Windblown, the new co-op hack-and-slasher from Dead Cells’ developers, is out in Early Access now

Windblown looks rad. It’s an action-roguelite for 1-3 players in which you dash-and-slash in rapid combat on floating islands, and I am extremely interested in feeling its game-feel for myself. Good news! I can get my game-feelers on it now because it’s out in Early Access today.

If you watch its launch trailer below out of context however, you might be fooled into thinking it’s actually the emo second half of an Isekai anime series.

I like it.

My interest in Windblown is partly driven by its trailers, but also by Motion Twin’s previous game, Dead Cells, which was also an action roguelite that nailed game-feel from the off and was fun to follow through its Early Access journey.

The dash impressed Edwin when he saw Windblown earlier this year, although he worried it was so powerful and quick it rendered the experience disposable:

Windblown’s dash seems expressive, at times, of deep impatience towards the rest of the game, which sounds perverse on the surface, but makes sense when you consider the roguelike’s intrinsic element of repetition. It’s a dash dedicated to the experienced player’s desire to immediately return to the biome where they last popped their clogs. There are some familiar elements that slow you down, however: boss enemies that must be fought to progress the story, and the basic pressure to defeat foes and gather new equipment, or else get your arse handed to you by an unskippable threat in the next biome along.

Motion Twin reckon Windblown will remain in Early Access for at least a year, but it’s already launched in a substantive state with 5 biomes and 12 main weapons. You can grab it from Steam with a 20% launch discount for £17.59/$20/€20.