Weather Lord: Graduation Review – Meteorology Mage

Jenny was just accepted to the Royal University. That’s good news, because one day she’ll be queen, and she kinda needs to know how to control the weather before she takes that role. The bad news is that just a …

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Jenny was just accepted to the Royal University. That’s good news, because one day she’ll be queen, and she kinda needs to know how to control the weather before she takes that role. The bad news is that just a few weeks later a disaster struck the kingdom. Jenny has to learn the ins and outs of restoring the land as quickly as possible. If she doesn’t, the only thing she’ll be queen of is a smoldering pile of rock.

Weather Lord: Graduation is a casual resource management game set in a cartoonish fantasy kingdom. Your adventure takes you across the land where roads are blocked by a number of simple and complex obstacles. Piles of resources provide quick refills on food, wood, stone and gold, the four basic elements you’ll need to fix broken paths and clear debris out of the way. You can also build things like mines and sawmills to produce resources on a regular basis. Unlike most time management games, you have to actively do something to make these buildings produce their product. That’s where the whole weather lording thing comes into play.

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At the bottom of the screen you have a set of abilities represented by simple environmental icons. Click and drag one to use that spell on the map, shining sun on puddles to dry them up, rain on the farms to grow food, or even storms to chase off ne’er-do-wells. You can use them even when the path is blocked, but watch those recharge times or you’ll find yourself in a bind.

On top of weather lording and resource hoarding you also have a set of unlockable skills. Completing levels and performing special tasks within those levels slowly builds your reputation. When you reach certain thresholds you can unlock a new passive skill. These do things like help your weather abilities recharge faster, speed up worker speed, or even boost resources gathered from spots on the map. They make a surprisingly big impact on the game, so unlock wisely.

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As Weather Lord: Graduation moves through the map you’ll encounter a few twists and turns in the gameplay. Merchants provide simple material trades for items you’ll need, for example, and some level goals require several steps to complete. The difficulty never climbs too high, keeping the experience casual and enjoyable from beginning to end.

Weather Lord: Graduation knows why we play resource management games. It’s not to get all stressed out over not having enough stone to repair the bridge. It’s about ordering our tasks, making new discoveries, and having a good time. Weather Lord is a playful and lighthearted take on the genre, and it’s just different enough from other resource management games to make it worth your time.

The good

  • Fun use of spells and weather effects.
  • Great audio visual package.
  • Cute and lighthearted atmosphere.

The bad

  • May not be challenging enough for experienced players.
85 out of 100
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