On first look, Wanderstop seems like your common healthful, low-stakes indie sport with easy-going goals and pleasurable, soothing duties to carry out. Whereas the sport is strictly that, it layers on high a narrative that hones in on the central character’s psychological state, and it is an efficient mixture.
Alta is a fighter who’s all the time strived to be the perfect she could be, however after some setbacks, finds herself looking for additional coaching to change into even stronger. As an alternative, her sword turns into too heavy to hold and he or she collapses, winding up on the titular tea store, the place proprietor Boro suggests she lend a serving to hand in an effort to recuperate.
The moment-to-moment gameplay is a mixture of rising vegetation and harvesting elements, talking with patrons, fulfilling their orders, and preserving the clearing tidy. Whereas a few of this could initially really feel tedious and a bit fiddly, it fairly rapidly turns into straightforward to handle, and you will by no means actually be brief on provide of something. There’s zero stress; you’ll be able to meet the wants of shoppers in your personal time, and are free to discover and experiment in every chapter.
Talking of which, a few of the sport’s most impactful moments come throughout transitional meditations, delving into Alta’s psyche earlier than you are positioned again on the tea store, the place its state has considerably reset. To say rather more may spoil issues, however perhaps do not get too hooked up to the vegetation you are rising or the trinkets you have collected.
Concocting magical brews can be a means to have interaction with the solid of charming characters, most of whom have some unbelievable dialogue. The writing is broadly the perfect facet of Wanderstop, which one way or the other manages to steadiness subjects like psychological fatigue, trauma, and the significance of self-care with some genuinely hilarious interludes.
It is a intelligent mixture of style and story, as a result of it supplies a comfy area to immerse your self in whereas additionally highlighting the explanations why individuals play issues like this within the first place — to unwind, to take a break with one thing enjoyable. Alta is compelled to decelerate and replicate on her points, and thru conversations and moments of introspection, the sport delivers a considerate, emotive story which will nicely hit house for a lot of.