Adaptation

Once I started playing, I quickly realized that the game had no intention of introducing any of these characters to me properly and was obviously intended to be played as a movie tie-in rather than stand on its own: I decided to watch the movie before continuing.

I don’t intend to launch into a detailed film critique, but I will say that Ostwind (2013) was enjoyable enough.

In it, rebellious teenager Mika bonds with the supposedly dangerous and unhinged black stallion Ostwind. With the help of the eccentric Mr. Kaan’s training methods, she manages to ride him perfectly though a jumping course a mere six weeks after she’s mounted any horse for the first time. The film could be described as a story about employing natural horsemanship over traditional training methods, but there is too little engagement with what any of those training methods actually are and too much of a spiritual, esoteric component to Mika’s supposed “bond” with the horse for that to be entirely accurate.

The movie has various familiar horse girl movie cliches and rather too many pop song training montages for my taste, but the characters — human and equine — are enjoyable to watch for the most part.

The video game does not so much continue or retell any of the film’s story, but guides you along a series of inconsequential tasks without dramatic weight, featuring many of the movie’s characters but no actual plot. You, Mika, return to the Kaltenbach estate after an unspecified time away and receive tasks from Mr. Kaan, Mrs. Kaltenbach and stable boy Sam.

Mission Structure and Story

Windstorm has a clear structure that divides the game into menu, missions and open world.

The game has a lot of dialogue, presented through detailed 2D character artwork and voice acting before going on any quest. Unfortunately however, these narrative tools are wasted entirely on missions that are disconnected and insubstantial. With the exception of the last three or four missions — which lead to a little sequel tease — mission narratives never build on each other: the highest dramatic stakes you’ll encounter in the game are “chase this horse down to bring it back inside before a storm”. Much of the dialogue otherwise boils down to “Hey Mika, try completing this course faster than last time.”