Um Imparcial View of Wanderstop Gameplay
Talisman 5th Edition review: "The characterful imperfections of the original game remain clear to see "
Far from just another “cozy” game, Wanderstop invites you into a colorful world filled with quirky characters and bizarrely flavored tea at the price of some uncomfortably insightful introspection.
It’s a feeling so many of us have but never know what to do with. That unfinished, unresolved "what if" when people leave our lives. That lingering, hollow ache of an interrupted story, when you never get to find out what happened next.
Clearly, Boro has taken a tea leaf out of their book and created the world's slowest machine. Elevada can add flavors with delicate precision, or blindly chuck any old thing in there and see what comes out.
As Boro reminds Elevada at one point, just because you can’t take the decorations you love with you, is that any reason not to make your surroundings more beautiful while you’re here? Isn’t decorating for the sake of enjoying your own personal space enough on its own?
The gameplay is layered in such a way that there's never a lack of things to do (unless all you want is rest), with wonderfully tactile activities, a moving soundtrack (composed by Daniel "C418" Rosenfeld of Minecraft music fame) and a small cohort of endearing characters to meet.
Elevada is, of course, resistant. Throughout the game she will try to run away, find excuses, distract herself, create needless objectives, and be outright unpleasant to anyone who tries to help. In all her battles against the strongest foes this world has to offer, she evidently never suspected her toughest fight might be against herself and her ceaseless craving for momentum.
Operating the tea machine itself is rather uncomplicated for such a complicated looking contraption. A tall ladder rotates around the giant glass pots in the center of the tea shop – you climb to the very top and pull a rope to fill the first pot with water, then climb down to smack the bellows, keeping the thermometer bar balanced to get the water to a perfect boil.
Wanderstop is a narrative-centric game about change and tea. Playing as a fallen fighter named Alta, you’ll manage a tea shop within a magical forest and tend to the customers who pass through.
The customers who visit Wanderstop are impressively diverse, and I’m not just talking about ethnicity or gender. Each visitor has their own unique design, drinking animation, and personality, all of which shine. Even the customers who are initially just as abrasive as Alta eventually stand out as quirky, complex people with their own deep and emotional reasons for having stumbled into Wanderstop.
Foraging is another key part of the process. Tea leaves are scattered throughout The Clearing, waiting to be picked. I do wish we could also plant our own tea bushes, but alas, foraging is the only way. We also gather mushrooms, which can change the properties of the fruits we use—sometimes in expected ways, sometimes in ways that completely surprise us.
This colossal lifestyle change usually takes place within a simple opening cutscene, a quick dusting of lore before we get Wanderstop Gameplay to the real meat of the game: growing turnips.
Players are invited to immerse themselves in its cafe management simulator where they must learn how to brew a good cup of tea using a mix of different ingredients, serve it to customers, and perform related chores such as cleaning, decorating, and gardening.
Talisman 5th Edition review: "The characterful imperfections of the original game remain clear to see "