The Wind is Filled with the Sound of Sword-slashes
Listen to the Wind is a 2D side-scrolling Hack and Slash-style action game released by Papertiger Studios, a Chinese indie company consisting of four people, one with graphics resembling traditional Chinese folk art coming to life.
Set in the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, when the Wukou - Japanese pirates - starts attacking the coasts of South-Eastern China, a heroic swordsman who lived in the mountains was tasked by his mentor to travel to the beaches to fight the Wukou.
The entire game can be completed in around 60 minutes and consists entirely of boss fights, where each and every stage begins with you challenging a boss, and ends with you defeating them.
This game contain examples of:
- Booze-Based Buff: Drinking wine from gourds will restore your health and power meter.
- Double Weapon: The corrupt monk boss uses a double-sided monk spade as his weapon.
- Dual Wield: The third boss use two massive axes at the same time.
- Dash Attack: You can perform a sliding forward-slash with your weapon, which deals extra damage on enemies in front of you. And stun them long enough for releashing extra slashes.
- Eye-Obscuring Hat: The player hero wears a wide-brimmed straw hat that keeps his eyes hidden for the entire game.
- Killer Gorilla: For reasons unexplained, after battling your way through various Wukou captains you fight the White Ape of Yun-lin - a shaggy, white-furred gorilla who pummels you with it's fists.
- Martial Arts Staff: General Tian-hai of the Wukou uses a long wooden staff that gives him ranged advantage compared to sword-wielding bosses. And even twirls the staff in circles and striking a martial arts pose with it periodically.
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: The kick variation happens when you managed to lock the current boss into a corner with a jump-kick. Repeatedly tapping the kick button while in mid-air will stun the boss, allowing you to spam a dozen mid-air kicks into your opponent.
- Sword and Gun: The sole western boss, Rogerio, unsurprisingly is the only boss who uses a firearm alongside his sabre. He'll only use his large-bore rifle when you're at a distance; you'll need to spam attacks on him to inflict a "stun" status and prevent him from shooting (which predictably results in greater health loss than swords).
- Sword Fight: Your default weapon is your trusty jian, and several of the bosses are swordsmen as well, leading to these happening when you take them on. Notably, the "Windy Sword" and "Blade Maniac" bosses.
- Sword Lines: Every onscreen slash leads to these, which resembles strokes painted by Chinese brushes.
- Telephone Polearm: All the wukou generals and captains fights you with swords, spears, axes and other traditional weapons... save for Urashima, the boss of the forest stage who wields a friggin' tree trunk as an impromptu club.
- Token White: "Fast Sword" Rogerio is the only white boss villain, where he's a Western buccaneer who joined the Wukou for reasons unexplained.
- Written Sound Effect: Landing hits will result in these coming out in Mandarin, notably the slash ("斩") and strike ("击") moves.
