On The Wind's Breath

First of all, a disclaimer: I am a friend of the developer. I'll try to be objective, but still keep that in mind. On The Wind's Breath is a relatively short game - it took me just under two hours to complete. The controls are fun and easy to pick up, but any mechanics not introduced in the tutorial seemingly go unexplained. Some are self-explanatory, like wind currents, sandstorms, and particle clouds that refill your breath meter. Some, though, are completely unexplained, like purple particle clouds (right click for burst of wind - figured that out on accident). The level design feels well thought out, with a huge variety of obstacles. It feels like the developer really considered all of the different ways her mechanics and locations could be used in interesting ways. Sometimes it can feel a bit difficult to know where to go though, especially when the kill barriers are invisible. The music is nice as well. The story is told entirely through the narrator, and without spoiling too much, it's a nice story about finding hope and meaning in cycles of despair (which the background art complements perfectly), even if I think the climax is too early and quickly-resolved. Speaking of the narrator, if you die repeatedly they'll comment on your deaths, some of which can feel pretty discouraging if you're having difficulty with certain sections. Just feels out of place in an otherwise chill game. I thought this was a bad idea years ago during development, and I still do now. Overall, it's not perfect, but I enjoyed it the whole way through, and hopefully this sign of even better things to come in the future!

this game was a game i didnt know i needed. its a chill 2d platformer, where you use the wind to guide a lil dandelion seed to fertile soil. i normally am not the kind of person to play platformers, but the narration just captured my attention. its a short journey on self reflection, or it made me reflect anyways. this game made me cry, not many games do that. i almost beat the game, i def plan on 100%ing the game :3 "I think I'm starting to understand. Not everything has to be fixed. Some things just need to be felt"

good game

Very unique experience. If you like relaxing games, would definitely recommend

Ich bin immer zu haben für frische Spielideen und auch für künstlerische Spiele, wenn sie Spass machen. Entsprechend ist On the Wind's Breath auf den ersten Blick sehr interessant, weil es genau das bietet. Das Spiel ist aber leider auch ein gutes Beispiel dafür, dass eine gute Ausgangslage nichts nützt, wenn sie mangelhaft umgesetzt wird. Das Spielprinzip sieht wie folgt aus: Du bist ist ein Löwenzahnsame. Du weisst schon, eine dieser Pusteblumensamen, die im Wind davonfliegen. Und genau das macht man hier. Man versucht mit Windstössen und Windblasen den Samen durch den Level zu manövrieren und ans Ziel zu bringen, wo eine Blume aufblüht und den dunklen Level in Licht taucht. Dafür braucht es einiges an Geschicklichkeit, zumal die Windenergie nur beschränkt zur Verfügung steht. Grafisch ist das Spiel auf den ersten Blick sehr bieder, mit rudimentärer Pixelgrafik. Und ja, das finde ich nach wie vor unnötig hässlich. Aber innerhalb dieser Hässlichkeit gelingt dem Spiel trotzdem eine gute visuelle Präsentation. Besonders der Wechsel vom dunklen Level zur aufgeblühten Blume, die alles in eine schöne Landschaft verwandelt, ist sehr stimmungsvoll. Dazu kommt ein passender, ruhiger Soundtrack, der das Ganze gut untermalt. Offensichtlich will das Spiel auch eine tiefere Botschaft von Hoffnung vermitteln. Und ich hätte diese gerne in Gänze mitbekommen und das Spiel durchgespielt. Nur leider habe ich das nicht hinbekommen. Denn On the Wind's Breath hat eigentlich alles, um trotz Grafik als interessantes Indieprojekt durchzugehen. Aber es scheitert leider am Schwierigkeitsgrad. Die ersten Levels sind noch ganz gefällig, problemlos und machen durchaus Laune. Dann wird es kniffliger. Und dann wird es richtig bockschwer. Und das macht irgendwann keinen Spass mehr. Die Steuerung ist wirklich ziemlich mühsam. Das ist durchaus gewollt, und ja, das darf auch herausfordernd sein. Aber irgendwo in der Mitte fällt das Spiel dann ins nervig Schwierige. Das hat mehrere Gründe: Zum einen braucht es plötzlich eine Präzision, die enorm schwierig ist. Denn jedes Mal, wenn der Same den Boden berührt, ist er sofort tot und man muss beim letzten Checkpoint wieder starten. Und wenn man sich dann durch enge Höhlen manövrieren muss, ohne klare Hinweise, wo man überhaupt durchmuss, dann macht es einfach keinen Spass mehr. Zumal dann auch noch ein Bug zu nerven beginnt: Das Spiel lagt. Ja, trotz der absoluten Minimalgrafik stockt es immer wieder und das meist ausgerechnet im dümmsten Moment. Dann prallt man an die Wand, stirbt, und darf wieder von vorne beginnen. Und ja, das macht dann einfach keinen Spass mehr. Fazit: Ein interessantes Spielkonzept, das leider durch buggiges und übermässig kniffliges Gameplay völlig zunichte gemacht wird. Keine Empfehlung.

Jedna z tych precyzyjnych platformówek w które warto zagrać. Opanowanie siły i kierunku wiatru naszego nasionka dmuchawca sprawia trochę trudności, ale moim zdaniem jest sprawiedliwe. Jeszcze jej nie skończyłem, ale jestem bardzo zadowolony. Polecam!

This game is pretty addictive ngl. Overall a pretty good game! It has some issues or things that could be better but they don't make the game unplayable. Personally I'd say the biggest thing to work on is optimisation. Loading into a level usually takes like half a minute or so because it gets stuck on 90% for a little bit, and sometimes there's just tiny moments that the game freezes. If you like games like Celeste I highly recommend you give this game a try as I think they are very similar. This game has a great story and some really good and nice music, some of those texts really hit hard to me. The game is a perfect difficulty for me where I still have to try my best but I don't die over and over again and it's so satisfying when you just fly through a level. I finished the game on mouse but also played a bit on controller and in my opinion the game plays so incredibly nice on controller, there's nothing wrong with playing with mouse but the controller just plays smoother and gives me more control in my opinion. Very well done from the dev and I'm pretty sure it's their first game and I have high hopes for them in the future.

Creator is one of the most deterministic people I know, and one of my personal best friends. I was there when the idea was made and I was present for most of the early-mid development by their side. They've spent a hell of a lot of time on this as their personal pet project and never gave up. The fruition of their labor being this well ironed-out from beginning to end and atmospheric in every scene, while some areas do need some work such as the loading screen; I can deeply concur the labor of love poured into this work. This being their first game brings very high hopes to the futures they will create upon other's imaginations, and I think that's pretty cool.

A soothing, yet challenging platformer - though much easier to beat now that the easy mode has been released. The controls are simple: blow some wind or dash, that's it - but the level design constantly keeps you engaged and forces you to carefully plan your approaches. Precision and confidence are crucial here, and mastering the art of floating on the wind while carefully managing the "stamina" (amount of wind left until you are at the mercy of gravity) is as challenging as it is satisfying. Once you learn it, you'll gracefully float into every passage. Well, at least until a desert storm teaches you a lesson in humility. :) Something to relax after a long day. The ending is certainly worth playing through!

Overall it’s a very enjoyable short game. The gameplay is rewarding and even though it may seem simple, there are added challenges throughout the games that keep things interesting. The story of healing is a delightful part of the game, that’s really nicely woven into the gameplay. Also i really enjoyed the music it really fitted the vibe and together with art and story it created a nice atmosphere. Now about the art, it is simple but i think it works well and looks good especially the background art. Now about the cons, I didn't mind that the narrator sometimes said sarcastic remarks about our death(it gave her a bit of extra character) but I gotta say a few times I thought it kind of fought with the narrative in a way that felt jarring? The narrator would go from ,"Wow, you helped me so much!” to ,,L you died” really quickly. And I thought there could be slightly more checkpoints at the last part of the game. But besides that i think it’s a nice mostly chill fun game.