So, a few days ago, I wrote about how Okami was extremely special to me because it really left a mark upon me from how earnest and uplifting the whole experience felt, and to this day, nothing has exceeded that. Well, there was one game that came very close in its own way, and that one game was Wandersong. This is going to be one of the tougher reviews I write, mainly because while I've already spoiler tagged, I don't want to give away too many spoilers and ruin the many surprises I experienced while going through this myself a few years back. So sit back and relax while I reminisce a bit about Wandersong, and hopefully by the end of this I can convince you that this is one title you're just going to have to see for yourself.

A bit of background here: I played Wandersong on a whim from a friend's suggestion in the middle of 2020. I don't think I have to exaggerate how shit of a year 2020 was for everyone, but needless to say I was not excluded from this; that year involved events such as my own internal struggles with finishing my masters degree requirements, my dad suddenly facing early retirement, and my grandma becoming bedridden until one day, she wasn't there anymore (and I will always regret not being there with last words unspoken because of the pandemic). So I was definitely looking for catharsis in some form, and I turned to the same medium that had always lent a comforting hand; I wasn't expecting Okami levels of greatness (or really anything even close to that) but hey, this cutesy looking puzzle platforming game should do the trick and I'll just play it, feel good for a day with little lasting appeal past that, and move on with my life. That's all there is to it, right?

Oh man, I was so wrong.

Wandersong doesn't pull its punches. From the start of the game, you are immediately forced to confront the harsh reality that you are in fact, not the hero. The messenger of the goddess gives you this cursory scan, tells you to pick up a hero's sword, and deems you unworthy of carrying out the true prophecy. And you wake up in your cabin in the meadows, wondering if this was all a dream.

And for a little bit, it seems like it was. You go about your day, stumble into town, and all of a sudden... there are ghosties in town haunting everyone? And it's up to us to sing our way through this issue and find a way to dispel these foul spirits! But as cartoony as Wandersong is, there's this touch of realism that keeps you grounded. Turns out, you later learn that this is all one giant omen; chaos is sprouting everywhere as people continue about their day, unaware or perhaps unwilling to confront their own demise. And it's up to us, a side character and most definitely not the hero of the story, to collect all the pieces of the Earthsong to try and find a way out of this through the power of music bringing the whole world together!

But as you go along, you'll constantly be reminded that you are indeed and very much so, not the main protagonist. You're just a bard with no super powers or super abilities (except for some damn resilient vocal cords I suppose), and meanwhile this slick and composed girl with a giant ass sword is the true hero of this tale and will bring everyone to salvation! And you, as a hapless side character, are destined to run into obstacle after obstacle of other characters and other conflicts getting in the way. You can't solve them with sheer strength or sheer will; you'll need to figure out different solutions (and there are some very clever mechanics and tinkerings with the song controller mechanics I will not go into because you need to experience that yourself) to get over these barriers even as all the odds are against you. This indifferent world will continue spinning while the fabric of reality comes apart at the seams, and the powers that be... simply don't give a damn.

I think that's one of the major draws that Wandersong has over Okami; there's really no "bad guy" at the end of all this. Everyone is sympathetic and faces their own struggles at the end of the day, and no one exists simply as a plot device or a comic book villain designed to be a final boss. You'll find that while they may be an obstacle to clear, everyone and everything in this story exists as a character with their own tale to tell, and I cannot stress how impressive this is in a game where you form connections with so many individuals across this vast world.

I'll also point out that while Wandersong is not afraid to go for the deep cuts and get very melancholy and existential, it approaches all of its subjects with a careful touch. There's a ton of humor to be found in this game; again, I won't spoil these moments for you, but I found myself bursting out in laughter many many times as our hapless side character stumbles his way through this crazy world with little concrete planning of how to accomplish this fabled task of saving the universe. He's most definitely not perfect and neither are anyone around him, and these interactions are both humanizing and heartwarming while keeping in mind the bigger picture of what holds us together as humans while never forgetting what drives us apart.

And then you get to meet the hero herself. She's so badass with this lightning sword and flowy scarf and strong confident gaze and goes slashy slashy real quick! But then the two of you get trapped in a cave with no sense of direction and... she's lost. She's helpless. She was so sure that she was better than you in every way imaginable... after all, the messenger of the goddess gave her this big ass sword that spews lightning and she was prophesied as the hero of the story and you're just this singing boy with a woodsy hat, how similar could you two really be? And the two of you just... ruminate for a while, talking about life, chasing meaning, why we're even here, what's even the point of all this, and so on so forth. And something broke inside me. In that empty year where nothing happened for so long yet so much happened in a while, I suppose I never took the time to process everything around me despite somehow finding myself with so much time on my hands, and never really accomplishing any of it.

But life goes on, and so must our (not) hero's story. We find ourselves at the world's end. Despite all our efforts, things fall apart, and the center cannot hold. The maw of the void looms ever closer, and every waking moment feels like we're about to be swallowed by the abyss. The final battle is lost, and... that's it. Game over.

...and somewhere in the darkness, there is a light that we cannot see, and there remains hope.

I'm keeping my descriptions deliberately vague because going into more detail than that would ruin this whole adventure for anyone coming into it. But needless to say, the whole game really comes together at the end. I didn't know that I needed this, and I didn't expect to remember anything coming out of this. But Wandersong is just one of those games I will never forget. Every corner of the game oozes creativity and care. Comfort and depth. Humor and mirth. You may not matter to this great big world when this whole story's said and done, but somewhere out there, you matter to someone. And that's all that it takes.

You can finish Wandersong in one day, and you won't want to put it down. I didn't even feel the need to discuss the intuitive and meaningful song controller mechanics, or the Paper Mario art style, or the gorgeous soundtrack, because Wandersong is all of these and yet at its core, is so much more. I kept getting this feeling that this game is so much better than it deserved to be, and now I think that few games, if any, deserve to be as good as Wandersong.

Thanks for reading this. Please play Wandersong. You won't regret it.