By 
Boy, is Wanderstop a game I wish I hadn’t played at launch. Not because it isn’t an interesting title. It’s a fascinating look at burnout and what happens when someone who won’t stop pushing goes through a genuine crisis. But when I played it on the PS5, there were serious performance issues. Fortunately, it runs much better on the Switch 2 at launch, and the game feels better and like a wonderful fit on the system as a result.
As a quick refresher, Wanderstop follows a warrior named Alta who runs into a mystical forest in order to train under a former legend named Master Winters that retired there. She used to be the best there is, but a horrible losing streak left her pushing herself harder than ever and searching for answers. The problem is as she runs, she suddenly becomes unable to lift her sword and passes out. She wakes on a bench outside a teahouse named Wanderstop run by a man named Boro who found her and her weapon, then brought her there. Since any attempt to return to the woods to run and find Winters results in another collapse (and perhaps harsh truths), she’s essentially forced to finally slow down, grow ingredients for tea, brew drinks for others who find themselves suddenly in the forest and at the shop, and come to terms with what’s really going on.
While this is more of a narrative affair than a hard-pressed, fit everything into a schedule to maximize output and success game, Wanderstop doesn’t function exactly like other similar sorts of adventure games and simulations. A few customers will pop by each season. Based on contextual clues or flat out requests, you can use what you know about different varieties of tea and ingredients to brew what they need. Once all requests for a season are done, Alta gets to move forward and we learn a bit more about what’s going on with her.
Functionally, Wanderstop works well on the Switch 2! There are a few issues I had in the PS5 version, which I mentioned earlier, that don’t seem to be present here. One of the biggest is that Alta actually brews tea properly and doesn’t hop on the ladder when I try to toss ingredients into the pot. When she serves people tea, she actually faces them and doesn’t suddenly turn around to look the other direction in the story segment that would follow. Basically, every bug that bothered me in that initial release doesn’t seem to be here, and that’s such a welcome change. It makes it so much easier when arranging, getting items for birds, and trying to fulfill orders. Alta’s pockets are still too small, but as long as she’s actually selecting the correct items and chucking them in the brewing contraption when I need her to, I’m fine with that!
There is a compromise to it, however, Wanderstop looked far sharper on the PS5 than it does on the Switch 2. Character and environmental models might not look as sharp and crisp. Shadows don’t seem as well-defined either, which can make the lighting seem odd. The colors still pop and the cartoonish approach are maintained, which helps lesson the blow from it not being as well-defined and clear as on the other console. But the visual compromise is very visible.
Yes, Wanderstop took its time getting to the Switch 2, but it’s a situation where it feels like that makes a big difference in a positive way. Bugs that could be a bother on the PS5 seem to be all gone. It runs well. It doesn’t look as great here as it did on other platforms, but it isn’t bad and the design direction helps mitigate that.
Wanderstop is on the Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
