Wandersong (Review)

Wandersong is a beautiful magical musical adventure game about a bard trying to save the world with song, developed by Greg Lobanov and published by Humble Bundle. The universe is on the course of self destruction, and a lowly bard has put it on himself to go on an adventurous journey across the world in search of the mysterious melody known as Earthsong which he was told can save the universe. On your way you'll travel to a large variety of different towns, cities, villages and other places as well as meet tons and I mean TONS of unique and whacky characters (150+ if you really want to know), many of which you will help solve problems for using the power of song (it's pretty corny but in a lovable way).

During your embark on this grandiose adventure you'll have run ins with ghosts, sing sea shanties with a band of overcaffeinated pirates (my favorite part), overthrow a toy factory, visit the spirit world, intervene in a war between kingdoms, explore a harry potter like witch castle, climb a mountain (with song!), and many more amazing things including of course saving the universe. While the game does have quite a heavy theme it's told in a mostly lighthearted way, through bright and cheery oversaturated cardboard cutout visuals and a wide array of musical moments (the music reminds me of a lot adventure time) which help to keep a cheerful and optimistic tone, though this doesn't mean there aren't somber moments. The sound design is done by Em Halberstadt who previously did the sound design for Night In The Woods, so you can expect some top notch quality sound design.

Singing is done through the use of the right analogue stick (or the mouse if you're playing on pc without a controller), moving it in any direction will popup the eight-directional multicolored musical wheel. Each color represents a different note, and although eight notes may not seem like very many it's still enough to sing All Star by Smash Mouth... plus you can squat to sing in a lower pitch. Singing is used to solve puzzles, sing songs, and sometimes even to make decisions while talking to characters via dialogue options. Singing is always accessible even during most cutscenes and conversations, so there's always the possibility for you to break out into song (which annoys your friends every now and then, causing them to angerly tell you to shut up). I have heard a few people mention that the controller analogue stick controls aren't the best when it comes to accurately singing during the song segments, but I didn't really have this problem while playing with an Xbox one controller on my Pc so maybe it's just a problem with the Nintendo switch analogue sticks. As for bugs and glitches, I have experienced a slight stutter effect on character models and text boxes, while this is only a very minor problem it did occasionally break the immersion for me.

One thing I really liked and feel is worth pointing out is the dedicated dance button, that's right, I said dedicated dance button. Throughout your journey you'll learn various dances (which for some reason includes dabbing) from a somewhat strange individual that seems to always end up in the same place as you, just like with singing you can dance at any time and switch through all the moves you've learned, which can end up having a hilarious effect. Everything in Wandersong is animated in such an adorable and expressive way, from the dances to the facial expressions It all adds an extra layer of personality to an already very beautiful special world. One other little detail I loved was how everything in the environment including characters bounce and pulse whenever you're singing, another little effect caused by singing is some people and creatures will even sing along with you matching your every note.

Puzzle and platforming segments are pretty easy for the most part, there really isn't any real punishment for messing things up, other than restarting a very small portion of platforming or causing a song to sound not as good as it could have. You may think this would make the gameplay boring and without challenge, but there is a constant flow of new puzzle mechanics keeping things fresh and interesting, you won't often see the same puzzle twice (this also makes it accessible to a wider range of people). As with most adventure games the main focus is with the story and dialogue between characters, and there's a lot of it here. The story delves into subjects like self-worth, forgiveness, grief, acceptance, renewal, corruption, and many others, and while some of these themes can be weighty they're never presented in an overbearing way. The writing is clever and while it does get pretty corny every so often, it's all very heartfelt and often humorous. The way all the characters interact with each other is charming and entertaining, although they're goofy I found many characters to be relatable (especially the bard) as they all conveyed emotion in a more realistic way (at least most of the time).

Wandersong doesn't shy away from it's grand adventure, it's fairly long and yet never slows it's great pace. If you decide to find everything there is to discover and read every line of text (as I did) than you're looking at a healthy 10-12 hours of content, which is an amazing amount knowing that the game was developed by a small team of just three people, it's crazy. There's something like over four and a half hours of music composed for this game as well as a staggering five-thousand plus sound effects, which is a huge amount for an indie game. The amount of love and effort put into this ambitious little Indie title is commendable, I'm really rooting for it to get the widespread love and attention it deserves. The more I think and write about it the more I realize that it's probably my game of the year, the only other thing that matches up to it as of now is Celeste (which also holds a special place in my heart). This is such a special game, there really is nothing quite like it.

With a well-written lengthy heartwarming story accompanied by a loveable cast of characters and a visual style that's full of personality, as well as an amazing musical score. Wandersong is its own special thing and genuinely a near masterpiece. It isn't for everybody, but if you love great adventures with heartwarming stories this is bound to be your favorite game of 2018. Wandersong is available for $19.99 on Pc/Steam, Humble bundle, and the Nintendo Switch.