When Kara reaches the top of the location, her necklace absorbs the energy. The main goal of the game, other than simply surviving and exploring, is to find three towers with orbs on them. Because many of the stronger weapons need to be crafted with items that the stronger monsters drop, the game becomes a cycle of barely surviving just to get craft a new weapon that may make the next fight easier. It can be a bit scary to fight most creatures in the game, however, as dying is the worst-case scenario. Crafted weapons will break after extended use, but there are ways to access weapons that never fall apart, which is helpful. Kara can strafe, dodge, and roll around incoming attacks, and she can fight the enemy with a knife, spear, and even bow and arrow. The fighting in the game is rather simplistic, but it gets the job done. The sailing mechanics are rather realistic, in how the boat is affected by the wind, but it's not exactly enjoyable to take 10 minutes to move from one island to another when it feels so close. However, it feels like the wind is always headed in the wrong direction. When the wind is at the back of Kara, Windbound is fun. Because of how unpredictable the wind is, it can be frustrating to move from one island to another. Speaking of sailing, the mechanics are both solid and annoying. There are different types of islands to explore, and as Kara cannot swim long distances, she needs a boat to discover what the world has to offer. Through crafting, the player can slowly build up their boat to better serve that exploration. It feels rewarding to start out with a slow and wobbly creation, but eventually build up a reinforced wooden boat that can cook food, hold more bags for item management, and even hoist a beautiful sail to roam throughout the ocean. Eventually, players can craft bags of different sizes but even those can fill up rather quickly. Early on Kara can only hold a very limited amount of items, which makes it frustrating to need to drop items with regularity because other items need to be held for crafting purposes. The game can take around 30 hours to beat, and halfway through the game the inventory system still doesn't feel natural. The menu screen - navigating through the material and crafting items - does not feel intuitive at all. Discovering new items is a part of the enjoyment in the game, but early on it feels like a chore thanks to the inventory system. That same boar could have instead produced bones for creating other items, or meat to be eaten for survival. The wild boar can be killed for its skin, which can be turned into the leather that can be used to make more items. For example, a stick can be found and then used to create a spear, which becomes a helpful weapon to take down animals like a wild boar. The collecting of resources and discovery of new crafting recipes has a domino-like effect in Windbound. What players find throughout the island world is a part of the fun, but it also can be frustrating. Each death simply resets the progress of the current chapter, and resources and crafted items remain with the player. Survivalist mode is very difficult, with permadeath features built-in, while the Storyteller setting is a bit easier and safer. Players can choose to play the game on two different difficulty settings, one of which will soften the blow of dying in-game. The gameplay is a natural part of the story in that Kara washes on the shores of a desert island and is tasked with using the resources around her to survive.
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