Release Date: September 19, 2025
An RPG with a turn-based combat system, where we combine magical worlds on the battlefield and create personalized attacks and moves based on them. Wander Stars was inspired by the cult anime series, like Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, or Sailor Moon.
Paper Castle is an independent development studio, founded in Venezuela in 2013. Over time, the headquarters of this team was moved to Spain. Five years after appearing on the industry map, this team delivered the Underhero project. After that, it undertook a much larger scale project, an RPG titled Wander Stars, inspired by anime (like Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, or One Piece).
In Wander Stars we play as Ringo, an aspiring martial arts champion, who sets out in search of her missing brother. She is accompanied by the mysterious Wolfe, who is running away from his past. In order to achieve their goals, the duo must join forces and collectively gather the fragments of the legendary Wanderstar map.
The pillar of the gameplay consists of fights with opponents, which take place in turn-based mode.
On the battlefield, we make use of Kiai - a magical martial art that allows us to combine words to create personalized moves and attacks based on them. Action words determine what move we will make, modifier words influence our actions in various ways (for example, by increasing the damage value or shortening the cooldown time), and elemental words enrich our attacks with various status effects related to elements.
It is worth remembering that the number of words we can combine depends on our level of spirit. The words we say also have cooldown periods before they can be used again. Moreover, certain opponents are susceptible to specific words, while others show resistance to them. The key to success is therefore to compose such a collection of words, where individual elements will complement each other, creating diverse combinations.
In addition to words there are so-called Pep Ups, which are enhancements that provide us with special bonuses on the battlefield. Our friendships are their source. Interestingly, if we behave honorably, even our former enemies can become our allies.
The game has been divided into episodes, throughout which we choose paths and procedurally generated destinations from the world map. Apart from battles or content pushing the plot forward, we can engage in random events and find various secrets. The game allows us to freely return to already completed episodes, for example to check content missed on the first attempt.
The graphic design of Wander Stars is maintained in a manga style.
Platforms:
PC Windows
Nintendo Switch
PlayStation 5
Xbox Series X/S
Developer: Paper Castle
Publisher: Fellow Traveller / Surprise Attack Games
Age restrictions: 12+
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System Requirements for Wander Stars Video Game:
PC / Windows
Minimum System Requirements:
Intel Core i3 / AMD A6, 2 GB RAM, graphic card 2 GB, 4 GB HDD, Windows 10 64-bit.
Game Ratings for Wander Stars Video Game.
NintendoWorldReport: 7 / 10 by Jordan Rudek
At the end of an episode, you can spend Honor, effectively experience points, to permanently raise certain stats or limits, like the number of attack words you can bring into battle. A star ranking system encourages return trips to each episode, but I found that once was enough for me. 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.
COGconnected: 77 / 100 by Nicola Kapron
All in all, Wander Stars is a good time for RPG fans and anyone nostalgic for older battle anime. I had fun with it and you probably will, too.
MonsterVine: 2.5 / 5 by Veerender Jubbal
I love the combat, aesthetics, and banter between characters. I had an extremely rough time in the boss fights due to technical qualms. I tried pushing forward, but losing at an unplayable mess of a boss fight takes you back to the start of the chapter to do everything all over again—a loss of progress. After dealing with this, I gave up and am waiting for fixes. I suggest playing Wander Stars on Steam, because there is something so special here with this RPG teasing well-known anime tropes with a dark-skinned girl of colour lead–a rarity in the shounen genre. But for me, the unplayable mess it became has driven me away from the game’s Nintendo Switch version.
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![[1:22] - Launch Trailer](https://cdn.gracza.pl/galeria/filmy/640x360/1290079656.jpg)
