Ok, on the one hand, I enjoyed myself. This comes from an older cloth of "let's throw in an optional skiing game... now a pirate song... alright, time management sim!", and you get a fun variety.

On the other hand, and maybe this is my fault for playing it back to back with Chicory, there's a pretty straightforward vibe of "I want to be the hero and I'm not". And it's warm and fuzzy and not meanspirited, which through one lens is refreshing, and through another lens (having just played Chicory), is a second teaspoon of pure sugar.

the musical nature of it is very forgiving, the platforming came right up against the edge of my very low skill bar but didn't push me too hard, and that's a neat challenge. the unlockable dances were hilarious. and the composed songs were great. However, the actual act of singing was.... not always the most pleasant thing to hear.

i finished this game a few days ago and I'm just reflecting on what it left me with. The answer isn't a lot, but it also isn't negative. So, you know.

I couldn't avoid playing this game after playing my all-time favorite game (so far)... Chicory.

Chapter 1: 🎬
It took me almost the whole chapter to get into this game! I tried it a few different times, but eventually, when the second chapter started, it kinda clicked :>

Chapter 2: 🥁
I enjoyed ordering beans, making a theme song, and... getting the band together 😎. The game didn't hit until the start of chapter 3, though.

Chapter 3: 🏴‍☠️
This is where I got fully invested in the game, I'd say. Exploring with the pirates, following the map, and finding secrets felt really fun. It reminded me of a game I used to play as a child. Often indie games feel like reading a children's book. It gives me a joy that is hard to match...

Chapter 4: 🏭
The game took a very unexpected turn for me here. It focused on the whole time mechanic, which I liked. It reminded me of Stardew/Animal Crossing, with how you had to be exact on time a lot of the time. It felt similar to both Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the film Klaus...!

Chapter 5: 🦄
This was probably the longest chapter and... one of the best. I didn't care much for the conflict between the people, basically? But otherwise, it had a lot of fun things. I almost expected it to be done, but then I got the magical school arc, which was really fun, with Metroidvania mechanics???

Chapter 6: 🌌
Kinda short? Not much to say about it. It felt a little simple, and apparently, every indie game has a mountain climbing section!

Chapter 7: 🏡 Mimimimimimimi

Well, while I'm still considering Chicory my favorite game...? This game was phenomenal. It did so many creative things, had some awesome songs, fun characters, awesome sound design, and really engaging dialogue. I did, however, miss the more open-world styled exploration in Chicory... I preferred the top-down view more. Wandersong, to me, almost felt too linear at points with not enough secrets to find. I'm not sure if that's a negative for the game itself or just my opinion!

Can't WAIT to see what Other Wishes do next!!!

A unique 2D platformer RPG where you take on the role of a cheerful bard aiming to save the world with his singing. The game places an emphasis on music and harmony over traditional RPG heroics. The abilities of the music wheel change with each stage, making the gameplay charming, creative, and fresh. The characters, though quite simple in design, have distinguishing features. Interacting with them brings forth a touching narrative that explores themes of compassion in the face of adversity and overcoming insecurities.

Overall, it's an uplifting and touching adventure that fills you with hope and joy.

ps the game has problems running on high refresh rate monitors. I'd recommend running the game on 60fps capped (change this from NVIDIA control panel or equivalent steps for AMD/Intel GPUs as there is no fps limiter setting in-game)

Wandersong is a cute, easygoing, and extremely wholesome puzzle game with a neat singing gimmick. The graphics look decent and are deceptively simple. At first, you feel the one-man-band vibe, but it quickly becomes VERY impressive with the insane tricks the dev/s pulled with using the graphics and gameplay so creatively. My first impression was that it reminded me of Pikuniku. Its really easygoing, and theres no difficulty whatsoever, so relax and enjoy it. The writing is easily A tier, very moving, wholesome, and engaging. I laughed many times, I spent a good portion of the game with a beaming smile, and I'm a guy who for whatever reason doesn't really smile much. And I also very nearly cried happiness at the end.

The story takes a while to get going, but once it does by golly does it speed off like a train, by chapter 2, I was heavily invested in the character progression and development, and wider story and was enthralled by the lovable characters at every single turn.

By chapter 3, I fell in love with the devs' sense of humour, they have the best kind of lighthearted internet culture you can find in laid back, creatively driven fandoms with a nod to the old style internet, think Homestuck (which there are s e v e r a l references to), Artfight, Newgrounds, etc. This kind of vibe is right up my alley, and I wish more netizens embraced it more. I'm trying to be a nicer and more wholesome netizen myself, this game inspires me towards that further.

In chapter 4 I pet the dog, did the bardy thing, and made a depressed young man happy. :D

By chapter 5, I was going crazy with all the insane tricks the dev was pulling, and my interest in The Bard and Miriam's relationship peaked and stayed for the rest of the game, I also realised that Audrey is a total bellend here.

Chapters 6 and 7 weren't as crazy as chapter 5, but the ending almost made me cry. Thats all I'll say about it.

I didn't pay any money for this, I got it as a Christmas present from a REALLY good friend. She really knows how to pick em. With hindsight from playing it, I would say its worth the A$30 theyre asking, but I wouldn't have gone for it until it went on sale for 60%+, maybe you should too if you're not totally convinced in how good it is or have a backlog and can wait to save some money.

Wandersong is a narrative driven puzzle platformer that is heavy on charm and light on mechanical depth. The writing, and the textual delivery of that writing, is exemplary. The overall story is incredibly hopeful but manages to just barely avoid becoming trite. And of course the music is very well composed, although the Bard's vocal patches can occasionally be a bit irritating.

Mechanically there's not a lot going on. Although the developers got a lot of mileage out of spinning the right joystick to sing, most of the game is very simple and easy. To counterbalance this low difficulty some sections are a bit repetitive, which slows the pacing down a bit too much. To really get the most out of this game you have to be prepared to stick through some mediocre gameplay sections for the sake of a masterfully crafted narrative.

I don't normally play games like this but Wandersong is a sweet game that touches some heavy topics.

The way they go about these topics is considerate and I think is relatable in different ways. The ending to the game also felt satisfying.

Really the only bad thing I experienced when playing was a LOT of bugs, it was honestly annoying I'll admit. Regardless, I liked going around talking to npcs and singing my silly songs as the Bard. Their relationship with Miriam was also very sweet.This was a great game to end 2022 with.

Wandersong is a cute little game I had recommended to me ages ago, but I can't really remember the why or how of that happening. All I know is that at some point I bought it for my Switch, tried it out for a few hours, and then bounced off of it. It's been languishing up until now, and I finally finished it yesterday. It took me about 8 hours to complete the English version of the game all in one sitting.

Wandersong is a story about a bard. You have a dream one night about being tested as the hero who will save the world... and fail. You fail horribly, and the guardian spirit of the world informs you in no uncertain terms of this. The world has a destined hero, and it is soooo not you. However, the bard does learn of something called the Earthsong, something that could theoretically save the world, but it's never been successfully done. Undeterred, the bard sets out on a quest with his new companion Miriam the witch to try and save the world in a universe that is DEFINITELY about to end.

You travel to all sorts of different locales: an archipelago full of singing and coffee-loving pirates, a city under the thumb of an oppressive toy factory, and a freezing mountain on the edge of the world. All while reality slowly begins to crumble around you and the actual destined hero harries you at every turn, given that you're on two conflicting quests. Wandersong is a story about hope and the relationships between people. The story takes a while to get going, but once it does it really had me hooked (I'd say it starts getting good a couple hours in at Act 3). The dialogue is silly, but balances seriousness with that well. It eases you into the characters of Miriam and the bard with the silliness, and gets to how they function as people beyond that. I was delightfully surprised by the writing in this game, and it at times feels like a VN despite being more a puzzle platformer with a large focus on its story.

The actual gameplay loop of Wandersong is a puzzle platformer, but ultimately not a terribly challenging one, although it certainly has more tricky parts that I would've predicted it had. You can walk around and jump, but what the game really flexes its puzzles with is your ability to sing (you ARE a bard, after all). By pushing the right stick in the 8 cardinal directions, each one sings a different note, and the game uses this mechanic for all manner of puzzles. Puzzles rarely repeat outside of the singing parts, and the game does a great job at pacing puzzles so they go on long enough to feel satisfying but not so long that they feel overly repetitive. They're a great framework for the story to take place in, and they add a lot of character to the bard, as you can basically sing whenever you want, and you also choose dialogue options in conversations by selecting a direction on the little color wheel that appears to help you select notes. You can even hold L to start dancing whenever you want. It has no bearing on the gameplay, but there's a secret new dance to discover in each area of the game, and it's good silly fun to just start dabbing during a cutscene X3

The presentation of the game is super fun. It almost has a paper-craft style to it with how everything is constructed out of shapes. The world is bright, colorful, and full of personality, from the backgrounds to even side characters. The music is also really good, often reacting dynamically to how you're playing the game or what your bard is singing. Nothing particularly MP3-worthy, but it does a great job at making the overall theme of music come alive as well as setting the mood for scenes very well, especially the bard's singing parts.

Verdict: Highly Recommended. There are a lot of indie puzzle platformers out there, I won't deny that, but this is easily one of the most memorable I've ever played. With a strong presentation and a solid story, it's definitely one of my favorite games I've played this year.