Wanderstop

This one didn't click with me the way I hoped it would, likely because its premise goes against what I enjoy in life sim games. The dialogue with various characters was interesting enough to keep me playing to the end, but it didn't carry the rest of the package enough for me to recommend it.

While I dont think I am the target audience for this, Ive had a wonderful time

very sweet game, made me ugly cry 10/10

I bought this game because it was developed by the team behind The Stanley Parable. That game is inventive, fun, and engaging. Wanderstop is none of those things. It begins with a painfully long narrative about the main character, a warrior who, once defeated, spirals emotionally. Having, apparently, absolutely no friends or anything else to do, she obsessively tries to regain her lost glory. It doesn't work, and she wanders into the woods and discovers a tea shop. The affable owner becomes her guru. He's the only character in the game that is interesting, and you can't play as him. Instead, you end up being guided through a confusing, repetitive process of meeting new characters and...making them tea. This is marketed as a "cozy game." That genre is meant to be slower, more visually and mentally engaging, and about disconnecting from an otherwise troubling world. Wanderstop misses the mark here as well. The artistic style is pleasing, though not more so that many other games. The playable environment is (at least initially), extremely limited. It's basically the tea shop and the small area around it. The process of creating the tea is needlessly complex and the UI throughout the game is frustrating to navigate. I've read there is some big story reveal that happens that's interesting, but I couldn't make it that far. After only a few hours or uninteresting, repetitive gameplay within a world that is irksome and characters that grate on my nerves, I couldn't take it anymore. Rather than helping me through the feeling of being burned out, Wanderstop felt like a second job that I no longer want to show up for.

If you're looking purely for a gameplay experience, you could absolutely say this game is shallow. As far as farming sims/cozy games go, there isn't a whole lot that you can't get out of other games. What sets this game apart from every other game it takes inspiration from, is that with those simple gameplay elements it lets you be yourself in how you work your way through its fantastic story. Wanderstop asks very little of you besides some occasional tasks. In fact, the biggest thing it does ask of you is to not overthink and just have fun with what it does provide. What you do in the time you spend with this game is ultimately up to you. Sprint to the ending if that's really what you're looking for. Alternatively, you can whack some weeds, plant extra trees and bushes, sweep the ground, heck, you don't even have to make tea all the time if you want to soak in the games absolute beauty. No matter how you go about it, eventually you'll find yourself at the end, and whenever you're ready, you can let go. That's where the games depth truly lies. I'll be honest, I feel like that one meme of that ogre reading Ulysses, feeling like there's something more I could get out of this game. I genuinely feel there is so much more in this game I couldn't pick up on, a whole other layer of thematic elements I didn't pick up on this playthough. In time I'll probably return to this game, and maybe I'll find what I might have missed along the way. I think that's the whole point of the game. It gives you a lot of concepts and ideas to chew on, and whatever you're able to grasp in the moment, that's all you need to focus on. Beautiful visually, beautiful musically, and beautiful emotionally. Well done to everyone involved in making this game something special.

A beutiful game that is a perfect example of what a relaxing game should be. Definitely pick this up if you want to just turn off and enjoy something lovely for a while.

頑張りすぎたり辛くなって身動きが取れなくなった時も、無理せずに休んでもいい。そんなことを教えてくれた作品でした。 お店を訪ねてくるクセが強い客達との対話を通して、主人公の心情の変化を辿れます。同時に、自分も「こうしなきゃいけない、できなければダメだ」というような考え方を頻繁にしてしまうことを自省しました。人生に疲れちゃった方におすすめ。 音楽もキャラクターも飲み物作りシステムも良かったので、エンドレスモード？フリーモード？みたいなものも欲しかったです。