Bura: The Way the Wind Blows

You are Rina, a young girl from a small coastal village somewhere along the Adriatic coast. And frankly, that’s the only introduction you get before you’re allowed to explore the village and its surroundings. Although it seems you can go anywhere, powerful winds prevent you from straying too far. The visual style will be instantly recognizable to anime fans, and there’s even a cameo by the artist in the game. Unfortunately, optimization could be much better. Rina herself is quite agile for her age. She can jump and pull herself up onto rocks or other ledges with ease. Since she lives near the coast, she’s also an exceptional swimmer, able to hold her breath indefinitely and dive deep into the sea. Her final skill comes from a glider she can deploy when jumping from high points. There’s no need to worry about her safety because Rina can never get hurt. After grabbing a journal from a shepherd, you’re free to explore and record discoveries in it. The most common entries include various flowers, animals you can pet, and other small details that sparkle faintly when you approach them. Each item gets a short description and an illustration in your journal, and it’s all connected to the region. However, you never know how many things are out there, as there’s no checklist to follow. The more significant discoveries are stones and seeds. When you come across a pattern made of stones on the ground, you can interact with it and place an additional stone within the design. Usually, these form arrows that lead from one to another until they point you toward your destination. Occasionally, completing a stone pattern will summon a whirlwind nearby that acts as a launch pad. From there, you can glide across large sections of the map quickly. Seeds, on the other hand, are thrown into wells. Each well can only be used once, but doing so grants Rina new abilities. The first seed gives her a double jump; the second enhances the little dragon companion who follows her around. Each subsequent upgrade requires more seeds, so it’s best to collect them as soon as you find them. Unfortunately, the game soon reveals that it either overestimates its own worth or is simply unfinished. The first chapter ends abruptly, even though the number of unused seeds and upgrades suggests it was meant to last much longer. Still, that barely matters, because in the second chapter you suddenly take control of an adult Rina. There’s no explanation of what happened in the meantime. You simply appear in the middle of a dark forest. All your previously collected seeds are gone, and you must gather a new type of seeds. Your childhood abilities are mostly useless; aside from the double jump, you can no longer swim, and both the glider and whirlwinds have disappeared. Even the stones have lost their purpose. The second chapter also marks the point where the lack of direction becomes frustrating. In the first chapter, talking to villagers provides some guidance because you’re told to find four tablets scattered across the map. But the second chapter is a complete mess. First, you must unlock a door by pressing a series of switches. After obtaining a massive key, you have to climb onto a rock to spawn a smaller key. If you don’t see where it falls, you’ll likely never find it again. Then, that small key must be brought to a large tree. None of these steps are explained, marked, or even hinted at, leaving you to wander aimlessly for hours as if searching for a needle in a haystack. Unsurprisingly, upgrades for you and your supposedly “helpful” dragon are rendered completely pointless. If you somehow manage to endure that frustration, you’ll reach the third stage, where you play as an even older Rina who regains her ability to glide. Seeds, however, are gone for good. Progress here resembles the first chapter: you explore the area, pet cats, and even ride a horse. This new setting is another village, but at least it’s daytime, unlike the second chapter’s endless night, and populated with people. There’s also a clear objective, which is to climb a mountain and awaken a giant. After that comes a brief flying sequence, followed by the final stage, where you control an elderly Rina walking slowly up a hill for about a minute. Then the game abruptly ends, rolling credits that last longer than the previous two stages combined. Overall, it’s a deeply disappointing experience that lasts about an hour but feels much longer due to the lack of objectives or meaningful direction. The game feels more like a demo. Its early moments are engaging, hinting at a beautiful and calm exploration game, but everything afterward seems hastily thrown together with no clear purpose. Core mechanics are abandoned or rendered useless, the story lacks coherence, collectibles are untrackable and easy to miss since you can’t revisit earlier stages, and optimization is bad. To make matters worse, the game is sold at a high price. What could have been a charming journey about growth and legends instead feels like an unfinished prototype lacking any real cohesion or purpose.

I love the look of the game. Everything is stylized and looks pretty, the sheep you just wanna hug them. The movement is fun from the start. I don't usually play games like this but this one but this one made me reconsider. Love it.

The gameplay and levels keep you hooked through the whole thing. movement is just so fun. and the careless flowy feeling of slowly finding new minigames and colletables while exploring the islands is just so spot on.

A very nice, relaxing and picturesque experience. You pet the cat, jump off of anything remotely elevated, find and play new minigames in a cozy and beautiful world and just chill. Byoutiful.

[h1]Experienced on the HP Reverb G2 using the Oasis Driver for Windows Mixed Reality[/h1] You can view my 3D in VR gameplay here (use your VR headset or 3D TV): https://youtu.be/Rt2yhtxkQZk Yes, you can play this IL2CPP Unity game in VR using the geo-11 3D mod that is completely free (search for it). The 3D mod converts the game into SBS 3D. Then you just need an app to view the 3D content in VR, such as the completely free Bigscreen VR. Game has a beautiful art-style that just looks magnificent in VR. I wish this game was natively VR. We don't even need VR motion controller support, just playing it with a gamepad is good enough with this eye candy. No issues with using my Xbox One controller. The only issue I noticed was that the game was not the best optimized Unity game. On my RTX 5090, I was getting variable frame rates from 144 fps to 72 fps (144 was the in-game locked setting). [b]3D in VR Rating 8/10. I didn't notice any issues, other than the game itself not being the best optimized Unity game.[/b] [quote]Please note: I received a free Steam key through the Steam Curator Connect program. If you enjoyed my review, please consider joining my Steam Curator group [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Oculus_WMR]Oculus Rift Reviews.[/url][/quote]

Very fun cute and enjoyable

Pet all of the cats ☑ Pet the dogs ☑ Pet the sheep?? ☑ 10/10

I started playing this game while it was still in Beta phase. I really cannot say enough good things about the game. The environment, the story, the characters, the music, it's all beautiful and spot on! I ended up backing the game immediately after my first few beta tests. I'm so proud of the entire team behind this game. UPDATE: I played the game start the finish after release and I am so incredibly impressed with how the game turned out. I had the amazing opportunity to be one of the beta testers for the game and even I got to experience the game in a whole new way. The game is very sweet, and the ending was such a bittersweet moment for me. The devs did an amazing job with this game, and impressed me so much. Amazing work everyone!

I just finished the game on my mom's non-gaming laptop. It froze once, but when I compared its specs to the minimum system requirements, I could only laugh. Still, I finished the game and it was beautiful, even on the lowest quality settings. I hope to see what it looks like on a proper gaming computer one day :)

Unexpectedly brilliant! The world it creates is really unique and atmospheric. Movement feels fluid and fun, making exploration a joy. The journal system is excellently implemented, adding depth to the storytelling and connecting me to the rich folklore of the Adriatic coast. Well worth the price.