Windbound

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 48 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 39 out of 48
  3. Negative: 1 out of 48
  1. Gaming Nexus
    Aug 28, 2020
    95
    Windbound is a delight. With a few UX issues and a bit of repetition holding it back from all-time-great status, this game is still a wonder to explore and discover. The sailing is fantastic, the island exploration is intriguing, and the sting of dying isn't so bad that it should scare away roguelike-haters. The world of Windbound is so well made that you may want to dip into it just to hang out for a while. Fun, exciting, and rewarding.
  2. DarkStation
    Aug 28, 2020
    90
    Overall, Windbound is a genuinely enjoyable experience. With its charming visuals, rewarding gameplay, and earnest game design, it has successfully sailed across the sea of mediocre single-player survival games and reached a new high.
  3. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Sep 18, 2020
    80
    Where the game really excels is in its beautiful, colourful graphics and the relaxing atmosphere they help to create. There is also a deep lore to discover as you travel across the archipelago, culminating in a seafaring experience that’s sure to make waves. [Issue#180, p.72]
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  5. PlayStation Country
    Aug 29, 2020
    80
    Windbound presents itself as a serene experience, full of gorgeous locales and charming visuals. Underneath this nomadic glamour, hides a core of rogue-like brutality and the ever-present threat of death, with an inevitable restart to the beginning coming to those who brazenly disregard the dangers. This difficulty will divide many, but with perseverance, the game turns into an experience worth taming, with rewarding exploration, fun seafaring gameplay and a constant sense of rewarding progression.
  6. IGN Italia
    Aug 28, 2020
    80
    Windbound is a pleasant and not too challenging survival game, ideal for those who love the sea and want to explore incredible natural landscapes.
  7. 4P.de
    Aug 31, 2020
    79
    An atmospheric adventure with some tense highlight, but unfortunately not reaching its full potential.
  8. 3DJuegos
    Sep 19, 2020
    75
    Windbound is pretty much a breath of fresh air for the sandbox-survival-crafting scenario where the sense of exploration is the real protagonist. It’s easy to pick up and easy to play, but one would wish the enemy AI was smarter and technical side as a whole, less buggy.
  9. The Games Machine
    Sep 2, 2020
    75
    Windbound has several interesting ideas and is very nice to look at and listen to, but unfortunately the experience suffers from some flaws – for example, the procedural generation doesn’t make for particularly interesting level design. But above everything else, it lacks rhythm.

User Reviews

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User Score
5.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 19
  3. Negative: 8 out of 19
  1. Penwooh
    Aug 29, 2020
    8
    I’m a couple of hours into Windbound and so far it’s really enjoyable. I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece, nor a top tier game, but it has anI’m a couple of hours into Windbound and so far it’s really enjoyable. I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece, nor a top tier game, but it has an intriguing story, nice soundtrack and rewarding gameplay. I’ve heard it can get repetitive but so far I don’t mind that because of the new crafting recipes I unlock fairly often. I recommend that you give it a try, perhaps when it is on sale for a slightly lower price.… Full Review »
  2. Redlightsaber13
    Aug 29, 2020
    4
    Windbound is a rogue like, third person survival game where your character, Kara starts of stranded on a small island. The story begins hereWindbound is a rogue like, third person survival game where your character, Kara starts of stranded on a small island. The story begins here as you progress from island to island (all procedurally generates) activating beacons before ultimately heading to your next set of islands.

    The story is okay and spans five chapters but failed to keep me interested past the second chapter.
    The rogue like mechanics in the game conflict with the open areas that kind of deter you from setting out on your crafted boa and exploring what the seas have to offer. Whilst this is generally the norm for rogue likes, I found myself feeling like it didn’t fit the style of the game. Whilst there is an easier difficulty the only real difference is either restarting from chapter one, or restarting from the chapter you’re currently on. You also keep all your items on the easier difficulty, compared to only keeping what is held on your person on the survivalist difficulty.

    The game looks pretty, clearly drawing inspiration from Breathe of the Wild, this translates to combat aswell, however it never felt as clean and smooth as you would expect.

    Sailing is disappointing until the later parts of the game once your boat has been upgraded and your used to the way you should be sailing, however it never felt rewarding enough.

    There are slight performance issues and occasional frame rate dips at time but that doesn’t takeaway from the experience too much.

    The only major bug I encountered was playing on story difficulty, for my second play through, but the game not registering that I was on story difficulty, therefore resetting all my progress upon death.

    Overall my experience with Windbound was not as great as I had hoped for this game.
    The repetitive nature combined with the rogue like elements don’t make exploring outside of the story path worth the risk.
    The combat isn’t as intuitive as it could of been and the game is definitely lacking polish.    … Full Review »
  3. Antibomb
    Sep 1, 2020
    2
    There are some things that this game does right, like the feeling of heading out on uncharted waters. But when everything around those fewThere are some things that this game does right, like the feeling of heading out on uncharted waters. But when everything around those few good moments is full of clunky movement, bad design choices and bugs, then it's really hard to forgive this game.

    The worst design choice is the difficulty setting this game wants to be played on. Having potentially hours of progress erased everytime you die is a really stupid decision in a game where there is so much trial and error. Also, when the overall gameplay is both tedious and unintuitive you get bored really fast if forced to repeat everything over and over again because of something stupid the game did.    … Full Review »
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