izigame.me

Beginning words of my review:
Wanderstop is a game with certain charm to it. The character designs are wonderful, the responses the player can choose when talking to the characters are funny. And the story about burnout is certainly an important topic, and very personal. My opinion of the game should not invalidate or take over the love fans of Wanderstop have for it. Too, my heart goes out to the writer, who poured their very personal feelings on to this game, and I understand the difficult development this game had.

My feelings:
I am burned out from Wanderstop.
Coming into Wanderstop, I had bought the game knowing beforehand that for some, they could describe it more of a chore than a game. But there is always a matter of personal taste, I thought. Even if a game's core mechanic was meant to be repetitive and easy, then I'd be fine with it. I mean, my favourite game is a timeloop game of 20 hours, where repetition is part of the narrative. If Wanderstop offered occasional changes with different characters and story beats, like that game, then I could surely love it too.
But it didn't... Well, kind of?
The most polarizing aspect I would say is the trailer. It's a good trailer. A hooking trailer, but more misleading than anything. Many people, including me, got the impression that the main character would be a warrior from a fighting game stuck in a farming sim. It's actually a really good concept for a plot. However, that's not what the game is about at all. And if I had not watched gameplay of the demo, then my misintepretation would have led me to a huge letdown immediately.
So yeah, that misconstruction had been cleared, but I still expected there to be some sort of deeper character development. The trailer focuses heavily on Alta's mental health state. There are side characters who enter the tea shop. Maybe they would serve some sort of purpose or foil, as we learn about them?
No.
The characters' purpose in Wanderstop is to move on. Nothing they share affects Alta's character. I understand why they were included like that. Like the plants and trinkets, you aren't supposed to get attached to them. You aren't supposed to obsess over them to the point of burning yourself out, so they are taken away from you after each chapter. You need to move on. Does it feel meaningless? Maybe you're supposed to know everything is meaningless, so just have fun.
I accepted how the game was. I acknowledged the intent. I understood the decision. But it was boring.
The narrative made sense, but it was boring. 7 hours in, with the salesmen, I confessed it. As cool and important as the concept of burnout could be, the execution was not gripping me. The characters don't get under the protagonist's skin for interesting exchanges, the tea-making has no mechanics for improvement, the inner dialogue of the mc is mostly in self-governed tea-drinking sessions that don't amount to much. It simply takes way too long to get any presence of the themes of burnout in the gameplay itself. Instead of the game showing burnout, I was the one feeling the burnout.
That review I saw calling the game a chore, was right. What had gripped me at the beginning, didn't. Because it wasn't there enough. I can ignore slightly clunky UI for the keyboard and how the game barely recognizes the detached mouse when trying to pick up or drop items, having to use E and R instead. I can ignore the character only interacting with stuff in front of the character's view and not where my camera is angled to. I can ignore me accidentally speaking to a character when trying to use an item. I can ignore constantly accidentally dropping my items instead of stashing them into my inventory. I can ignore having to stop to use my items. If only the gameplay had gripped me.
But it wasn't that kind of game.
I really really wish I could have enjoyed it for what it is. I certainly don't hate the game or dislike it. Nor do I want to sound overly mean. The developers went through a lot, and it isn't their fault. I just feel underwhelmed.