The boss in the Wind Runners demo captures how I feel about the entire demo: sometimes a genre has its gameplay figured out, and it’s best to improve the wheel, but not try to reinvent it.
Wind Runners is a 2D action shoot ‘em up with bullet hell and roguelike elements. During the boss fight I mentioned, I’m struggling to manage locking on to specific parts to fire my missiles, and I’m struggling to find an opening when I can fire my main laser guns at it. The biggest problem Wind Runners has is that you can fly in any direction, which creates a slew of problems with flow that would be solved if it were a twin-stick shoot ‘em up, or limited to facing one direction, similarly to Defender.
While I’m flying and dodging enemy fire, I can’t shoot back at the boss because I can only shoot in the direction I’m facing. If the boss is below me, I must fly towards it to shoot it. That’s logical, and there’s nothing wrong with that conceptually, but the boss’s anti-air cannons are constantly targeting me, and the rain of fire is coming from multiple directions, which means I must change my direction in order to survive. That means I’m not shooting at the boss, which means I’m just flying around hoping for an opening.
Games like Metal Slug, Defender, Aegis Wings, and Ikaruga create the sense that you’re doing something to behemoth bullet sponges by allowing you to relentlessly attack them while they relentlessly attack you. You’re not afforded that excitement in Wind Runners. I wouldn’t consider it necessitating patience because there are no logical open windows to attack. You’re just searching—hoping—for an opening to unleash an attack.
The movement compounds problems. You have two special attacks that do significant damage, but you can only use them once you’ve recharged them by shooting things with your primary fire. This works fine during basic levels, but during a boss that’s tough to get any legitimate shots in, it’s annoying.
Maybe there are items you can choose that help make a fight like that easier, but chosen items in roguelikes typically enhance your ability to succeed; they’re not a prerequisite for success. I don’t mean acquiring enough enhancements to be even with the boss; I mean you need specific items for success.
These problems are present throughout the demo, so unless the flight issue is resolved, I don’t imagine this will be a fun game at release.