At first glance, the title may sound like some sword looted from monsters. Au contraire, Windslayer is the latest MMO offering of Outspark. This game is a 2D sidescrolling MMORPG partly orienting itself on PvP gameplay. Yes, you read it right, another 2D sidescroller for us to revel at. Windslayer is everything you expect from a 2D sidescrolling game… and that’s it. Were you waiting for something else?

Random Slaying

If you’re looking for a story, Windslayer has none. Outspark’s Windslayer site says nothing but “embark on a hero’s journey,” which is merely defined as “no story here. You’re on your own.” Thus, Windslayer is one of those games that instantly drops you in the world with a very short welcome and into the heart of monster slaying. The game starts you off as a novice, with the option of changing into six different classes upon reaching level 10, and the opportunity to advance further in two more specializations each class.

After creating your character and entering the world, the only tutorial you’ll get is a virtual signboard showing the basic movement and attack controls. An NPC will also be present before you, giving your very first quest with the double jump reward. After completing the pair of quests from this NPC, you are abruptly sent off into the world with little indication of your next task.  
 

Gone with the Wind

Like I said, there’s nothing to expect from Windslayer except your typical 2D sidescrolling MMO experience. Movement was operated fully by the arrow keys. Navigating your character was thankfully smooth, save for the dash having some slight response trouble when used successively. Attacking is done through keyboard strokes as well. Unfortunately, combat feels sluggish and unresponsive, making it quite a chore to maintain combos. Adding insult to this is the target’s brief “invincibility” state after one attack, restricting any further damage until the effect wears off. You end up poking and prodding the monster repeatedly instead.

Character build up is fairly manageable and predictable. You are given a number of points per level to distribute to four major stats. The 6 initial classes have recommended stats to focus on, thus building your character requires planning at the start of novicedom. To further strengthen your character, the game also offers a very common enchantment and upgrading system for your equipment. Weapons and armors can be upgraded or “refined” to certain level and slotted with enchanted stones to obtain numerous stat modifiers.

The other feature to note is a harvesting system complementing the alchemy and forging system. Each town has a mining field and herbal farm to gather ores and herbs. The player is required to buy a shovel from the NPC to enable harvesting. It was rather annoying to learn that the shovel was actually consumed after one or two harvesting attempts. The chore of continually purchasing shovels is annoying if you’re focused on making money in the farms. At the same time, money is hard to come by during your first stages.
 

Unsettling Wind

Perhaps the feature Windslayer is most proud of would be the PvP system. Players level 5 onwards can easily enter the arena and join in or create team and individual deathmatches. PvP battles are similar to your typical grind. Struck opponents have the very brief invincibility state as well, making battles more of a hit and run romp. Sadly, you will most likely experience severe lag in the arenas, in the form of movement delays or considerable freezes.

If you’re not a fan of PvP, be prepared to grind your Windslayer life away. Quests come at a bare minimum as you advance your levels. Moreover, the quests and its interface don’t prove to be friendly. Absence of map markers to indicate NPC quest givers, lack of quest trackers to keep open, and the stingy quest rewards all make questing a distasteful option to take.

Blown Away

We can all cling to the hopes of adding more quests, eliminating the PvP lags, fixing the sluggish movement and livening up the combat. Besides, Windslayer is still in its open beta stages. Although, this isn’t an excuse to say how disappointing Windslayer turned out to be, starting with the laughably basic sprites and less than intuitive gameplay … Need I list them all? Rather, you'd best spend your time searching for another game elsewhere.  
 

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