Wanderlust Travel Stories Review (Nintendo Switch)

Game: Wanderlust Travel Stories
Genre: Adventure | Interactive Travel
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam, Console and Mobile)
Developers|Publishers:  Different Tales|Forever Entertainment
Age Rating: EU 16| USA T|AUS MA15+
Price: €14.99| USA $14.99| AUS $22.50| £13.49
Release Date: 27th February 2020.

Review code used with thanks to Forever Entertainment 

WanderLust Stories is an interactive 300,000 word story game, or to put it in another way: it’s a book on the Switch. Jacek Brzezinski ( project lead on The Witcher) and Artur Ganszyniec  ( Lead story designer on The Witcher) are part of the Polish studio Different Tales that has developed WanderLust. One of the goals they had in mind while developing WanderLust was to make a Slow Game, that’s not to be confused with a game that runs slowly. Here is their quote from WanderLust Stories web page….

”Our goal is not to challenge skills and reflexes but assumptions and feelings. Slow games allow you to experience them at your own pace and grow. They are not designed as toys. They are tales of common human experiences”.

Rapa Nui

WanderLust Travel Stories is centered around a group of five strangers who meet on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Father and daughter, Henry and Henriette from the UK, Adilia from Portugal, Martine from Germany and Tomek from Poland. They recognise in each other kindred travelling spirits and decide that they will meet every night during their stay to hear each other’s respective stories of the journey that changed them.

Through four long stories and five shorter stories in this anthology of travel you’ll learn more about each character and make decisions that shape how each character responds both in the present and within their own individual story. The discussions between the travellers and their respective tales all take the form of scrolling text on the left side of the screen, with a backdrop of photographs on the right side of the screen. All the photographs are actual photographs of the places that each character has visited and are taken from the personal collections of the developers of the game and other travellers.

Decisions To Make

Through each journey you have to manage the mental and physical wellbeing of the characters with choices affecting how stressed and fatigued they are. In turn this affects their mood which opens up new options that take the stories down different paths. Sometimes you are not given a choice and there is only one option to chose.

In some scenarios you have a budget to spend on various items, from clothes to travel options and food. The budget at first makes you feel cautious as you don’t want to spend to much, but as the game progresses it becomes less of a concern as there is enough of a budget for any situation you’re faced with. I liked this, as there was no pressure on the player’s part to make sure the budget never ran out. It’s a nice touch and maybe deliberate by the developers since this is more of a novel than a game.

Cast of Characters

Each character story lasts for different lengths of time, from a couple of hours to three hours. Covering a range of different emotions from discovering the unknown, family, love and loss, conflict and grief. The cast of characters are wide and varied, from all ages to all backgrounds.

Tomek, a romantic, neurotic young man traveling across Europe from his home town in Poland to Barcelona in the hopes of meeting up with a woman he met a year ago in a bar. Along the way he visits Warsaw, Berlin and Paris. To reflect Tomek’s neurotic nature you take care of his time management while he plans his journey through Europe.

Martine is a fashion student who goes on a journey to Thailand to “find herself” and the meaning of life. You make choices and decisions for Martine in what fashions she purchases from Thailand market stalls and what to wear on her trip.

Henry, a grumpy man and his lawyer daughter Henriette, have two different stories that entwine as the game progresses. Henry is an ex-war journalist and photographer who has seen enough of the horrors of war and decides to take a cruise in Antarctica hoping to meet Henriette who happens to be sailing the same waters.

Meanwhile,  Henriette who is addicted to the sea, is on a break from life as a lawyer, she takes the helm of a boat which is on an expedition to the cold climate of Antarctica. She has lots to think about, such as the direction her life as a lawyer is taking her and eventually she meets up with her father, Henry.

Finally we have Adilia, an old lady who is a retired journalist, who travels to Africa under the sad circumstances of her friend and lost love Adwoa’s passing and her funeral. You’ll journey through Africa as Adilia looks back on her life, lost love and what the future holds for her soon to be born Grandchild.

Like any novel there are some characters that you take to more than others and in my case Adilia story resonated the most with me. Maybe it was because she is closer to my own age  (Note to developers, Adilia’s age of 60 is not old!) than the other characters as she looked back on her life. And like myself she was thinking about the new grandchild that was due to arrive, in my case later this year.

Easy Controls and Warning of Swear Word

All the travels are backed up with glorious photographs and soundtrack of busy market places and wildlife sounds, reflecting where each character is on their travels. The game runs perfectly and as it’s an interactive novel you only use one joy stick and the A button to make choices and prompt the game onward.

It should be noted that throughout some of the various travel stories there are some swear words. These range from mild to not so mild, though they did not bother me in the slightest in the context they are in, though some players might find them offensive.

Conclusion

WanderLust Travel stories is a very interesting armchair traveling game. All the stories though different are full of each individual’s emotions and feelings which transfer and involves the player in their stories. The photography is top-notch with some beautiful pictures on each of the journeys.

All in all WanderLust Travel Stories is a very engrossing, delightful, thought provoking experience for the player and if you’re looking for a break from the normal button bashing gameplay then WanderLust Travel Stories is definitely worth a look.

Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot I like it a lot!

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