Given that there are plenty of RPGs of all types these days in the eShop, it’s gotten tougher for newcomers to differentiate themselves. While most titles have gone down the road of trying to have more impressive production values, alongside working on a variety of more minor gameplay tweaks, there are others that have gone all-in on something truly different. Wander Stars, looking and in many ways feeling like a somewhat interactive anime, has absolutely come to the table with something unique.

You’ll play the game as Ringo, a young woman who would prefer that you don’t mention her head looking like an apple, who has dreams of becoming a Kiai tournament champion. After an encounter with Wolfe, who’s a bit of a scoundrel, they end up joining forces on an adventure through the universe. If you tend to enjoy the typically quirky characters, dialogue, and situations in anime, this should be a bit of a treat as the game’s animation, character interactions, and storylines really lean into that style.

Showing an even greater commitment to differentiating itself, the game’s battles are one of the more creative ideas I’ve seen in some time. As an English major, I’ve always appreciated the power of words, and it feels like the developers have embraced that idea fully. Your actions will be dictated by the series of words you choose, stacking specific attributes as well as potential elemental effects onto your base action. Over the course of the game you’ll accumulate a great number of these, requiring you to carefully manage the ones available to you, especially since many of them will have additional effects that can have a major impact on play. While I could see where some people could be bothered by this, or perhaps get tired of it, I applaud this system for helping the game stand out from the crowd.

Putting it all together, while some aspects of the experience could go either way for different people, there’s no denying that the team who made this took some big swings. There’s no question that it makes for a memorable experience, even if perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea. But if you’ve been feeling a need to try out something completely different, this would be a great choice to consider.