Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship

My spreadsheet instincts kept telling me to look for a deeper progression system, and to be fair, Windstorm does have one on paper: as you complete quests and riding challenges on the Kaltenbach estate, you earn XP that converts into attribute points spread across Windstorm's Speed, Stamina, Agility, and Resilience. Resetting those points is allowed, so you can experiment with a stamina-heavy build for long trail exploration versus a speed-focused one for the racing events. That is basically the ceiling of strategic depth here, and anyone expecting more is going to bounce off this fast. The core loop is open-world riding across a reasonably sized Alpine map, broken up by errand-style missions - retrieve some lost livestock, find hidden collectibles, compete in races against other horses, and return to the paddock to groom Windstorm, clean his hooves, and manage his happiness meter. Riding itself is stamina-managed: walking and cantering are free, sprinting drains a gauge that regenerates when you ease off, and a dedicated jump button handles fences and small drops. The controls are functional and accessible even for younger players, though the jump detection can be fussy, occasionally teleporting Windstorm back a few feet after what looked like a clean landing. Collision with environmental objects like bushes or trees also breaks immersion more than it should for a 2017 release. Where the game holds up is atmosphere. The Kaltenbach estate is genuinely pleasant to ride through, the ambient sound design is solid (hoofbeats change depending on ground surface, which is a small but appreciated detail), and the voice acting is decent enough that it does not grate over a few hours. The mission writing, however, is thin. Player reviews consistently describe the quest structure as chore-running, and they are not wrong: the story is short, the objectives repeat, and there is not much variety in what Mika is actually asked to do. Completing the main content in roughly three to four hours is a common report. The honest target audience here is younger players or fans of the German Ostwind film and book series who want to spend time inside that world. For that group, Windstorm does a reasonable job of translating the property into an interactive experience, with a welcoming difficulty selector ranging from beginner riding modes up to harder settings. For everyone else, the genre is underserved enough on PC that this sits near the top of a short list by default rather than by being exceptional. Horse animations drew criticism in the original 2017 version and remain a weak point. If this specific combination of casual exploration, horse care, and light racing sounds appealing, the original release is a serviceable entry point, though the separately sold Remastered version addresses several of the visual complaints. Diego, Scout Team

Valve rates this game Steam Deck Playable.

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