Review
Annie here!
This week's Friday gem is Wander Stars, a turn-based combat RPG with an epic 80s anime style and some impeccable vibes.
The hook of this game is that you attack by combining words to make combos. That means every move you make will be something awesome like "SUPER CONSECUTIVE MEGA KICK" or "EPIC FIRE FLAME PUNCH!"
Each of the words has a different, specific effect, and all your opponents (and you) will have different weaknesses, resistances, and immunities to specific words. It's nice because that means there's plenty of different factors to pay attention to, but the concept is still simple enough that it's really easy to pick up.
What I Love
Anime Style
Wander Stars has a super awesome aesthetic inspired by anime made before I was born (sorry!), but Sasha says it's very akin to Dragon Ball Z. I LOVE when video games take design inspiration from other media. It makes for an experience that feels really unique but also timeless.
You can see the 80s anime inspiration in a lot of ways, not just the way the characters are drawn. The tasteful grain, the poses, the background, even the sound effects!! It's like being transported to another world. I love it.
Interface
The UI, however, feels more modern to me, and I don't think this is a drawback. The buttons are nice and responsive and I had very few issues figuring out the menus.
The music is super catchy as well. Let's just say it's a good thing Sasha isn't bothered by me whistling at work!
Story
Wander Stars serves its story to you in bite-sized pieces, and the content of it is really only deep enough to serve the character development and make the gameplay feel purposeful. I like it!
Boss Fights
The boss fights have a little extra strategy in them that I haven't seen before and really liked. It added just enough zest to make it exciting but the concept was really easy to grasp.
Critique
Minor Bugs
I did find a couple pesky bugs in Wander Stars's menus, mostly just buttons not acknowledging being clicked and a couple UI elements loading twice and becoming stacked on top of each other. The usual stuff that comes along with being a demo. I'm sure they'll be fixed and nothing was annoying enough to make me want to stop playing.
Voice Acting
This game doesn't have any voice acting, but if you ask me, it TOTALLY should. Just those really dramatic anime "barks" that they have in Zelda games during dialogue would really take it to the next level.
Difficulty
It didn't take much effort for me to beat almost any opponent. Every battle went pretty quick and my health only once got below 50%. While I wasn't bothered by the difficulty level (I like games I can beat), I do hope it gets more challenging later on, and I would understand if more hardcore players get bored. In my opinion, just a few difficulty modifiers would fix that right up. Limit the player health, increase enemy immunities and player weaknesses, that sort of thing.
A Silly One...
Lastly, some of the character names were... bad. What's a "Furut Teen"? And who names their kid "Yass"?
Obviously none of these critiques are a big deal. I just like including them so you can put into perspective how good the game is. I mean, if your game's biggest problem is characters having dumb names, I think you've won.
Final Thoughts
Wander Stars is a super fun and nostalgic combat adventure, perfect for the casual turn-based RPG liker. If you love complicated tactics games that force you to manage insane stats and effects, this one might not satisfy you, but maybe down the line they'll add difficulty modifiers to make everyone happy!
This game is fully released and on sale for $26 CAD (20% off), but there's a very sizeable demo available for free! Definitely give it a try if you like to have fun.
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