Game: Elrentaros Wanderings
Genre: Action RPG
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam (Windows))
Developers| Publishers: HAKAMA | Red Art Games, Bushiroad
Age Rating: US: E | EU: 3+
Price: US $39.99 | UK Game £ 35.99 | EU € 39,99
Release Date: August 16th, 2024
A review code was provided; many thanks to Red Art Games.
Released previously in Japan under the title Rear Sekai and featuring the Rune Factory pedigree courtesy of developer HAKAMA and creator Yoshifumi Hashimoto, it’s reasonable to hope that Elrentaros Wanderings will scratch the itch of anyone looking for a light, colorful gaming experience that might touch that life sim itch. Elrentaros Wanderings is an ARPG with very slim life sim elements, however, and most of its story is contained in a familiar but interesting visual novel narrative played out between two worlds.
Coming to the West on Nintendo Switch and PC in August, Elrentaros Wanderings feels closer to Harvestella, but with chibi style and even more stripped-down gameplay. The results didn’t click with Japanese audiences, but will the game have a better chance here? Let’s say cultures aren’t always so different that we can’t easily relate to one another.
The Oddly Familiar World of Elrentaros Wanderings
Choose your magical girl (or magical guy) and awaken into a fresh morning of amnesia in the fields of a small town! You’ll quickly be greeted by people who seem to have at least met you or are expecting you. The situation is clearly a whirlwind for your dozy, dazed hero, and you’ll be whisked through your tutorials of talking to new people, finding out where the shops are, checking your inventory, and then running off to the obligatory tutorial dungeon the next morning.
Plunging into the depths of danger, you’ll have plenty of time to get used to combat’s simple controls. At the outset, you’ll have an attack, a cooldown dodge, and a cooldown heal, and that’s that, to the point that you’ll be dead certain that the dungeon’s midpoint boss and bonus treasure level is it. But no, you keep on trucking until you’ve freed a rather pretty young man from danger and present yourself to the town as a hero! After which, you need a nap and… wake up at school.
None of this is particularly fresh fare, and it’s brisk enough not to weigh your enjoyment down, assuming you are enjoying what you’re doing. But it doesn’t take more than this first introductory segment to make you wonder if this started life as an eager but simplistic mobile game looking for some of that post-Dragalia Lost cash, and it’s actually sort of an unwelcome surprise to find out it’s not.
Because that would have forgiven a lot about the game’s thin setting and breathless character introductions. Unfortunately, what you see is… well, that’s the bulk of it.
Farming and More in Elrentaros Wanderings
As would befit a game from the creators of the wonderfully in-depth and character-rich Rune Factory series, you’d hope that there’s something to look forward to in the game’s farming systems and its urge for you to get to know your friends and neighbors as you thread your way through this “I’ve seen Your Name, and sir, you are no Your Name” quasi-isekai storyline.
The bulk of the character art is as beautiful as HAKAMA’s other offerings, although a few characters’ designs are too busy to enjoy. At worst, some of them feel like they were characters that didn’t make the cut in Rune Factory. At the most subjective, the town’s doctor wears glasses that are centred around his eyes in such a way that he keeps looking dimmed and a little sinister, which I found off-putting. And if you don’t like the designs, there’s not much to keep you invested in building relationships with them as friends and as battle partners; their dialogues and personalities aren’t noticeably deep.
Does it seem like I forgot to mention the farming? I didn’t. It’s there. You grow your produce on a handful of plots on the world map and do the usual with the results. It’s not even Harvestella-levels of interesting. I apologize for my tone. I’m not mad at this game. I’m just disappointed.
Elrentaros Wanderings Runs Better than Rune Factory 5, But At What Cost?
From a technical standpoint, Elrentaros runs pleasantly smooth on the Nintendo Switch, with no input issues in the occasionally frenetic dungeons. Autosaves and moving dialogue along aren’t chunky, and the game’s streamlined nature as a nigh-pure dungeon crawler benefits from this Econo-saver style.
The cost, however, is visible. Your bucolic town and its inhabitants, visible on the map, are small, muddy, and often downright blurry. The town’s homes and shops are less vibrant than Legends of Mana, a PS1 game, and even your status screen profiles are unusually bland.
Dungeons are colorful but repetitive, while its monsters are at least clean and interesting to look at. But again, you’re pressing the same handful of buttons all the time. The game’s vaunted builds and collectable loot aren’t all that intriguing or game-refreshing. And after about ten screens of the same dungeon cycle, you’re already begging for the boss to show up so you can slap him around and go home.
Conclusion
Elrentaros Wanderings commits the only gaming sin I can’t forgive: It makes me sad to play it. There’s still life in the character’s art styles, and there’s the glimmer of something here for those who liked niche but crocs-and-lattes basic ARPGS like Heroes of Ruin or that 3DS Phantasy Star game that also left me depressed. But the results are limp, and the colors run together into a generic anime mush.
I’m not going to give this game our worst score; it runs well, and as I say, it will find a few players who wanted something like the equally streamlined Snack World, without its particular twee nonsense. But as a full-price game with a pedigree that used to bring hope and cheer to its audience, I am genuinely disappointed with the results. A little research will bring up some Japanese discussions for its original release, and I’m only slightly heartened to see I’m not the only person with similar complaints. Thus, I’m not sure I can recommend it with a fair heart, unless you are really hankering for a no-frills mobile-style ARPG. Certainly not at full price.
Friends, Rune Factory 5 was a chunky step back from the franchise’s heights. Buy it on sale anyway, to remind HAKAMA that we still hope for more from them… as long as it’s not this.
Final Verdict: I’m Not Sure
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