The Wind and the Wisp

[b]PROS:[/b] + fantastic music + FREE [b]CONS:[/b] - shallow gameplay & story - some glitches & bugs - very short - unskippable cutscenes and credits [b]Comment:[/b] It is not common for me to NOT recommend a free game. The idea is that the price of admission is purely your time. So potentially, it should be worth a try at least. But... this game did nothing for me, except for the soundtrack, so please let me explain why. The art style is OK although the screenshots look much better than the animation itself. And for something with visuals this simple (which is not a bad thing!) it seems weirdly optimized. The whole game ran well except the cloud parts where it would stutter hard. Gameplay is super basic, mostly just moving around, sometimes hitting the 'blow' button or blowing in the microphone. And actually, the only unique gimmick is the blowing into microphone. Which honestly felt much better to just press a button instead. While fun at first you get over the microphone but rather quick. Playable on Steam Deck but I, for some reason, had to do some rebind of the controller settings. I was stuck in menu until I selected Gamepad with Mouse Trackpad. Also the cloud particles stutter mentioned before is even worse here. I did have technical difficulties. Glitched out of bounds several times. Also had a black screen on game exit / menu entry. For that I had to force close the game. But do not expect any updates anytime soon. The game is another USC college project with a ton of people in credits. So it is unclear if Lil Buddy Productions continue beyond this release. The story SEEMS like something thought out, but is never truly explored. The game finishes quickly and I actually got some lore from the store page instead. The character is cute but there is no underlining tone or urgency. No hint as to why (or what exactly) are we helping with. The only emotion conveyed here is the music. Maybe it needed more fleshing out (not meaning explaining), a more focused or longer gameplay loop. So in the end, it is up to you. I guess it is fine to try, because free game. Was this paid, I would not spend money on it. And in retrospect neither my time. Which sucks because there is a great idea behind it and a special dedication at the end which is super sweet (and sad). But it is more of an interactive project than anything else... ------------------------------------------------------------------ [b]If you liked this review you can find more on the [/b][url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/28638055-Subjective-Reviews-Corner/][u]Curator page[/u][/url][b] or in my [/b][url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/srcorner][u]Review Corner[/u][/url][b].[/b]