Review: Wings of Endless

Developer: Isoca Games

Publisher: JanduSoft

Format: Nintendo Switch/PlayStation (£10) 

Players: 1

The delight of feeling the rush of fresh air under the Wings of Endless as I start another joyous pixel-Metroidvania title! A solo project out of Uruguay from Isoca Games, Wings of Endless looks bright and cheery with early mushrooms and bugs among the most gorgeous and innocent things yet splatted in gaming history. 

Then again, it starts in a dungeon with some rats, not even an interesting or exciting rats. Come on devs, £10 to the first one to give a rat a decent backstory. 

But we're on a mission here, with rogue bounty hunter turned postie, Hariku the first character who sets out all innocent but soon finds himself in a deep and murky plot. He and his whippy-ice cream hair starts off a bit wimpy but with the help of a friendly owl, can wang his hammer around, with dash and roll moves to access distant areas. 

Even then, there are plenty of secrets and tempting platforms not quite within reach that we'll be coming back to in true Metroid style. First off stock up on potions and cures as the animals get nastier pretty quickly. Then use your few skills points wisely across health, attach, defence, recovery and dominance. 

Set Adrift on Wings of Endless

Soon enough Hariku meets a balloon crew, offering transport to new areas, but - as ever - he'll need some items to make the trip, sending him scurrying around the to find new bits of the first level, following the helpful arrows on the map screen. 

Across the roughly 12 hour game time, Hariku will find and team up with some buddies , like the speedy Diana, with specific skills that can help in certain situations. Each village has a message boards with side quests, and plenty of secrets to uncover. 

Over the rest of the game, through icy realms and more twisted dungeons with sets of tricky puzzles and more traps and secrets, Hariku finds villages and towns, where plenty of quests lurk, and new buddies with their own skills that come in handy along the way.

Wings of Endless isn't perfect, for some reason I hate going in the water, it just winds me up and is easy to get trapped in. And there are some items or people that are easy to miss, leading to a fair bit of unnecessary back tracking, in a game with lots of it by design. 

Yet, Wings of Endless is so charming, fun, tough to feel like a master of, but once you get there, its an exciting and fun romp. 

Score 4/5

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