Homeless Comments – IGN
Blog Andrew Joseph 12 Mar , 2025 0
When I see the thought behind it Stanley Fable and Beginner's Guide He is also a wanderer, I know what will happen…or, at least I think I did. I look forward to its extremely emotional story, a sense of humor, at least a weird twist – but, despite all that stuff I got, what I didn't see is that it was a game about brewing tea and avoiding burns that forced me to work on my own mastery of productivity in this intimate way. Because it looks sweet and wholesome, it is a hot cup of tea that leaves a lasting mark when it overflows.
Before we move forward further, let me warn you: the less you know about the story of Wandering Sterstop, the better. I will avoid any major spoilers, especially since its compelling central twist arrived early, but a large part of the enjoyment here is following the emotional journey of the protagonist Alta and the mysterious choices around the woods where she finds herself in. If you already think you might think you would like a game like this without being convinced, then I know I'll enjoy it for WanderStop's recommendation. Then you can come back here later and say, “Wow, thanks so much to Ms. Ign Reviewer, this game makes me wonder about the temple, but at the same time it’s full.”
You will find that this is more than just a story about burndown (although actively exercising yourself while playing it, adding another level to another aspect of yourself). Alta, a formerly unbeaten arena fighter, encountered a terrible winning streak. She convinced her that there must be something wrong, and she headed to a mysterious forest to find a legendary warrior to help her “repair” her, but was exhausted along the way. Instead, she finds Boro, the kind and charming owner of a tea shop called Wanderstop, who offers her a seemingly simple choice: take a break and make a little tea, or push herself to move on at all costs.
As I said, this is not a story about a person burning, but an exploration of insights about us burning ourselves over and over again. Maybe you are familiar with this feeling: You push yourself day after day not only to end the deadline or complete the project, but to maintain this control, you need to keep the right lessons in your life. Keep things perfect. Inevitably, you will be exhausted until your body forces you to take a break. You take a break and tell yourself that this is good for you, but you will be back here soon and exhausted as before. The setup here may be fantastic, but it's a situation that is rooted in reality.
Wanderstop is clever in how to call this toxic cycle of ruthless productivity directly. You can’t just stumble upon a magical tea shop, helping others solve their own problems and then “solving” yourself. Alta once said, “Even if it is relaxed, it feels like a job.” She is right. We turn relaxation into a tedious thing that must be full of tasks: satisfying and productive. (I look at you, “comfortable gamer”. At the end of the journey to Alta, I felt like I not only got to know her better, but also part of what I haven't heard in a long time. I might even owe the developer Ivy Road therapist.
In some ways, the Wanderer reminds me of tears spiralbecause this is a story-first game. When new visitors stroll into the forest cleanup of tea shops, you first need to know them before you can give you a tea request, and then you have to use the information you gather to brew the right cup. To do this, you have to grow your own ingredients in a small garden plot outside the tea shop (although technically you can grow them anywhere). You provide you with a wild book, limited seeds, and some mild parenting from Boro, but the rest is yours.
The live book outlines the patterns you need to sow the seeds in order to form the “plant eggs” and have different seed color combinations (blue, pink, green and yellow), resulting in different plants appearing. Once a new type of plant is discovered, you can use the on-site guide to read about unique flavors, and even the strange effects that each fruit can produce when brewed in tea. Everything is simple, but gardening is still a fun little challenge as you solve what color combinations each plant needs.
For such a complex appearance device, operating a tea bar itself is not complicated. A tall ladder spins in a giant glass basin in the center of the tea shop – you climb to the top, pull up the rope, fill the first pot with water, and then climb down to hit the bellows, keeping the thermometer rod in balance to keep the water boiling perfectly. Next you climb backwards, kick the lever, and drain the water into the next pot. Swipe that ladder and it's time to throw the tea and other ingredients in it. Then all that's left is to kick the lever to release it and pour it into the cup. The action is so fun that you eventually start to feel like a professional, even if the tea itself is simple.
Of course, just figure out what tea you actually need to make. I really like the little riddles my clients give you. Sometimes it's easy to figure out the right tea ingredients. Do they want mint-flavored tea? Put in the chip plant and describe its flavor as mint ice cream. But what do you do when someone asks for tea like fruity cereals and dirt? Well, that's a good thing, there's a pleasant whimsical fruit to grow, just like the drinker eats the most at breakfast.
I fell in love with the characters in this game in a way I didn't expect, from the terrible Knight Gerald and his domineering love for his son to the zealous Nana, whose competitive nature makes her shop land on the doorstep of WanderStop's home trying and “run out of your business”. I even like Alta, and let's be very clear: Alta is not a flattering character. She is thick-headed, grinded, and sometimes completely mean. But we don’t always love ourselves completely or how we behave to others, right?
The great thing about Alta as a main character is that you have plenty of opportunities to choose an interesting conversational path throughout the course of Wanderstop. At first, your choice may be limited to mean or sly answers, but over time you can choose between options that reveal humor with all the Steely resolve of Alta. With each new cup of tea, she will learn about her past and her reaction to strange new feelings, and each sip will give you a better understanding of why Alta is what she looks like.
The clients visiting the tramp are impressive and I’m not only talking about race or gender. Each visitor has his own unique design, drinking animation and personality, all shining. Even clients who initially suffered as hard as Alta ended up standing out like someone who accidentally fell into wandering. These characters are colorful, but importantly, they aren't just quirky for the sake of being weird. Everyone reflects a little bit of Alta, helping her to promote her emotional journey and saying goodbye as she inevitably moves on.
Plus, there are some pluffins, they are cute little penguin guys with huge eyebrows, they live on the lingering ground. I was tripping these little fanatics, picking them up and shaking whatever packaging or seeds they fell off, which was huge. Yes and you able Pamper the pluffins.
When I learned that one of the Minecraft composers C418 is behind Wanderstop's soundtrack, I also knew I was participating in music enjoyment. The music itself not only fills the empty space, but also tells its own story. Each client has their own musical theme, so they are deeply appealing even if their conversations don’t have any sound performances. Most importantly, the cleaned music will be clever (and sometimes not so clever) over time and with the main story moments. The once comforting and idyllic themes can suddenly become disturbing with impressive precision.
In addition to growing your own weird fruits and collecting tea leaves to make new drinks, your stay in Wanderstop offers you trusted brooms and garden cuts. You can use these to organize a small piece of leaves or a cleanup of rough spike weeds. But the refreshing and strange thing is that there is no real motivation to do it. Weeds are not really dangerous to your garden, and you can slow down when you stroll, but they won't need Cut to pass.
When you sort out the leaves and weeds, you do have a tiny chance to find something hidden under the chaos. Dozens of trinkets can be found while cleaning, including colorful new tea cups, teddy bears, and even lost packages. However, finding that you can't follow the event for about 15 hours, you can't keep these trinkets, the story solves the cause directly in a clever way. As Boro reminds Alta, is there any reason not to make the surroundings more beautiful just because you can't accept your favorite decorations? Isn’t decoration for your own enjoyment?
On the other hand, the lost packages are mysterious packages that are lost in some way during the cleaning and can be sent back to the world through a strange mailbox outside Wanderstop's door. Things like this aren't as “reward” as you might expect in other games, but you'll get a letter that is usually worth the effort. These letters are stringed together to form a fun little gag that consists of stories that take place outside the cleanup, adding a lovely sense of humor to your cleaning.
Technically, Wanderstop might become a “comfortable” game in this way, but it's not comfortable. Of course, making tea and cleaning tea shops is fun and relaxing, solving each customer’s refreshment challenge is both challenging. But I cried on my first play. one a lot of. Sometimes, I feel like I’m sad – not only a sad moment or a loss of role, but also a loss of myself. The tramp constantly makes me face not only uncomfortable situations, but intentionally contradict the differences you usually expect from these types of games to express this point.
This is not a bad thing, though, because pushing you out of your comfort zone is a big idea. By the end of the game, I didn't want to leave. I know I will do my best – I will talk to all the customers, I will grow every type of plant, and I taste almost every kind of tea. Alta is at the end of the journey, so do I. But I still don't want to go.
The warmth that emanates from the wandering people is not a warm hug. It's warmth, spreading over your fingers from a cup of hot tea, made by your loved ones, while you sit in their kitchen, tears radiating from behind your throat. It’s a painful journey through a safe and tempting space, not only to rest but to really take apart what makes you initially shaky.
