Wanderstop

Great cozy Game

Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat. Very chill game. Probably the most chill, there are still objectives you *can* do but.

With this style of gameplay, these character designs, and the color palettes this game uses, I was put off at first glance. "Cozy game:" A genre that seems to be populated with extremely casual gameplay and rarely a mention of a story. Character designs and color palettes: Very similar to those of games who have been socially and politically compromised by people who have no idea of what makes good gameplay or a good story. However, everything changed the moment I saw that Davey Wreden was one of the lead developers. "This is no mere 'cozy game,'" I thought. "This is a game with depth masquerading as a cozy game, or perhaps one of very few cozy games in existence with any real substance." I was right, of course. I couldn't stop laughing for the first seven pages of the first Dirk Warhard book I read. The game has humor, and the characters have charm and depth. The story didn't hit me like a ton of bricks, and it didn't make me cry, but I definitely felt something, somewhere inside me. I also liked the music, when I could hear it, and I'm considering buying a copy of the soundtrack. I had a few little problems. My DualSense wasn't detected by the game, so I had to use Steam Input with it. The pluffins kept making noises in my ear when I was trying to read the books and I didn't think of turning the SFX volume to 0 when reading until the end of the game. I really wanted a jump button even though I know I can just walk around the fences. I was hoping the game would have more engaging gameplay mechanics, but I guess that would have detracted from the "relaxing" aspect people look for in these "cozy games." Still, it's good. It's not too long. The story and charm and humor are there for those with the eyes to see them. So, it pains me to know that Ivy Road shut down due to lack of funding. If Davey plans on making another title, I hope the next game has more widespread appeal. Just spitballin' here: Davey has the story chops, so to speak, so if he collaborated with a company that was more gameplay-focused, they might be able to combine their forces for an absolute banger of a game. I mean, there's a lot of games out there that go all-in on gameplay and leave story to the wayside that need a guy like Davey to come in and add a bit of personality and humanity to the game.

Really boring game the only thing you can do in the tea shop is get fruit and make tea and listen to the SOOO boring costumers talk, this made the game so repetitive. I really hope they add more fruits and dishes to reduce the repetitiveness.

It's *peacefull, not boring*. Really relaxing. Sometimes the dialogs seem a little long when like me you are more of an FPS/RPG/Hack'Slash player. It's cool to put the Pluffins in the middle of the way so you will just pet them. These are the kind of nice attentions I appreciate in this game.

Great game, overall. Real poignant moments that captured the way burnout can disable you in unexpected and hard-to-explain ways. Game art and sound was engrossing and beautiful. I felt good taking my time with the game at most points. I wasn't feeling the need to "optimize" myself like in a dinner dash game. Additionally, fulfilling drink orders was also never mindless, but a real treat that would reveal new intricacies to the craft with each chapter. There were also recreational parts of the game that truly enwrapped me and added at least 3 or 4 hours to my playtime. It's hard to discuss the writing in a game like this. To quote a friend who I was sharing my initial thoughts when I finished Wanderstop: "the subject matter of the game makes it hard ... not read this as you giving a meta-commentary on you via the main character." So at risk of projection, I want to give my thoughts on the narrative. It deserves much praise. Alta is the star of the show, with great detail given to how her struggle is presented in the forest and how she expressed herself. Even when my own experience with work and burnout didn't align with hers, there was no problem understanding how she felt and the way it manifested in her. This is a game about it, but you don't need to have experienced burnout to appreciate what's here. The presentation of the writing is at its worst 100% serviceable... and at its best I think it is multi-media magic. The choice of when and how to break from normal dialogue presentation is deliberate and always added to the story. It almost never wore out. You notice I say "almost." There is one bit [spoiler]using presentation slides[/spoiler] that didn't land for me and was driven into the ground throughout a chapter in the second half of the game, but thankfully it is doesn't outlast the chapter. It's actually this one chapter were I think I had the most problems. All but one of the customers sparked nothing in me. The only insight about Alta was something you could infer pretty easily much earlier. There were so many customers walking around awaiting drink orders I couldn't look anywhere without getting that "hey there's something you're supposed to be doing" reminder. This was the one chapter I could not help but want to optimize my way to being over with. To be fair to the chapter: the one customer that Alta really interacted with of the bunch I thought was novel and enjoyed, and my favorite of the recreational activities in the game was introduced (I could have figured it out by accident earlier but I hadn't been told till then). I still enjoyed the brewing and planting enough to have some fun and in no way was does this chapter's issues stop the game from being really really enjoyable. Considering the game's subject matter, I imagine there's a chance that for others the customers and content of that chapter may have just gone over my head with what it was trying to say. I think I understood it fine; I just don't want this review to require MLA citations and a giant spoiler tag to pick apart the dialogue here to prove it to you that I understood what it tried to put down. But this game has a lot to chew on, overall, and maybe someone with a different experience or expectations is going to find this one to be their favorite chapter to sink their teeth into. Wanderstop's quite the piece of art. Great game. A real gem. :)

Non mais quelle pépite ce jeu ! Je ne sais pas si c'est parce que je l'ai dévoré à un moment où j'avais besoin de ce genre de discours, ou juste parce que c'est une masterclass, mais l'histoire a fortement résonné en moi. Il y a des extraits de dialogue qui vont m'accompagner un moment... Les personnages sont redoutablement attachants, les dialogues sont bien écrits, croustillants et bourrés d'humour. J'ai adoré découvrir les nouveaux clients au fil du jeu (mention spéciale à Gerald et Nana <3). Ces rencontres ne sont pas anodines et font progresser Alta, notre héroïne, sur son chemin. Cultiver et servir du thé n'aura jamais été aussi agréable. C'est extrêmement bien foutu, relaxant sans jamais être trop répétitif. Il y a souvent des petits ajouts, des twists pour nous éveiller notre curiosité : une nouvelle graine ! Une nouvelle plante ! Un nouveau thé à goûter !... La machine à thé est particulièrement satisfaisante à utiliser. Les moindres détails du jeu et des explications qu'il donne pour justifier son gameplay sont faites pour qu'on se sente bien. Pour qu'on se sente à l'aise, en sûreté, et qu'on nous invite à expérimenter. On a le droit de "rater" des thés, de les jeter, de s'ennuyer, de ne rien faire. J'ai beaucoup aimé que le jeu nous apprenne à aimer l'ennui : plus d'une fois je n'avais rien à faire et j'ai juste profité des décors, ou planté des fleurs, en me baladant dans le jardin ou en m'asseyant sur un banc. Ça a l'air tout con mais ça fait un bien fou : on ne m'a pas poussée à la productivité (au contraire !), au rendement de mon jardin... à la rigueur, je me suis lancée dans une sacré collection de tasses, ce qui m'a poussée à passer le balais un peu partout. Le jeu m'a réappris à juste profiter d'un jeu sans avoir de "tâches" à effectuer pour progresser. Bref, un jeu qui est drôlement chouette et qui fait du bien.