The Windzen Legend

Full Review: https://youtu.be/7qa6HkVZVQU TL;DW Definitely early days for this game, with only about an hour of content so far. The game 100% nails the feel of Mega Man Legends, giving us the MML 3 Capcom won't. Running, jumping, shooting, and exploration feel great and the price point is more than fair.

It's currently in a very, very, very early access state. Only the tutorial dugeon and a few floors of the main one to explore. But it 100% already nails the Mega Man Legends spirit and understands what made those games so fun to play. The characters are great of what they've shown off and it pretty neat exploring the city to see all the plans and ideas for future up dates. Already shows a lot of promise and is worth pitching in a few bucks to see where the project expands to.

For my early access review, this is pretty good of a start though there are still a lot of bumps on the surface. The performance is a little meh, I play on a decently beefy PC with decent specs (Victus 15) and it ran around 20-15 FPS on certain areas but that's on max graphics, a little odd but it might be more on either my PC or the engine limitations. The movement feels pretty decent, though jumps feel a little weird as you fall faster than you jump, and you briefly stop as you land. The L2/Hover mode is a little weird to use sometimes because of it's long startup but it's a trade-off as to not use it to cheese enemies. The artstyle is a little clashing on some fronts, the faces are 2D textures on pretty low poly models but the lighting makes everything look like dull plastic. I love the similarish direction this game is going such the likes of Megaman Legends, but I wish that it would be opted for cel shading. The style is weird but y'know what it has that charm that little games have nowadays as games polish themselves to a mirror sheen rather than feel like a true to art old niche indie title that you'll remember for the lovely jank. The voice work is STELLAR! Patricia's voice is so lovely along with Tamlyn the reporter. Auto-Bolt's sound mixing is a little off and is a little stiff on dialogue, but since this is just the early access, I hope it changes down the line Overall it's a decent little play but I am stoked for what the future may bring. This is my first taste of the Megaman Legends type gameplay that this brings so I hope it can be made really special. Though I can't ask for much as this is largely indie and I payed a hamburger's worth for this, but I'll recommend to try this out at least once and investing on this indie might fetch some great thinhs for the future!

The game is fun but very simple and small currently however given monthly updates worth the two dollars. The biggest highlight so far is dialog and movement, particularly the reporter and Jump after using boost shoes off a ledge to go across buildings, hoping the developers will add challenges related to said mechanic as I'd say it's a welcome addition to the format. one major request is letting the player reset to last entered door as I boosted into the void by one of the doors in the city and there was no kill plane from where I fell.

Windzen is one of those games where you can really feel the ambition behind it. It’s clearly still very early in development, and right now we’re almost peeking behind the curtain and seeing the barebones of what will hopefully become a much bigger experience. That makes it difficult to judge the game as a whole at this stage, but even in its current form, there’s something here that I really like. Most importantly, Windzen has charm. The world already has a lovely visual identity, and I really like the direction things are heading. The shops are a particularly nice touch - the action figure shop and music shop stood out to me - and I hope these eventually become little places packed with personality, characters and surprises. The humour is another big strength. I genuinely enjoyed the construction workers and the fourth-wall-breaking moments. Those little touches give the game personality, and I really hope you lean into that as development continues. It feels like Windzen could have a really distinctive sense of humour and identity of its own. The cutscenes are also fantastic. The news segment in particular was a highlight for me. It genuinely felt like watching a scene from a well-made anime, and it showed just how good the presentation could become when everything comes together. Really great work there. There are obviously quite a few things that still need work, but I think most of them are completely understandable for an Early Access build. Performance on Steam Deck is currently quite inconsistent, ranging roughly from 15–50 FPS, and the camera can occasionally clip through walls and reveal other areas of the map. Some of the UI could also be clearer - I couldn't figure out how much currency I had or where I was supposed to see it, and the NPC names and dialogue boxes are quite small and difficult to read. Movement generally feels good, but I found myself really wanting a dash, and occasionally a double jump. Getting around can feel a little slow, especially during that first journey from the airship to the city through the forest. I'd also consider looking at the landing animation. The heavy stomp looks cool, but having to go through that animation after every jump can make movement feel slightly less fluid than it otherwise could be. The city is an area where I think there is huge potential. At the moment, some areas feel a little repetitive in terms of colours, layouts, textures and assets, but I think this is exactly the sort of thing that can evolve beautifully as development continues. I'd love to see the town become a place where you constantly wonder what's around the next corner: little alleyways, unusual buildings, hidden rooms, NPCs tucked away in strange places, secret quests, hidden items and all sorts of weird little discoveries. I think giving the town more secrets and individuality could make exploration incredibly rewarding. NPCs are another area where I imagine things will develop considerably. I spoke to around ten NPCs around the City Hall plaza and noticed several of them had essentially the same dialogue about getting groceries. It definitely felt like placeholder content, which is perfectly understandable at this stage. Eventually, I'd love to see those NPCs develop their own personalities, stories and reasons for being there. The ruins/dungeon area is probably the place where I felt this most strongly. It's impressively large, but at the moment it's so sprawling that it can become quite easy to lose your sense of direction. More visual landmarks, varied environments, stronger level design and clearer objectives could really transform an area like this. Right now, I wasn't always sure what I was supposed to be doing or even what the area was ultimately trying to communicate. But honestly, I don't see these things as reasons to give up on the game. Quite the opposite. They feel like opportunities. There's already a foundation here that I think is worth building on. The world has a nice feel to it. The humour works. The presentation can be beautiful. There are hints of interesting characters and places everywhere. And there's a sense that the developers have a much bigger vision for Windzen than what we're currently seeing. That's why I wanted to leave this review. Right now, we're seeing the scaffolding. We're seeing the unfinished systems, placeholder dialogue, empty spaces and rough edges. And that's okay. That's what Early Access is for. Keep building. Because underneath those rough edges, I think there is the potential for something really special. If the world gets filled out with secrets, personality and memorable characters, if the movement becomes more fluid, if the environments become more varied and the technical side gets polished, I genuinely think Windzen could become a really, really great game with a unique charm of its own. I'm looking forward to seeing where you take it.

The game is still particularly early into early access, but what is here is promising! The game clearly wears it's Megaman Legends inspiration on it's sleeve, and the controls feel good!

It doesn't control well. It's poorly optimized. The level design is barren and confusing. The voice acting is all over the place. But boy that Trish! What a babe. This is a good game because she is in it and she is pretty.