Wandersong is a very, very special game, and it's hard to entirely pinpoint why. Sure, it's a subversion of the action adventure game that relies more on mood and dialogue than overcoming a physical challenge, but the same can be said about many indie games of its era. I think ultimately what makes Wandersong so wonderful is that it sorta creeps up on you.
When you start the game, you kinda get the jist very quickly: violence bad, singing good! I will save the world through the power of song and compassion. It's a cute little hook that serves for a cute little introduction to the game, but it's still rather unassuming. Chapters 1 through 3 are definitely charming, with fun characters and interactions and a couple of heartstring moments, but still fairly short, simple adventures without anything terribly unique about them.
But as the game goes on, you slowly realize just how more it is than that. On a mechanical level, the way the game expands upon the little singing color roulette to make all sorts of fun little puzzles and challenges becomes increasingly creative and charming. It starts as a little jingling thing that you use to make random sounds, but it ends up having all sorts of funky and unique applications. The plot goes from a simple saturday-morning adventure to a real meditative oddyssey, with the Bard and Miriam having to reckon with maturity, emotional vulnerability, with realizing maybe they aren't meant to go on this quest at all, and how to persevere when it feels like everything is stacked against you. And it all gets rather heavy, with serious discussions about life and death, depression, the end of the world, but it never forgets its touch. It gets dark, but never without appreciating the beauty of the world, of friendship and community.
Also, having Audrey go around causing chaos and embodying the worst traits of the great hero trope is kinda amazing. The moment you realize all the achievements are tied to stupid ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ she does is probably one of my favorites in gaming in recent memory. Pretty cool to get her psyche explored in act 6, as is the fact that she still doubles down in the end. Would've been nice to get some closure on her fate though.
Now I wiiilll admit that the game gets a little overbearing at times. This is an issue that the other Greg Lobanov game, Chicory, also has in my opinion. I do appreciate a game that tackles all these topics explicitely, but I also think it devolves a bit much into therapy speak and has the characters repeatedly making the same introspections and I think maybe there's a more elegant way about it. Oh also chapter 5 is the lowpoint of the game for me. Too long and dividing it into two kingdoms didn't make either one any favors.
It's not a perfect game and it's certainly not the most insanely fun and engaging one, but it's not supposed to be. Much has been said about ludonarrative dissonance on the internet to the point of meme, but yeah, Wandersong is a strong case to why it matters to get it right: To get every aspect of your story match the way you play it. When I play Wnadersong, I feel like the bard not in motion but in heart and mind, and once credits roll, my, didn't think I would miss the characters of an 8 hour game so much. For my money, Greg outdid himself with chicory, which is a better game in many respects, but I gotta admit, this is still a really strong showing.
