Star of Windfall is a bullet hell roguelike shooter that principally went beneath the radar when it got here to Steam again in 2017. However since then, it’s received over a faithful fan following, together with the YouTuber videogamedunkey, who favored it a lot he determined to assist republish it eight years later beneath the Bigmode label. It now has a Swap port and an enormous new replace that can hopefully get it the re-assessment it deserves.
When you’ve by no means heard of Star of Windfall earlier than, that could possibly be as a result of it wasn’t referred to as that again when it launched. Staff D-13’s top-down sci-fi shoot ‘em up initially debuted on Steam as “Monolith.” The re-branding appears to be partly about giving the indie gem a catchier title, and likewise partly about avoiding potential authorized bother with Warner Bros. Video games, who has the unique title trademarked for its studio of the identical title.
However for a lot of, Star of Windfall will primarily be their first introduction to the roguelike’s putting retro artwork type and huge array of enemies, weapons, and secrets and techniques. The boss fights are particularly cool-looking and the chiptune-esque soundtrack kicks ass.
The Swap launch marks a type of 1.5 launch for the sport, with Into Oblivion being its greatest content material replace in 5 years, following 2020’s Relics of the Previous. Right here’s all the brand new content material the sport received this week:
2 new upgrades.1 new playable character.5 new regular enemies.Extra new bosses than enemies for some motive.13 new distinctive weapons.20 new cartridges.43 new key phrases (together with these unique to Skully and Distinctive weapons).A virtually full rework of the loop mechanic, together with capping it to a most loop of 13.A virtually full rework of the Skully playable “ship”.Face the Gauntlet, a brand new sub-branch which seems on late-game flooring and presents invaluable rewards in trade for defeating esoteric challenges.“Boss” “Rushes”.A whole lot of recent room layouts, that includes a wide range of new hazards and gimmicks.Huge steadiness adjustments, visible enhancements, and efficiency optimizations throughout the entire sport.The unknown diminishes, ever so barely.
Video games hardly ever get second possibilities, particularly beloved small indie releases that received misplaced within the shuffle, so it’s neat to see Star of Windfall getting one other shot on the limelight. Whereas many ignored it again in 2017, it did find yourself making videogamedunkey’s greatest video games of 2018 record at quantity 14.
He praised its deceptively easy design, and willingness to throw gamers into the deep finish of the house horror pond and allow them to determine it out by hours of dying and restarting. As soon as mastered, nonetheless, the sport may be completed in as little as 35 minutes. Excellent for Swap.
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