Wander Stars Coming to Switch, PC August 1st

We finally have a date announcement trailer for Wander Stars!

This turn-based RPG, directly inspired by ’90s anime like Cowboy Bebop, Dragon Ball, and Ranma ½, is coming on August 1st to Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam. On the latter platform, signups are ongoing for a public beta that’ll go live on June 19th.

Wander Stars is promised to be a colorful and unique adventure with a combat system based… on words.Check out the latest Wander Stars trailer, shown at the Women-Led Games Showcase, as well as new images!

As budding martial artist Ringo and secretive rapscallion Wolfe embark on a galaxy-spanning search for the pieces of the Wanderstar map. Across 10 episode-style chapters, inspired by Cowboy Bebop, Dragon Ball Z, and One Piece, follow the determined twosome as they collect pieces of the Wanderstar map, engaging in grand mysteries, shocks, surprises, and epic plot twists, just as you’d expect from an iconic anime television series.

 Along the way, Ringo and Wolfe will use their fists, feet, and words, battling enemies with “Kiai,” a unique form of martial arts. This very special combat system sees the Wander Stars protagonists combine all kinds of words to unleash damage and creativity in equal measure. Strong! Heat! Smash! and Phantom! Guard! attacks are just some examples of what you can unleash with the game’s more than 200 unlockable words!

The customizable combat offers real potential for mass damage and smart strategy, with endless offensive and defensive moves. Word cooldowns, as well as enemy strengths and weaknesses, all have to be considered. Additionally, using your words with honor (and not only as weapons) can unlock unique phrases that can lend you more power in future battles. It also makes you friends in the game, and really, what’s cooler than that?

Players can also sign up for the Wander Stars player beta on Steam, which will go live June 19 and delve deeper into the game than the public Steam demo.

Key Features

USE YOUR WORDS

SUPER FAST FIRE KICK! Battles in Wander Stars are settled through a unique combat system that combines the structure of turn-based JRPGs, the strategic layer of deckbuilders, and the spectacle of anime like Dragon Ball Z. 

Create custom attacks by combining words up to the limit of your spirit level. The more spirit you have, the more slots you have to place words into and the more powerful and complex actions you can take.

Action Words do something, e.g., KICK, BLOCK, or ITEM. 

Modifier Words modify actions, e.g., SUPER (+1 damage), FAST (reduces cooldown), or HUGE (attacks all opponents).

Elemental Words add an elemental impact and status effects, e.g., FIRE (burn) or WATER (wet). 

All words have cool downs, and opponents might be weak or strong against specific attacks or specific elements. You won’t know which until you engage them in battle, so you need to be prepared to improvise.

COLLECT THEM ALL

With over 200 words to collect across the game, there is a near-infinite number of possible unique attacks to make. Things start off easy but as you expand Ringo’s vocabulary you’ll need to carefully select which words you take into battle, building strategies around your mix of categories, blend of offensive and defensive words, giving yourself options to manage your opponents weaknesses and strengths, consider optimising the juggling of cool downs and, of course, which attacks sound the coolest.

The result is an accessible, immediately fun but deep combat system.

STEP UP WITH PEP UPS

The core ethos of the Kiai martial art is to fight with honor. Defeating an opponent with honor can turn the most heated of rivals into the fastest of friends! Befriend your rivals to earn their words of encouragement in the form of useful Pep Ups, which can be equipped to give you special bonuses in combat. 

THE STARS CALL

Travel the universe on a rollercoaster adventure as you seek the pieces of the Wanderstar map, Ringo’s lost brother, and the answers to Wolfe’s mysterious past. 

This is a tale of mystery, adventure, betrayal, redemption, unlikely allies, twists, turns, surfing capybaras, health-restoring empanadas, forgotten shopping lists, rifts in space, AND rifts between lovers.

UNLIKELY ALLIES

Along the way, you’ll build a found family of colourful characters, each with their own thing going on. They might not all get along at first, but that’s nothing a thrilling space adventure can’t fix! And even with the trail gone cold, take heart, for these wandering stars are bound to find each other…

AN ANIME YOU CAN PLAY

Wander Stars is inspired by the anime the developers grew up watching in 1990s Venezuela and shows like Dragon Ball Z, Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, One Piece, and more. 

It plays out across 10 “episodes”, each of which takes between 60-90 minutes to complete. Each episode features a map to explore with procedurally generated battles, special events, and other secrets to find along with the main story events.

Tackle your playthrough an episode at a time or binge the whole thing in one go – the choice is yours. 

You can even replay episodes to find all the side adventures, NPCs, and party member banter you might have missed! Try new paths as you explore ever-changing maps with randomized special events, lurking rivals, and tantalizing treasures. The experience is never quite the same!

Wander Stars Screenshots

Don’t miss our demo Impressions for a deeper look at what Wander Stars is all about. We also covered the story reveal trailer from a year ago.

Wander Stars launches August 1st for Switch and PC via Steam.

Stay tuned to RPGFan for more updates ahead of the public beta on June 19th!