Luigi Savinelli (TechRaptor) reviewed Windward - some snippets:

Foul Wind to You, Landlubber!

Windward is an indie rpg/sandbox with a simple but at the same time uncommon premise: you take the control of a ship and you explore the seas trading, hunting pirates and fighting for the glory of your faction. This  sentence alone probably gave some of you reminiscences of Sid Meier’s Pirates, and with good reason. Don’t be fooled though; Tasharen Entertainment took heavy inspiration from Sid Meier’s naval exploration game but tries to carve its own niche in the theme. So, all aboard the SS Clever Girl to  see what this game has to offer.

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The trade system is straightforward and will give joy to any capitalist. Its premise is the classic “buy low, sell high.” This translates in-game by docking in a town, going to the tavern tab to see if there’s a town somewhere that is in need of the goods that you can buy there, buy anything you can store in your cargo, go to a different town to sell your merchandise, rinse and repeat. It starts to feel like a chore after a short while.

The combat is also pretty simple but also really fun. Your cannons fire from the side of your ship towards your enemy and you can activate your ship’s abilities as soon as the cooldown time allows you. Do that until someone sinks. While it can feel too basic at times, there’s a bit of strategy involved. It’s very satisfying when you manage to take advantage of the wind in order to circle around your enemy and take it by the tail where he can’t answer your fire. Your strategy is also affected by the equipment and the crew your ship is endowed. You can decide to favor cannons and ammunitions that go long range, while your skilled captain gives a bonus to your speed, or maybe you go for more powerful weaponry that hit at a shorter range, maybe with some heavy defense on the side so you can go close and personal. Your strategy can also depend on what kind of ship you’re using. A heavy but sturdy galleon will most likely just anchor and turn around shooting anything in range while a corvette will favor hit and run maneuvers.

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The main problem of Windward is that it does not have an actual end goal. Yeah, I know, it’s the whole point of sandbox games not having a defined goal. Sandbox games, though, give you the means to set an end goal for yourself through its mechanics. Windward does not really have that. The mechanics we just discussed just repeat themselves over and over until your faction eventually controls the whole map. It’s just a matter of grinding for better gear to go in more dangerous regions and do what you did until then all over again.

Final Score: 7/10

Gamasutra tells a fun story about the new game Windward:

Windward is what happens when Sid Meier says it's ok to 'copy' his game

At GDC 2012, Michael Lyanshenko, founder of Tasharen Entertainment, attended a talk from renowned game designer and developer Sid Meier, whose name prefaces games such as Civilization and Pirates! In that talk, Meier mentioned how game designers are basically copying one another in everything they do, and how that's ok, because much of game development is about iteration.

After that talk, Lyanshenko decided to approach Meier.

“I just walked up to Sid Meier and I basically asked him, ‘Can I ['copy'] your Pirates! game?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah! Go for it! It’s cool,'” said Lyanshenko.

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The game ended up climbing to the third spot on Steam, just behind massively marketed heavyweights The Witcher 3 and Grand Theft Auto V. “Honestly, I was hoping for the same [sales] result as Early Access,” says Lyashenko. During six months of Early Access, Windward grossed $150,000. After the end of the first week, Lyashenko had made gross sales of $720,000—far beyond his expectations. “I definitely did not expect that. $300,000 in total would’ve definitely covered development, and made it worthwhile. What it earned surprised the crap out of me.”

The sandbox naval Action Adventure Windward with RPG, MMO and RTS elements in the tradition of Pirates! gets very different reviews so far:

Gamespot rates the game as bad:

The opening portions of Winward have you falling asleep at your computer; later areas have you cursing angrily as every small victory you win is erased by the overzealous enemy AI (aided by utterly complacent allies content to watch town after town fall to pirates). The promise of exploring Windward's world as you see fit is a false one, and Windward never earns its sea legs.

GamersNexus gives the game an Editor's Choice award:

It’s easy to sit down and play Windward for a few minutes in between projects -- or, as we learned, spend the weekend grinding-out the map to have the best ship on the seas. Windward’s multiplayer support expands horizons so that you can conquer the high seas with your mates.

We highly recommend Windward. It’s unintimidating to learn without lacking depth and relaxing to play, somewhat similar to how Cities: Skylines feels. This one gets our Editor’s Choice award.

Steam and Metacritic user reviews are very positive so far.