Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship – The first Windstorm Game gets Remastered and Released on New Platforms

The first Windstorm game, formerly known simply as Ostwind/Windstorm and later rebranded as Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship is getting remastered and released on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S. The new version of the 2017 game is set to release on June 20th 2024. Check out the announcement trailer for the Remaster right here:

When I first reviewed the first Windstorm game in 2019, I didn’t exactly love it – the subpar horse animations being one of my main issues. It’s criticism that I’ve never quite shut up about, even in my two years of working at the studio behind the Windstorm games, Aesir Interactive.

Despite its sequel (originally called Windstorm: Ari’s Arrival, now rebranded as Windstorm: An Unexpected Arrival) being a much improved game in just about every way, the first game about Mika and Windstorm continues to sell remarkably well. With the Remastered version of Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship, Aesir Interactive and publisher Mindscape don’t only build upon the existing success, they’ve also made key improvements to the product itself.

One of those improvements is replacing those horse animations that I’ve been complaining about for the past five years, which I greatly appreciate. The entire game has been upgraded to using Unreal Engine 5, which allowed for various improvements in the already beautiful environments. Another new addition is a Photo Mode to show off the revamped models of Mika and Windstorm.

The engine upgrade and a variety of technical improvements and bugfixes behind the scenes also made it possible for the game to come to Xbox platforms for the first time in franchise history. Additionally worth noting: by the time I played it on PC in 2019, the game had already received a handful of improvements and fixes on consoles, then released as Windstorm: Gold Edition. These updates too, are part of the Remastered version.

Although I was involved in the early concept stage for the Remaster, I haven’t actually played this new version yet and can only vouch for its quality insofar as that I know my priorities for improvements were closely taken into account. If you’ve missed out on the Windstorm franchise so far, this looks like an excellent opportunity to get into it. Not least because… well, let’s just say stay tuned for further announcements from Aesir and Mindscape that I’m incredibly excited for.

Here’s a Linktree for the Windstorm games’ numerous (albeit new!) Social Media accounts. I highly recommend keeping an eye on them, not only to see further teaser material for the Remastered version, but also for future announcements that hypothetically could get made there soon. Who knows.

Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship – Remastered is coming to PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S on June 20th 2024. Remember to wishlist the game on Steam if you’re interested in it, as this helps games get visibility in the store.