The original LostWinds, ported from WiiWare
to iOS, was largely praised for some lush presentation and some clever puzzles,
but it was also criticized for some less than precise controls. In this sequel,
the story remains the same as we get more of the good, and sadly, more of the
bad.
You play again as Toku, the wind-riding
protagonist from the original. On a quest to find his missing mother, Toku
comes across a village at the base of Summerfalls Mountain, a village frozen to
the core despite its name.
Toku is reunited with his mother and then
begins a long quest to find the spirit who can bring an end to the eternal
winter. Slowly unraveling, the story for Winter of the Melodias takes place
through journal pages found scattered around each level providing a great deal
of intrigue until it all comes together.
Once again there is a vibrancy that allows
players to be completely caught up in the whimsy and serenity of it all. The
environments and characters are beautifully crafted yet again and the ability
to control the reasons makes for a cool gameplay concept but also adds to the
already excellent presentation.
Controls are handled by some promising and
overtly natural touch screen controls similar to the first. Toku can manipulate
the wind to carry him upwards, blow away enemies and throw objects onto the
ground to trigger switches. This wind can also carry flames onto ice and
vegetation allowing Toku to navigate the environments.
This is all done by swiping the screen to
conjure a breeze while moving left and right is done by tapping the screen.
Thankfully there is a virtual joystick but like the original, precision is
lacking so accuracy can take some practice. This is a shame as precision is key
to platforming success not to mention the combat and puzzle sequences that
demand a degree of accuracy that never seems reachable.
It’s extra disappointing when you see how
great the level design and overall gameplay is. Every stage is densely layered
with various platforms, pathways, torches and switches requiring a good deal of
exploration and evaluation to crack the code. With over 20 zones to explore
there is a real satisfying amount of game here especially as you jump between
winter and summer to uncover previously hidden areas and objects.
Quality side scrolling platformers can be
hard to come by on iOS and unfortunately, the control issues let down what is a
very good game with some truly memorable graphics, environments, characters and
spirited gameplay. If not for the accuracy, this would be a perfect score but
in spite of the same issue that brings it down, LostWinds 2 shouldn’t really be
missed either.
