This review is hard to take into consideration without any context, so have a go at the games synopsis;
“A quiet game of life and loss. One by one, everyone left the village for the city. Everyone, except Talma. Approaching her final years, she maintains a simple way of life tending to her homestead, surviving, subsisting, whilst increasingly disturbing letters arrive from her family in the city. “
Never have I read a more accurate summary of a video game in my life. So many titles try desperately to talk up what they’re about and the type of intense experience you’ll undergo… but not this game! The Stillness Of The Wind comes exactly as advertised – and it may be one of the best games I’ve ever played.
I don’t mean that in the sense that I could sit down, a depraved addicted geek and binge The Stillness Of The Wind for days on end, but in the way that I’m sure I’ll never forget this game. All things considered the game only lasts about 3 hours, it’s more akin to a long interactive movie or an extended art work than a video game.
For the gamers among us if you’ve ever got your hands on The Stanley Parable, this game will be familiar in how it forces you to consider your life retrospectively and in comparison to that of the games protagonist. The Stillness Of The Wind is an emotional ride and one that forces you to face a few philosophical concepts head-on in such a short span of time.
Don’t let me sit here and tell you what to do, but if you’re prone to sporadic mental episodes, steer clear of this game. It’s the type of title to trigger a midlife crisis.
Or it could just go over your head. In order to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, I hunted down some community feedback – half of which were players that were as depressed and lost as I was, the other half bored with the pace of the game and/or not interested in the philosophical aspects.
But that’s just the thing about art, it’s open to interpretation. As far as criticism is concerned, The Stillness Of The Wind is exclusive to PC and retails for $18.50 AUD, which I believe to be a bit steep.
It’s very comparable to a movie in both price and length, but I believe it would be much better suited to the $8-10 price range. You’ll find the game on Steam and will be sure to undergo a flood of emotion throughout the experience.
