I really wanted to like this game fully. Really, I wanted to.
The happy dysfunctional bunch!
I know it's a bit weird reviewing a game that the English patch came out eons ago. Well I'm actually clearing up some space in my hard drive and I realised that I never got around to writing the review that I wanted to upon completing this game. I've always felt bad deleting games that I didn't do a proper review so here's a send off of sorts.
"I heard some boring maid in another
H-game got really popular after doing this with the main hero."Wind starts off simple enough: a pair of siblings, Makoto and Hinata Okano, return to the town where they used to grow up, a year after their mother mysteriously disappeared. Makoto not only meets up with his old childhood friend Minamo, but also makes friends with several girls in his school.
The twist to the plot is that the town that they all live in is special, as most of the people born there apparently have some sort of power. Makoto's sister, Hinata, can jump really high. Minamo can create some wind. Wakaba has the power of healing while her sister Nozomi apparently can create some sort of shockwave on the ground. The last girl you can date, Hikari, isn't available until all the other 4 girls' endings are completed. I won't spoil it for you what her role is, but like all 'secret' or 'final girl' characters, her background is the main glue that holds all the girls' stories together.
Unfortunately, Kasumi your classmate doesn't have a route. Too bad, 'cause she has a pretty cool personality
Wind has a lot of enjoyable things going for it - a fantasy, supernatural story that's fairly original and unique; great production values in the art, graphics, voices acting, and scenarios; listenable background tunes. The character designs weren't too bad either, and Hinata was probably one of my favorite characters with her little utterances going 'Unya!' everytime she was shocked or surprised.
DELICIOUS CAKE YOU MUST EAT IT
That said, Wind has a problem with flow and knowing when to keep things short. Around a few hours later into the game, it starts to feel really draggy as you go to study sessions with the girls, sell stuff at a flea market, talk about how TV dramas lately are so pointless, and so on. It doesn't help that your male best friend Tsutomu just loves to go on and on about his stupid misadventures in an irritating fake Kansai accent. I swear every time his part came on, I wanted to crush his glasses and stab the annoying dumb fuck with a butter knife.
Emo characters always made H-games more interesting.
It's only after a good 5-6 hours that the story starts to pick up - The mystery behind the disappearance of the Okanos' mother is investigated and the various plot points hinted throughout the game is finally explained. It's really too bad that they take a long time to get to this part because they definitely could have removed a lot of unnecessary fluff to keep the reader's interest going. I would even sometimes nod off to sleep due to the really draggy filler scenarios.
It's okay Hinata. Flatness has its own virtue.
Another problem that Wind suffers from is that it relies too much on the same character roles and cliche setups that you've seen so many countless times in other H-games. Childhood friend? Check. Sickly little younger sister? Check. Sisters who will quarrel with each other when you date either one? Check. Strange little girl who holds the key to all of the mysteries in town? Check. I could even see some scenarios setups coming a mile away. Wind isn't very heavy on originality for its character archetypes and scenarios.
Your little sister is terribly ill with an unknown sickness. Do you
( ) Caress and hug tenderly
( ) Stick it in
(X) GENUFLECT
That's too bad really, because Wind would have been a pretty decent H-game with high production values if they had just trimmed down the story and pointless scenarios designed to pad the game's play time. There's quite a number of plot twists and shocking revelations near the end which makes you think twice about the relationships between the girls.
Killer lolis should be a new kind of moe
Overall, Wind ~ a breath of heart ~ would have been a pretty solid H-game with its good story and fantastic production values if not for the extremely slow buildup. The characters design, while attractive, are too derivative of other character roles seen in other H-games. However if you're willing to stick with it through the end, the good game endings and satisfying plot resolution should be enough to make you forget the boredom you endured during the first half of the game.
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 7/10
Plot: 8/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10
7/10