An exciting action-adventure with fun combat and classic puzzle-filled dungeons, though it lacks an early-access label or a better title, as it’s incomplete, with only one chapter, and not a full game.
Like so many times before, the game takes place in a world that was once peaceful, until the appearance of an evil dragon that threatens everything. People were strong back then, and with the help of monks they were able to contain the dragon, but only for one thousand years. The second time, the dragon was destroyed using a weapon forged from its former prison.
Legend says that the weapon’s shards were scattered all over the world, which excites two young ninja novices to explore a nearby cave. Inside, they find something unusual and hear a strange noise. Not paying much attention to it, they leave the cave and are shocked to discover that everyone else has been turned into a ghost.
You get to choose which of the two ninjas you want to play as, but the difference is limited to name and gender, as both play exactly the same. The controls include basic movement, attacking, and a dash. The dash is not only used to escape enemies, but also to cross chasms and avoid ground hazards. There is also a slow motion effect when you dash at the right moment against an enemy attack, but it feels random and I never fully understood how to trigger it reliably.
Dashing consumes ki, which slowly regenerates over time, or more quickly if you use meditation. Meditation leaves you vulnerable, so it is best used when you are far from danger, but it activates quickly enough that you can still recover some ki in risky situations. More importantly, ki is also used to heal yourself using a bottle with unlimited uses. While the heal has a long cooldown, you can dodge enemies and wait until it becomes available again. This makes battles longer, but at least it keeps you alive.
After receiving your mission from your sensei, you head out into a linear world. The ninja you did not choose stays at home, and you can switch between the two at any time by talking to them. As is common in action adventure games, your first enemies are bushes and pots, which can also be picked up and thrown. They often contain coins or quick healing items, though coins can be completely ignored for reason explained at the end.
The voxel graphics make the world colorful and visually appealing, but they come with a small drawback. Points of interest are not marked in any way. You will not know that something can be examined or used until you get very close and a button prompt appears. Even then, interaction can be frustrating, because if you are not standing in exactly the right spot and facing the object directly, your character will shake their head even though the prompt is visible.
While the outdoor areas mainly consist of paths connecting different locations, the main highlights are the dungeons. Fans of the genre will know what to expect. These are mostly linear stages filled with puzzles involving blocks, levers, platforms, and abilities you learn along the way. These include skills like creating a shadow clone to place on pressure switches, or throwing a shuriken to activate distant mechanisms. Naturally, there are also enemies to defeat and chests to open.
Chests act as the game’s main collectibles. You can see how many chests are in each dungeon, and the world map lets you quickly check which dungeons still contain undiscovered ones. Aside from this, the map is not very useful, as it only shows general areas and not detailed layout.
Some dungeons display a recommended level, since you may encounter areas that are too difficult when first discovered. Even if you enter one too early and die, you can continue from the last room fully healed and without losing any progress. However, to properly save the game, you must visit shrines.
Unfortunately, chests are also scattered throughout the overworld, but the map does not show how many there are. Finding them requires careful observation of the environment, such as noticing suspicious chasms, stones in the water, or patches of ground that hint at placing a crate. These chests mostly contain outfits and hats, which are purely cosmetic and not essential, but this is still disappointing for completionists.
Enemies can be dangerous, especially when facing several at once, as your health drops quickly. Some rush toward you, while others attack from a distance with projectiles that can be knocked away. When defeated, enemies may drop coins or food for quick healing, and they always drop experience orbs. Collect enough orbs and you will level up, increasing your stats. Experience is never lost because the orbs automatically fly toward you, but items do not behave the same way. If an enemy is knocked into a pit, water, or a wall, any item drops will be lost.
Enemies respawn when you change locations, but grinding is neither required nor encouraged. The number of orbs needed to level up increases significantly each time, and low-level enemies give very little experience. It is more efficient to fight enemies closer to your own level.
Enemy variety is poor. There are only ten enemy types, which scale in level and sometimes size to indicate elite versions. Most can be defeated through simple button mashing, except for flying enemies. These are particularly annoying because you cannot hit them until they move closer, while they can attack you freely from a distance.
Since there is no skill tree, customization comes from gems and seals. Gems have a chance to drop from defeated enemies and can appear in different qualities, with higher quality gems providing stronger bonuses. You can equip up to three gems in your weapon, each boosting one of the four core stats: health, ki, attack, or defense. Seals work in a similar way and are also equipped in three slots, but they provide more specialized bonuses such as health regeneration, along with a negative effect.
However, after spending around two to three hours in the game, you may notice that no additional seals drop beyond the one you receive at the start. An entire menu dedicated to seals remains empty. Combined with the fact that coins have no real use, it starts to feel like something is missing. This suspicion is confirmed once you complete the first major dungeon and defeat its boss.
At that point, the game simply ends, and the credits reveal that this is only the first chapter. Because there is no chapter one label and no early access warning, it is easy to assume you are buying a complete game. The experience itself is excellent, and since the main wind dungeon takes a long time to finish, the full game could end up being several times longer, but the game needs a clear tag to indicate this.
