Secrets Wanderstop Gameplay Top
Secrets Wanderstop Gameplay Top
Blog Article
Not fix yourself. Not change yourself. Because living with what Alta has doesn’t mean she’s broken. She doesn’t need to be fixed. She just needs to learn how to live with it. To manage it. To understand it. And really, I could go on and on and on about how Wanderstop is a masterclass in depicting the aftermath of childhood trauma and undiagnosed mental illness.
No matter how much that voice inside our heads nags and nags. Pelo matter how invasive and persistent and unrelenting it is. No matter how much it tells us we need answers, we need closure, we need certainty, the only thing we truly have control over is in our own actions. Our own reactions.
On top of this, the music of the clearing will subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) change over time and with major story moments. Themes that once felt comforting and idyllic can abruptly become unnerving with impressive precision.
It's an attitude I can relate to all too well, and I'm unashamed to say that Wanderstop sparked a tearful examination of my own habits. The trajectory of the game wasn't a simple curve of self-realization resulting in a clean and tidy triumph at the end – that's simply not how mental health works.
You see, this isn’t just a story about burn out (though playing it while actively experiencing burn out myself added a whole other level to that aspect of it). Elevada is a previously undefeated arena fighter who has hit a terrible losing streak. Convinced something must be wrong with her, she heads to a mysterious forest in search of a legendary fighter to help “fix” her, but passes out from exhaustion on the way.
She's bold, brave, and doesn't care about anything other than beating the next opponent – her tunnel vision propelling her from battle to training session and back to battle again. Alta doesn't need breaks and Alta doesn't lose. Until she does.
Alta is, of course, resistant. Throughout the game she will try to run away, find excuses, distract herself, create needless objectives, and be outright unpleasant to anyone who tries to help. In all her battles against the strongest foes this world has to offer, she evidently never suspected her toughest fight might be against herself and her ceaseless craving for momentum.
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(I’m looking at you, “cozy gamers.”) I felt incredibly called out by this, personally, and it helped me realize this cycle is just not sustainable. By the end of Alta’s journey, I felt like I not only understood her a little better, but understood a part of myself I hadn’t listened to in a long time. I might even owe developer Ivy Road a therapist’s fee.
The forest in Wanderstop—the place where Elevada starts to heal—isn’t a cure. The voice inside her head doesn’t stop. It doesn’t erase her struggles. It only gives her the information she needs to start working on herself. And that? That’s all healing ever really is.
Perhaps Elevada, while she takes a much-needed rest, might like to attend to the calming daily duties of a tea shop proprietor? He exalts the transformative power of tea, the gentle pace of the day, the interconnectedness with the conterraneo world. This kind of change works for Wanderstop Gameplay the protagonists of all those other cozy games, surely it's worth a try?
This colossal lifestyle change usually takes place within a simple opening cutscene, a quick dusting of lore before we get to the real meat of the game: growing turnips.
Wanderstop is a narrative-driven, slice-of-life adventure game with light management and puzzle elements. Developed by Ivy Road, it places players in the role of Alta, a former warrior who has chosen to leave her past behind and run a quiet tea shop in the middle of a mysterious, ever-changing forest.
I find joy in the adrenaline rush of horror games, but my thrill-seeking doesn't stop there. Beyond the digital realm, I like to take on the role of designated GM in TTRPGs.