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Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: Wander Stars is a turn-based RPG with roguelite elements where you make your own attacks by combining words to make your own fighting techniques.

    Learn new words to collect, combine, and experiment to discover enemy weaknesses, synergies, and strategies that will help you win your battles!
    Wander Stars is a turn-based RPG with roguelite elements where you make your own attacks by combining words to make your own fighting techniques.

    Learn new words to collect, combine, and experiment to discover enemy weaknesses, synergies, and strategies that will help you win your battles!

    The story of Wander Stars follows Ringo, a young martial artist looking for her brother, and Wolfe, a mysterious scoundrel running from his past, as they join forces in an unlikely partnership to collect the pieces of the Wanderstar Map.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. Sep 19, 2025
    90
    Wander Stars is a quirky RPG that uses vocabulary to fight. It’s old school anime art style and soundtrack will transport you back to the 90’s and will live up to the expectations of those who grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons.
  2. 70
    Some stuttering, some janky animations, and even a softlock put a damper on my time with it, but Wander Stars is a relatively fun romp while it lasts, particularly if you're in it more for the RPG mechanics over the plot.
  3. Oct 20, 2025
    70
    If there is anything that should be praised, it’s that Wander Stars is a great reminder that episodic RPGs are a fantastic, if rare, thing. At no point does the game outstay its welcome across its ten episodes, and the writing and characters do a wonderful job of bringing players back. The battle system is interesting, though it ultimately plays a bit too safe, which is a shame given how playful the idea of using one’s words is. There is a lot to enjoy in this tiny package, but the Switch’s performance issues hold it back from being excellent. That being said, Wander Stars is a very joyful game that, if a sequel were made and its issues ironed out, I would be on board to play in an instant.
  4. Oct 13, 2025
    70
    Wander Stars is interesting and tells a Dragon Ball type of tale, especially considering its novel combat system that uses words to construct every action. The aesthetics are fantastic. It’s clearly a labor of love and tribute to shonen series. The issue is there are some bugs that can hamper the experience, especially if it softlocks and you find yourself losing progress due to it only automatically saving at the outset of every map. A few patches should help things along and I think it is neat, but I do think the execution and bugs might keep it from being for everyone. I recommend checking out the demo first.