Wander Stars Review
Wander Stars is an anime-inspired, turn-based RPG with a unique gimmick: your attacks are defined by the words you shout. If this Fellow Traveller game sounds very anime already, trust us, it can always get more anime. This is a compliment. Wander Stars is a delightful treat for fans of nostalgic battle anime and clever RPGs alike.
The story follows Ringo, an extremely buff and spirited girl whose goal is to compete in the Kiai Tournament one day. Then a wolf-man named Wolfe drives his jet bike into the nearby beach and steals her phone charm. She chases Wolfe around, forgets to buy her groceries, and has a rough close encounter with some pirates. By the end of the day, Wolfe’s magical map has been stolen and the pair team up to get it back. However, Ringo’s motives are personal. Her missing brother has another piece of the map. And the pieces of the legendary Wanderstars Map always point back toward each other.
The game’s narrative can swing from gags straight into emotional drama. I respect its ability to take itself seriously without ever forgetting the inherent absurdity of its premise. Additionally, its meta elements work surprisingly well.
Vocabulary Action
Wander Stars’ word-based combat allows for a lot of strategy and customization. Different words grant your moves different effects. Some add elemental bonuses, while others increase damage. You can also use various strategies such as blocking or items. You collect new words through events, shops, and victories.
Each word has a cooldown after use, but a super effective strike can give you cooldown-reducing SP. You can hoard SP for later or burn it all at once. The game is split between combat, Mario Party-esque level explorations, and visual novel-style cutscenes. At times, it even features fully-animated sequences designed in a retro anime style that evokes titles like Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z.
As you fight, you earn Honor, which you spend at the end of an episode on new words and power-ups. There are ways to earn more Honor, but doing so requires meeting some self-imposed challenges.
Wander Stars Challenges You to Think About Your Words
Wander Stars adds a fun new element of strategy to its RPG combat: breaking points. Like a shonen anime character, Ringo can spare her opponents and earn their friendship. The trick is making sure you defeat them without actually knocking them out. Pulling it off earns Ringo extra Honor and a new power-up.
Boss fights discard breaking points for a series of thresholds that change the boss’s behavior. If you’re careful, you can keep a boss stunned or make yourself immune to all their attacks.
That said, for a game about words, Wander Stars sure involves a lot of math. The game doesn’t always display the full damage Ringo will do on the next turn. If you’re invested in avoiding breaking points and making friends, you’ll have to do some calculations yourself. It sometimes feels like I’m being penalized for being bad at math.
The game features an episodic structure where each level is fairly self-contained, yet builds off the story and mechanics that came before. These episodes are fairly long, especially if you explore them thoroughly. However, you can skip most battles if you’re low on health or not feeling it. Clearing a level unlocks the Challenge Mode version. These present more difficult hazards and greater rewards.
You can also pick a difficulty level at the beginning of an episode that determines your word-based weaknesses. Removing all weaknesses has an Honor penalty, while adding extra weaknesses gives bonus Honor.
Special Extra Fire Kick
Playing Wander Stars feels for all the world like plunging into a delightfully retro anime. There’s no voice acting, which is a shame — I’d love to hear Ringo shouting dramatically with each new word the player selects. The character designs range from hilarious to extremely accurate to the 90s and early 2000s shows Wander Stars is inspired by.
The battle animation is stilted, but charming, and the animated cutscenes are lovely. The whole game draws on the visuals of retro shonen anime from the era of Dragon Ball Z and earlier, and it’s delightfully nostalgic.
The narrative isn’t the strongest, but it is entertaining and delightfully cheesy. And while the battle system has its flaws, collecting words and stringing them together is very fun. If you get softlocked, you can replay an episode with different words.
All in all, Wander Stars is a good time for RPG fans and anyone nostalgic for older battle anime. I had fun with it and you probably will, too.
***Steam code provided by the publisher***