A Wolf Team action-adventure with a heroine wielding elemental powers, spiritual successor to Earnest Evans. Unique atmosphere, demanding gameplay.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player12+
Description
El.Viento, an American sorceress, battles evil forces in 1930s New York in this Wolf Team action-RPG. Published by Renovation, released in the United States in September 1991. Action-RPG with El.Viento's varied magical powers, 1930s urban levels and imposing bosses.
El.Viento review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
The action unfolds in a carefully reconstructed nineteen-twenties America: harbour quays, steam trains, brick buildings, gangsters in suits. The heroine, drawn in a Japanese animation style, deliberately stands out against that realistic setting, as do the creatures from an ancient cult she confronts.
Motoi Sakuraba composes a broad score, with unexpected harmonic progressions and melodies stretching over long phrases. The chosen timbres evoke orchestra and rock by turns, and some passages abandon rhythm entirely to let held chords breathe before a brutal resumption.
The North American Genesis release of El.Viento, localized by Renovation for the US market and never sold in Europe. The era's American cardboard box, fragile and rarely kept in good shape, sets this copy apart from the Japanese spine-card edition. A niche Wolf Team action-RPG with a limited run, its value has risen sharply, with the intact cardboard the main price driver among US collectors.
An underrated gem
A witch wielding blades and magic in 1930s New York, against a backdrop of Lovecraftian myths: hard to get more singular than that. Packed with cinematics ambitious for their time, this Wolf Team action game stayed obscure outside Japan. Its pulp atmosphere and charismatic heroine are worth a look for fans of stylish oddities.
