Let me get this out of the way right now: previewing A Valley Without Wind was difficult. Not for any negative reasons, mind you, but simply because accurately describing the game within a reasonable amount of words was a very daunting task. While the game mirrors some high level genres (like the platforming genre, for instance) the over all game itself is whole heartedly unique. I’ve also not been able to fully explore the title in all its grandness. As such think of this as merely “part 1″ in a series of beta previews I plan on doing as I play the game more.

A Valley Without Wind is based around a world called Environ which was destroyed by an unknown cataclysm with only small mini-civilizations left in the aftermath. Essentially you’re playing in a world that’s very rudimentary in technology and civilization scale, but where burned out and destroyed husks of towering buildings from the civilization prior.

You start out the game by selecting one of a few different characters with varying looks and minor attribute changes. Some have more health, some have more magic points, etc. Really it all depends on your style of play. I ended up choosing a more magic based class because I typically prefer to do high amounts of damage very fast rather than worrying about survival.

After a brief tutorial the game just sort of sets you loose. No real direction, or quests other than to get experience, find better books to learn spells, and scout for ingredients to make said spells. Sounds simple right? That’s what I thought…

What ultimately makes the game so unique and complicated is a few things:

First, the entire game is procedurally generated similar to Minecraft but obviously in a completely different sort of gameplay. I only use the comparison because “procedurally generated” and Minecraft seem to be synonymous at this point. But what this ultimately means is that each time you start up a new world there will be different places to explore, different dungeons to loot, etc. No two games will ever be alike.

Second, while the game does have a crafting system it isn’t for buildings or structures as with a game like Terraria (which also happens to be a side scrolling patformer) but for spells. Throw in a raw saphirre and a walnut, for example, and you can create a spell called Tidal Pulse which does exactly what you sound like. Exploring caves, dwellings and going after bosses around the world will lend you better ingredients and books which will allow you to craft bigger and better spells. Oh and the spells are pretty freaking awesome…

Finally there’s the whole civilization expansion and building aspect of the game. As if the game couldn’t already be enough, Arcen Games decided to take on an almost strategic type level to the game where you’re charged with scouting out potential resources and defending your village from invaders. This is all done in an overhead world map that’s turn based. Incredibly, it all works! Despite being a departure from what you’d expect out of the game upon first jumping in, the turn based strategic part of it works incredibly well and brings a whole new level of depth to an already deep game.

So now you can kind of understand what I was getting at with my first paragraph. It’s almost left me guffawed at the thought of previewing, let alone reviewing, the title.

But really, at the heart of what A Valley Without Wind is about, at least for me, is exploration and it does it phenomenally. There is so much to do and see in this game that I’d be surprised if 100 hours allowed you to explore even half of it and I’m quite uncertain on just how large the map is itself. All I can tell you is that I’ve spent about an hour on each individual tile exploring all the buildings and killing whatever bosses lie within.

That’s not to say the game is perfect. In fact, I can definitely see how the title could scare away more than a few gamers just by being too much and too complicated. There’s a lot to learn about the game within the first few minutes you start it up. But those who have the patience can expect one incredibly deep journey.

A Valley Without Wind is currently in public beta which you can be apart of if you pre-order the title. The full version isn’t expected to be released until Q1 2012.

This preview is just a glimpse at a small fraction of the game which I’ll continue playing on a regular basis and bringing updated previews as I explore more of the game. Think of this preview as more of an introduction to what awaits.

[A Valley Without Wind]