It didn’t take me long to get into the Everwind demo at Steam Next Fest. I was skeptical: I feel like I’ve had my fill of games that kinda sorta look like Minecraft but aren’t actually Minecraft, y’know?
But my skepticism evaporated roughly 35 seconds into the demo. I spawned on top of a small castle and picked up some sticks and planks that were lying around, which told me there was crafting. I descended a level and battled some skeletons, so hey, there’s monsters.
I quickly found a forge, so there’s smithing, and a cauldron, so there’s cooking. Within a couple minutes I had a magic sword that did poison damage, some armor (wooden, but better than nothing), a shield I’d crafted myself, a couple of potions, a bowl of mushroom stew, and a key to unlock a chest full of loot. That’s a promising start.
And outside the castle I found my first little airship, so there’s flying, too. Explore a world dotted with islands (both in the ocean and hovering high above it), battle monsters, gain skills, craft weapons and armor, and build a mobile base on a flying ship? Everwind is checking a heck of a lot of boxes for me.
Combat is very Skyrim-ish, and yeah, I mean that in a good way—there’s a lot of bashing and blocking, at least so far, though I haven’t experienced any magic staffs or spells yet—and the skeletons remind me of a lot of Skyrim’s draugr. All the little forts and ruined castles and dungeons I’ve found give off big Elder Scrolls vibes, too.
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It doesn’t just have Minecraft-y looks: you can dig up blocks like in Minecraft (though it typically takes quite a lot more effort) and build with them. If you come across something in the world you like, such as a piece of furniture, just whack it until it breaks and you can bring it back to your airship and place it where you want. I was quite charmed upon finding a small fort full of skeletons that were flying a skull flag and had a skeleton emblem on the wall—nice to see they’re proud of their undead heritage—so I took that stuff with me to decorate my own ship after I’d bashed them into bones.
And there’s something about a huge world dotted with distant islands in all directions that just works for me. I assume it’s all procedurally generated, but I still feel this pressing urge to land at every single island and find out what’s there. It’s mostly been skeletons so far, but I also found pheasants, boars, and even the best animal ever: a capybara. (I killed the skeletons and ate the pheasants. I just admired the capy.)
The Everwind demo isn’t a long one, but it’ll give you a couple hours of the early portion of the game and a sample of its first three biomes. Even still, I got hooked immediately, and if you like exploring mysterious islands, crafting weapons and finding loot, and piloting an airship over an endless ocean, you probably will too.
