Wandersong is one of the most genuinely lovely games i've played in a long while. It's an honestly good game, in all meanings of the word

You play as a bard, and so not the hero of the story. This is made explicit at the beginning, and repeated throughout, and yet it never stops you from going out to save the world anyway. You eventually meet the actual hero, as your respective quests are directly linked, and in a fun twist, achievements are earned through her actions, not yours. This made things slightly frustrating as an achievement hunter, but is also a brilliant way to reinforce this core theme

All you can do is sing (at pretty much any time, even cut-scenes), and so that's your only option for completing quests. It's definitely being optimistic about the power of solving problems through song, but what sells it is how creatively the game gets you to engage with that simple mechanic. You end up pushing the "sing" command every time you get mildly stuck, letting you feel the same joyful surprise when it actually has a useful effect on the world around you

The visual style is very colourful, emulating paper-craft, and so gives the vibe of a children's story book. The game is easily suitable for young ones, but it also talks about its themes with a certain bravery and grace, rather than holding back or "dumbing things down". As an adult, this meant it felt like talking on the same level, but i'm sure i would've appreciated this tone as a kid. Music is of course lovely, matching the happy, enthusiastic aesthetic, but still manages to create different feelings to match different areas and story beats

Wandersong is great. It's a celebration of creativity, and the joy of existence, and centres that with the humane idea that everyone is special, simply for being themselves. Very happy this was picked for me