This turn-based, story driven, RPG doesn’t just use ‘80s anime as a basis for its art direction but embraces the structure of a typical anime series too. The space travel themed storyline is spread across ten episodes lasting around an hour – give or take ten minutes. Each concludes with a boss fight and a ‘to be continued’ screen, while taking place in a new location with a central theme – such as being chased by the space rozzers, and crash landing in an eerie garden full of ghouls. It’s a refreshing way to present an RPG, safe knowing that upon starting an episode it’ll be done in around an hour, duly giving the choice to continue or take a break.
We’re introduced to Ringo, a feisty red-haired fourteen-year-old who lives with her grandmother in a sleepy seaside village. Ringo knows how to stick up for herself against bullies; something that regularly lands her in trouble. On a day like no other she’s sent out shopping, only to witness a spacecraft landing. What emerges isn’t an alien creature but rather a talking wolf who has been searching for Ringo for some time. Or rather, the star-shaped charm bracelet strapped to her phone. Inside is a piece of golden paper charting the stars, and it isn’t long until Wolfe – as he’s known – and Ringo begin a cosmic quest. Not all is what it seems however, with Wolfe’s past soon catching up with him. As soon as the second episode, no less.
Character design is clearly based on classic anime, impeccably recreated here with fluid cartoon-like animation during battles, expressive static portraits during text-based dialogue screens, and a sprinkling of fully animated cut-scenes. While Ringo’s poses and stances are recycled throughout, they’re full of personality – and it helps that she’s instantly likeable, being more of a cheeky scamp than a troublesome tyke. Enemy design is fun and creative – complete with some amusing grovelling expressions when foes are on death’s door – but don’t expect the biggest of rosters, with adversaries from early episodes returning towards the end.
In addition to its ten episode structure, there are a couple of other things that set Wander Stars apart from other RPGs. Foremost is its battle system, which uses words rather than regular attacks. The idea is to string words together to create new and unique moves, starting with adding elemental abilities (fire, ice, poison, etc) to standard kicks and punches, before adding words like ‘super’ and ‘special’ to increase their damage. More word slots are added over time, and every episode expands the lexicon. This of course allows for some deliberating and heavy hitting blows, especially once words such as ‘repeating’ and ‘huge’ (to attack multiple foes) are added. Amusingly, there’s also a “swear” word that induces rage. By around chapter seven, you’re able to string around six words together, allowing you to get creative.
To prevent players from simply using six-word strong attacks repeatedly, each word has a cooldown varying on its strength, carrying over from one battle to the next. So, if you use a long sentence to finish off a powerful foe, in the next battle those words will still be unusable for a few turns. It isn’t long until two and three slot words are introduced, plus battles soon evolve beyond attacking with everything you’ve got. Many enemies cannot be harmed by certain elemental attacks, requiring experimentation to find their weakness, while later foes are fond of creating barriers using BP (block points), calling for a workaround. Over the course of the adventure, I went from using flaming punches and poison slashes heavily, to relying more on counters and reversals. Word slots must be used to block, remove curses, and consume items too (Ringo has a passion for junk food) and so it pays to leave a slot free. Giving wiggle room for a follow-up attack, bonus SP sees slots restored once or twice per battle.
Wander Stars isn’t just about annihilating the space police, zombies, robots and pompadour-adorned street thugs stood before you, but also forgiveness. If an enemy falls to their knees you can throw up a ‘peace sign’ and be on your merry way, ending the battle sooner. To show their appreciation a ‘pep up’ perk is given, mitigating all elemental damage of a certain type, or showing enemy’s weaknesses before a battle starts. Forgive lots of enemies throughout an episode and you’ll likely find that area’s boss a whole lot easier. On that subject, it’s always possible to restore health by visiting a restaurant shack before an important battle, and shops are frequent, allowing for words to be bought and sold. It’s worth keeping on top of your word library, as it isn’t long until basic attacks such as ‘punch’ are superseded, and you may need a certain word to make a boss fight more manageable. Failure isn’t a huge setback, merely starting you at the beginning of an act rather than the start of an episode.
While exploring the stars a few new faces join the team. The wily Wolfe can slash enemies to cause bleeding damage, as well as steal items to keep the inventory replenished. The healing class is filled by a black witch with an angelic voice, able to transfix enemies with lullabies, while later a pyromaniac tags along, adding an assortment of bombs that can be infused with elemental abilities. Keeping things relatively straightforward, battles simply focus on Ringo, with supporting characters only lending their words. That’s to say, they don’t need to be healed and only appear on screen when using attacks associated to them.
When you aren’t battling and wading through dialogue – with some scenes featuring optional choices – you’re advancing through top-down map screens. They can be compared to a board game of sorts, moving one space at a time and with spaces that commence dialogue or an event. Battles are clearly marked, and there’s a chance to back away. Sometimes enemies roam around the map too, turning in random directions with every move you make. Events can see a new word temporarily added, health increased, or in rare cases decreased. These maps form an episode’s acts, and usually when exiting you’re able to pick a temporary upgrade. While maps all have different branching path layouts, it’s still a rudimentary way to handle exploration – and that’s when taking the random events into consideration.
If you’re expecting to explore towns, take on sub-quests, and free roam then you need to greatly dial back expectations. Imagine walking around the map screen in Super Mario World, only entering battles and convos instead of levels, and you’ll get the gist. Not the most flattering of comparisons considering that game’s age, I know, but portions of Wander Stars did remind me of Star Road. Episodes are at least notably different from one another, which means fresh backdrops, new adversaries, and more branching paths to mull over. The exception is the ninth episode, which is a shorter flashback scene; with the longer final episode picking up the slack.
When an episode ends, you’re presented with a menu, complete with a synopsis of the next. It’s from here that ‘honour points’ (XP) can be spent not just on increasing health and word slots, but also on new words, including enhanced elementals. Before starting a new episode, you must choose which words to carry, which can then be swapped out with any new words found mid episode. Weirdly, the inventory doesn’t carry over – it’s very clear cut in that regard, as if you’re starting anew. Episodes can also be replayed, with the chance to obtain a perfect ‘three star’ ranking by defeating all enemies and commencing all events.
Anyone drawn into Wander Stars by its anime-style visuals will find a fun and unique word-based combat system, stylish presentation, and a jovial cast of characters. It’s a fresh and playful experience that doesn’t take itself seriously, with even its storyline a tad nonsensical in places – largely because of its truncated nature. Indeed, it’s wise to keep in mind that this a story driven experience. While there’s plenty of turn-based battling, you won’t be switching out party members, tinkering with weapon/armour sets, or exploring a large world. It’s very much a case of the stars aligning, providing a twinkling path for you to follow. The battle system and slick presentation are doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Combined though, they’re able to elevate Wander Stars high enough for it to stand out from the crowd.
Fellow Traveller and Paper Castle Games’ Wander Stars is out 19th September on PS5, Xbox Series, Switch and PC.