The Power of the Word in Martial Arts
Paper Castle Games and Fellow Traveller have come together to deliver Wander Stars, an RPG based around a mythical martial art. This martial art is called Kiai, which years of Karate have led me to believe actually means “shout”, a noise made in order to focus one’s energy into a strike, for instance.
Anyway, with that largely irrelevant detail dealt with, it’s time to see what is on offer. Billed by the developers as having “an accessible, immediately fun but deep combat system” (and who could ask for more?), I took my first steps into the world of Ringo and Wolfe et al.
So, why not come with me, and maybe I’ll tell you a little bit about what I found? Or you know, maybe I’ll tell you a lot, this being a review and all! Let’s Kiai!
The Hunt for the Wanderstar Map
The story is where we need to begin with any good RPG, and here in Wander Stars the news is pretty good. Inspired, apparently, by the anime that the developers used to watch, the story of the game is split over ten episodes, and follows the adventures of Ringo, a young girl who is in training to be a Kiai fighter. One day, she is out on an errand when Wolfe shows up and takes something from her – a piece of the Wanderstar map.
This map has a special property, in that the pieces of the map point to each other, and Ringo’s grandmother has hidden a piece of said map in her phone so that she could track her if needs be. It then turns out that other people want this map, and that Ringo’s missing brother also has a piece. What follows is a mad cap chase across the galaxy as we attempt to assemble a crew able to get the map back together. Can everyone be trusted? Of course not, but that’s part of the fun…
Super Extra Repetitive Fire Smash
The first thing to know is that Wander Stars is basically split between three screens, all of which have their own peculiarities; a map screen, a cutscene screen, and the combat screen.
We’ll kick off with the combat, as it is here that the most work appears to have gone into the game, making an interesting system to pick up. You see, in Kiai, words are used to hurt your opponent: it really is as simple as that. As we begin, we only have access to basic words like “Punch” or “Kick”, but as we go through the game, not only do we pick up other words, but also gain the ability to not only carry more words (go with me here) but also the ability to use more words in each attack. I’ve just read that sentence back, and that is about as clear as I can make it: it’s easy to pick up in game but surprisingly difficult to explain!
By the time the end of the episode rolls around, we’ll not only be using elemental words like Fire or Electricity, but also be found mixing in modifier words that increase the amount of times a word hits, or the damage that each attack does. So, an attack like “Super Extra Repetitive Fire Smash” does a heck of a lot of damage!
Strategy and Progression
There is a downside, as you may expect: each word has a cooldown, and this means that you can’t keep unleashing your best attacks ad infinitum, there has to be a modicum of strategy that comes into play. And that is only the attacking words, as there are others such as “Block” that can be modified with elemental effects, negating some attacks, and “Item” which allows us to heal either health or status effects. Complicated it is, but as I said above, quite easy to pick up.
Kiai fighters have to fight with honour, and this is reflected in the fights as well. As we whittle our opponents’ health down, they get to a stage where they are broken, at which point we have the option to either destroy them, or, for a more honourable way to finish the fight, choose to flip the peace sign and leave them conscious. Doing so will allow the chance to gain a “Pep Up”, as the fighters we beat give various passive effects and even new words to add to our vocabulary. And the more honour points we have, the more we can level Ringo up at the end of each chapter, making us stronger for the next one.
Map Nodes and Narrative Flow
The other two screens basically help move the story along. As we wander around nodes on the map, there are various things to interact with. A red fist icon means that there will be a fight on that square, while a question mark means there will be an event, which can be anything from finding treasure to a fight. There are also blank nodes, and so each time we step on one of those, the words that we have on cooldown have their timer reduced by one. Finally, stars means there is treasure to be found on that square.
The plan is to wander from one end of the map to another, picking our route, looking for any of multiple exits, which gives us a powerup for reaching it.
As you may expect, cutscenes either move the story along, or sometimes require us to perform an action or make a choice; the rewards for doing so can be different. Each of the nodes on the map are different every time you play, and so there is a deal of replayability built in.
Anime Style, Minimal Movement
Play through Wander Stars and you’ll notice the obvious anime influence, with that affecting the design of not only the characters we can control, but the NPCs and bosses as well. Ringo is a typical girl who has an apple-like head, Wolfe is an upright wolf, and so on and so forth: the design of the people we meet is very well done.
The actual animation is pretty minimal, to be honest, with the fights having the bare minimum of movement in the scenes: Ringo might throw a kick, but she goes from a guard stance to having a leg out with seemingly no movement between the two frames. And whilst the story is presented in pure text format only, I for one would have liked to have had a voice put to the characters, as it just feels a bit flat without it. The rest of the sound is also a little lacking, with music being largely forgettable: even the fight scene effects don’t stick in the memory.
A Deeply Strategic and Addictive RPG
All in all, Wander Stars does enough to earn a thumbs up. The combat system is great, easy to grasp, but with surprising depth. And the story bowls along at a good pace, keeping you playing. Apart from the underwhelming look and sound, Wander Stars is very good and so if you are looking for an RPG with something different about it, this may be the one for you.
Important Links
Wander Stars is a Unique New Xbox, PS5, Switch and PC RPG! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/wander-stars-is-a-unique-new-xbox-ps5-switch-and-pc-rpg/
Buy Wander Stars on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/wander-stars/9nk4tgjnk7f8
