Winds Of Arcana: Ruination

About

Winds Of Arcana: Ruination is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Brewed Games and was released on November 14, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Winds Of Arcana: Ruination invites players to become the ultimate warrior mage, mastering powerful weapons and ancient magic while exploring a rich, interconnected world. Grapple, glide, and fight through diverse biomes, uncover legendary weapons, and harness Soul Crests to customize your playstyle. Experience a fully-voiced story filled with challenging platforming and deep lore.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

89%

Audience ScoreBased on 70 reviews

story10 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

Winds of Arcana: Ruination features a beautifully crafted world with diverse biomes, engaging lore, and a strong sense of exploration that rewards players for venturing off the beaten path.
The combat system is satisfying and fluid, with a variety of weapons and abilities that allow for different playstyles, complemented by well-designed boss fights that provide a fair challenge.
The game includes several quality-of-life features, such as a useful map system and accessibility options, making it approachable for both newcomers and veterans of the Metroidvania genre.

The game suffers from technical issues, including bugs, janky animations, and a convoluted control scheme that can lead to frustrating platforming and combat experiences.
Boss fights are often chaotic and plagued by broken hitboxes, making them feel unfair and leading to cheap deaths, which detracts from the overall enjoyment.
The map system lacks detail and can be confusing, with unclear room layouts and frequent black screen transitions that disrupt the flow of exploration.

story
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
56%
10%
The story of "Winds of Arcana: Ruination" is engaging and immersive, featuring a rich fantasy narrative centered on the protagonist Aryn's quest to save his world and family from corruption. While some players noted a lack of clear introduction and UI navigation issues, the overall storytelling is praised for its depth, charm, and emotional resonance, complemented by impressive voice acting and a captivating atmosphere. The quests are well-structured, balancing exploration, combat, and puzzle-solving, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of story-driven action-adventure games.
- “The combat feels powerful, the story is engaging, and every moment is filled with charm.”
- “The atmosphere and voice acting are impressive for an indie title, adding depth to the story and world.”
- “The world and its lore are immersive and engaging; I can't wait to discover more as the story unfolds.”
- “Lack of clear story introduction: the game starts suddenly without explaining why the character is there or what the main objective is.”
- “With better UI feedback, clearer storytelling, and fixes to some mechanics, this could become a very solid action-adventure experience.”
- “The storytelling is subtle, which I personally love.”
gameplay
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
59%
10%
The gameplay is characterized by a solid metroidvania foundation, featuring smooth and responsive mechanics that encourage exploration and experimentation with various abilities and weapon builds. While the combat is satisfying and engaging, some players noted technical issues and a lack of clear guidance from the UI, which can hinder the overall experience. Despite these drawbacks, the game offers an addictive loop and a charming atmosphere, making it a good entry point for newcomers to the genre.
- “The gameplay feels incredibly smooth, responsive, and polished from the very first minute.”
- “The gameplay is highly engaging, particularly the satisfying exploration using abilities like grapples and glides, complemented by fun experimentation with different weapon and magic builds, and well-designed, challenging boss fights.”
- “Combat is smooth, satisfying, and only gets better as you unlock new weapons that keep the gameplay feeling fresh.”
- “In conclusion, even if the game offers nothing new in terms of gameplay or rewards, I am personally left curious about many things such as the story, the characters, or the weapons and abilities in the future.”
- “However, while the visuals and foundation are strong, the gameplay and UI still need some polish to give players a clearer and smoother experience.”
- “Missing gameplay guidance: the UI doesn’t help players understand where to go or what to do next.”
graphics
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
32%
11%
The graphics of "Winds of Arcana: Ruination" are widely praised for their stunning dark-fantasy art style and atmospheric, handcrafted environments, which create an immersive experience. Players appreciate the beautiful visuals, engaging level design, and the overall aesthetic that enhances exploration and storytelling. While the graphics are a strong point, some reviewers suggest that the gameplay and UI could benefit from further refinement to match the visual quality.
- “Winds of Arcana: Ruination is an excellent metroidvania, standing out primarily due to its stunning dark-fantasy art style and atmospheric, detailed environments that feel truly handcrafted.”
- “The art style is beautiful, the music is solid, and I like how the game doesn’t spoon-feed you—you just explore and learn things naturally.”
- “It's beautiful visuals and great sound design come together to create an amazing atmosphere.”
- “However, while the visuals and foundation are strong, the gameplay and UI still need some polish to give players a clearer and smoother experience.”
- “Graphics: decent”
- “The art style was honestly one of the reasons I bought it, and it didn’t disappoint.”
atmosphere
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
85%
15%
The atmosphere of "Winds of Arcana: Ruination" is widely praised for its stunning dark-fantasy art style, rich visuals, and immersive sound design, which together create a captivating and engaging experience. Reviewers highlight the handcrafted environments, dramatic lighting, and effective audio elements that enhance the overall ambiance, making it a standout title in the metroidvania genre. The combination of these elements evokes nostalgia while providing a rewarding gameplay experience.
- “Winds of Arcana: Ruination is an excellent metroidvania, standing out primarily due to its stunning dark-fantasy art style and atmospheric, detailed environments that feel truly handcrafted.”
- “The lighting is dramatic without being overdone, and the colors are rich in a way that makes even simple areas feel atmospheric.”
- “It's beautiful visuals and great sound design come together to create an amazing atmosphere.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
50%
10%
The music in the game is generally praised for its calming and immersive qualities, enhancing exploration and fitting well with the game's atmosphere. While some players appreciate the relaxing tunes, there are calls for more epic soundtracks during boss battles to elevate the intensity. Overall, the soundtrack contributes positively to the game's enchanting fantasy vibe, making it a notable aspect of the experience.
- “The music and OST is relaxing and calm and gets intense during boss battles, which ensures fun exploration and combat.”
- “The music and sound effects also fit the world perfectly, making the game feel alive and immersive.”
- “But what really stands out is the background music in each area—absolutely wonderful.”
- “The only negative thing I have to mention (besides the platforming being way too difficult for me) is the music.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The developers are actively releasing patches to fix bugs and enhance performance, indicating a commitment to improving the game's optimization.
- “The developers seem to be actively working on patches to address the reported bugs and improve performance, which is great to see.”
- “The optimization updates have significantly enhanced the game's performance, making for a smoother experience overall.”
- “I appreciate how the team is committed to optimizing the game, as it shows their dedication to providing the best experience for players.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find grinding in the game challenging due to the large open spaces of the stages, which complicates the process. Additionally, boss encounters are criticized for their buggy nature, further detracting from the grinding experience.
- “Because stages are large open spaces rather than a series of small rooms, grinding elements are not straightforward.”
- “What is really grinding my gears are boss encounters and how buggy they feel.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players have reported significant stability issues during boss encounters, noting that character actions, such as weapon combos, can lead to freezing and unresponsiveness. This has contributed to a frustrating gameplay experience.
- “What is really grinding my gears are boss encounters and how buggy they feel.”
- “Doing your weapon combo practically freezes your character in place for a second.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is noted for its unique integration of design, story, and world-building, allowing characters to stand out despite some familiar visual elements reminiscent of other games.
- “The character designs may remind you of various games, but when they are combined with the story and the world, they stand out in their own way.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the emotional aspect of the game to be deeply engaging, highlighting a surprisingly beautiful and heartfelt storyline that resonates with them.
- “I feel the gameplay is genuinely engaging, and the storyline is surprisingly beautiful and heartfelt.”