Buried in a dark corner of a 2021 Krafton financial report was a mention of something called Project Windless, an adaptation of a Korean fantasy novel series called The Bird That Drinks Tears. We’ve had a few glimpses of it since then, and there’s a handful of concept art posted on developer Krafton Montreal’s website, but today we got our first real look at it in the State of Play showcase, and hoo boy, this is something.
I’m going to encourage you to just watch the trailer straight away, because I feel like if I try to explain it in advance, you will think I’m joking. Maybe you won’t if you’re familiar with The Bird That Drinks Tears, but I am not, and so I expected something thoughtful, meditative, poetic: A bit like a videogame take on the Jet Li classic Hero. That is not what The Bird That Drinks Tears is.
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The Bird That Drinks Tears is, in fact, a massively buff seven-foot-tall warlord who dual-wields huge swords and bathes in the blood of his enemies. He is relentless, furious, and without mercy: His foes flee before him, and he allows no escape. To stand before The Bird That Drinks Tears is to know fear, and then to die.
He is also, essentially, a bipedal chicken.
That murderous chicken, in the reality of the game world, is the Hero King, a legendary warrior of the rekons, a race of “towering massive bird beings known for their overwhelming strength and ferocity.” Yup, he sure seems to bring that to the table, more than what I’m used to seeing from my local poultry.
Just look at him.
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The rekon are one of four intelligent races in the Project Windless game world, alongside Nhaga, Tokkebi, and of course humans, each of whom have their own unique culture, conflicts, and worldviews. That game world is “rooted” in the world of The Bird That Drinks Tears, but is set roughly 1,500 years before the original story, a “largely unexplored mythical age” that Krafton says enables the game to “serve as an entry point for global audiences while also expanding the universe for longtime fans.”
Combat in Project Windless is “real time, fast-paced, and skill-based,” but takes advantage of what Krafton calls “Mass Technology” to insert players directly into large scale battles, where they’ll engage enemies in combat while directing tactical maneuvers that influence the broader battle.
“From the start, we asked ourselves what it really means to play a legendary figure in a fantasy world,” said Patrik Méthé, Krafton Montreal studio head and creative director on Project Windless. “For us, that meant giving players real agency, not just in combat, but in how wars unfold, how alliances are formed, and how history is written. Project Windless is built around the idea that legend is not something you observe, it is something you actively create through play.”
Project Windless is a “premium, singleplayer experience,” Krafton said, and will have no multiplayer or live service components, which frankly I take as a big plus. Also, and I’m speaking for at least three other PC Gamer writers here, it looks like it might be—to quote news writer Lincoln Carpenter—”sick as hell.”
There’s no release date yet, but you can find out more at windless.krafton.com. (It’s not up just yet but should be very soon.)
Oh, and if you haven’t seen Hero, you really should check it out. It’s excellent.
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