of the wind, or being able to use your cape as a makeshift parachute. These allow you to get past new obstacles and interact with previously useless items within the universe making for some simple puzzles. These won’t stump too many experienced gamers but they do provide enough of a challenge to provide a bit of fun.
LostWinds' art direction is delightful. Toku and his fellow villagers are so undeniably cute that if you think otherwise we suggest it’s time to get that papier-mâché heart of yours replaced with a real one. The world of Mithril is also filled to the brim with charm, its blossoming trees and mysterious caverns make for a great place to lose yourself in for a couple of hours. LostWinds' 2D platforming is perfectly matched with its 3D visuals which use some great visual trickery, such as depth of field techniques, to draw you in. The visual elements of the game marry up beautifully with LostWinds' relaxingly gentle, slightly Japanese and South American inspired music, making a world that is at many points quite relaxing to immerse yourself in. It’s amazing to think that a downloadable title is one of the few third party games to both use the strengths of the Wii effectively whilst also being aware of its limitations.
The Wii is a notorious haven for second rate titles, churned out to cash in on the system’s success. Thankfully LostWinds is not one of these. Its enchanting visuals and imaginative gameplay make it well worth the money you’ll pay for it. And although it can be played through in the space of three to four hours, there are far worse things that you could throw 1000 Wii points or even 15 Australian dollars at.
Though thats because I havent a lot of time to play it, but yes, the game is fantastic, for $15 you can't go wrong! Amazing effort! 
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