Wandersong

One of the few games to ever make me laugh while crying, 10/10 would do re mi fa so la ti do again :thumbs_up:

TL;DR
Wandersong is a therapy for cynicism, pessimism, and fatalism; a journey through yourself to the deepest deep of your feelings you have not even known how to reach. The world needs more games like this. Play it, please.
Full Review
Wandersong may seem to be excessively bright, colorful, and unpretentious. Maybe even superficial. I think I would not give it a chance if not for a friend who gifted it to me for Christmas as one of her all-time favorites. Oh my, how looks can be deceiving! This is one of the most tender, sweet, and wholesome games I have ever played. It brings up some significant subjects and makes you experience them in a manner that seems appropriate even for a child. The many facets of the story resonated with me in so many ways I don’t even know if I can reasonably tell everything. I will try, though.
You start the game as a cheerful and ever-smiling bard who learns an awful truth – the world is ending soon. You want to do something about it even though you are not a hero type; the only thing you are good at is singing. To your surprise, there is a chance to make a difference. If someone could just sing the song of all living creatures, it might be enough to save the dying world. With this knowledge in mind, you begin your epic quest despite all odds.
The gameplay is simple. There is a wheel of musical notes in different colors, and you pick some to sing your way through puzzles and quests. The game is heavy on music, but you don’t have to be a musician to tackle its objectives. This is not Crypt of the NecroDancer or 140, where you have to rely on an internal metronome; you can be an absolute opposite of a musician and still be able to play through Wandersong. You can even create your own tunes in the process and feel good about them! Besides, the symbiosis of notes and colors gave me insight into something I was curious about for a long time – synesthesia. It was fascinating to have a glimpse into it for myself. Music is a form of magic, and Wandersong is dead serious about this statement in every possible way.
And now, the hardest bit – feelings. Wow! There is so much going on in this little gem of a game. It draws a picture of the apocalypse, both literal and personal, and deals with it gloriously. It tells a story of accidental friendship and shows that any person with any personality is good enough to make friends and be cherished. It teaches how to deal with pessimism and open yourself to the wonder of the world; live in harmony with it. Some things are more subtle; some others – can make your eyes wet. I don’t want to spoil anything, so let’s just say everyone will find something to reflect on, I am sure of it. There is no cynicism here whatsoever; only love, kindness, a little bit of sadness to spice things up, and sweet humor to counter it. Open your heart to this game, and it might give you the world in return.
I think Wandersong changed me. Thank you, my dear friend Agnieszka, for the incredible gift, and thank you, Greg, Em, and Gord, for creating this ode to optimism. Cheers!
P.S. My daughter was afraid of ghosts (I have to thank PAW Patrol for placing this idea in her mind), and Wandersong helped me persuade her that ghosts are not scary at all. This is how good the game is!

If I have to summarize Wandersong in one word, I'd pick 'adorable'.
This game is a very adorable mixture of heart-warming stories, dulcet soundtrack and innovative puzzles. Because the protagonist is a bard, there is interaction with music involved in literally everything. Hooray!!!
As for the story, it might not be all grand and thrilling, but there is so much you could get out of it -- friendship, kindness, loss and acceptance and moving on, settling differences, being yourself… There are a lot of, and I mean A LOT OF, conversations in game. You are not required to go through all of them, but many of them have some good insights about these topics.
I especially love those elements in game that seem irrelevant and insignificant, like learning those silly dance movements, petting the cute animals that you encounter, or even just changing the color of your surroundings by singing in different tunes.
It is a shame that the only available language is English though, since my native tongue is Mandarin and I would really love to share this game to my friends… But really, it's an adorable piece of work. Thank you for making this game!
Tips about a certain achievement:
I got stuck on the 'Windmill' achievement for a while and later figured out the issue. The achievement requires you to spin your sword in full circles for a few seconds while playing as Audrey. Turns out it is also related to the frame rate of your game. If you tried spinning in circles smoothly but still cannot get this achievement, turn down the screen resolution to make the game run at 60fps, then try again. Hope it helps!

This games music, story, and character development are criminally underrated! Be warned, the gameplay is VERY simple, but the developers admittedly went entirely for music and story with this one. At the end i got emotional 10/10.
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f*** audrey

Games don't usually make me cry.
I have to say usually because of this one.
Games don't usually stick with me.
I have to say usually because of this one.
Games don't usually drive me to write a review.
I have to say usually because of this one.
Easily worth the 20 bucks. Do yourself a favor -- get this game.

I'm a lifelong lurker. I don't normally recommend or review games for strangers on the internet. I think this game deserves at least this much from me. It's an excellent game. Buy it.

I smiled through the whole game :)