Windblown shows how good roguelikes can be with friends

Some of the astir beloved roguelikes are single-player — the likes of Hades, Balatro, and Dead Cells are each solo titles. But Windblown, the caller roguelike from Motion Twin, the workplace that created Dead Cells, showed maine conscionable however chill it tin beryllium to play a roguelike with different people.

In Windblown, your character, 1 of a fewer adorable carnal adventurers similar an axolotl oregon a bat, is changeable retired of a cannon into a mysterious elephantine tornado to combat your mode done assorted zones. Like Dead Cells, you tin equip up to 2 main weapons. I typically person 1 for close-range bouts and different for long-distance attacks. But with each weapon, you’re besides capable to propulsion disconnected a combo that uses a peculiar determination from the other weapon called an “Alterattack.”

Here’s an example. I emotion utilizing a crossbow to onslaught enemies from a distance, and I brace it with a elephantine dense blade. I seldom usage the leaf connected its own; instead, I usage its Alterattack that cracks unfastened the world successful a consecutive enactment to proceed to wallop connected enemies astatine range. That turns a tally into a dependable bushed of slinging arrows and utilizing the Alterattack astatine exactly the close time, and with my 5 hours truthful acold with the game, I haven’t gotten bushed of the pattern.

Windblown conscionable launched successful aboriginal access, and you tin already unlock much than a twelve weapons, meaning determination are a batch of combinations that I haven’t messed astir with. And with 4 antithetic biomes to get done connected a run, there’s a batch to see, too.

All of that would beryllium capable to marque Windblown portion of my regular rotation of roguelikes I usage to upwind down astatine the extremity of a agelong day. But the game’s multiplayer is making Windblown the crippled I crook to each clip I crook connected my Steam Deck.

Windblown’s multiplayer lobbies, which you unlock reasonably aboriginal on, fto you play a afloat tally with a squad of 3 people. You tin usage dependable and substance chat to communicate, but it’s not required; I haven’t utilized those astatine all, alternatively relying connected 4 in-game emoji. I besides similar that you tin sanction your lobbies. I created 1 titled “help maine get 1st win” and instantly had 2 adjuvant radical articulation up to assistance maine tackle the tornado. (Sadly, we did not get the win.) 

When playing solo, I’ve recovered that I’m somewhat cautious and strategical arsenic I deliberation astir however to usage weapons and positioning to instrumentality connected the game’s assertive enemies and dodge their attacks. With the assistance of a team, battles are speedier and go delightful explosions of light, color, sound, and damage. It’s so amusive to perfectly annihilate baddies with different people, and it’s comforting to cognize that they’ve got your backmost successful a pinch.

There are a lot of large roguelikes to play close now; Hades II conscionable got a immense update, Balatro is nearly impossible to enactment down (especially present that it’s on mobile), and I’ve wanted to get backmost into Shogun Showdown, which I deliberation everyone is sleeping on. Windblown needed much than conscionable its Motion Twin pedigree to basal out, but truthful far, the multiplayer is the hook that keeps maine coming back.