At first sight, you look at Wander, and you are inclined to shrug and then immediately look away. It’s a fantasy game, on a console that is full of them; it’s an MMORPG, and it’s not like the PS4 has a shortage of those. Even the name sounds generic. But then you look into it more, and suddenly, your interest perks up- you see, it’s an MMORPG all about exploration. There is, quite literally, no combat in it.
You can change your form as you traverse through the environment, with each form opening up new interactions for you, and allowing you to explore the environment in newer and newer ways and reconstructing your own story. It sounds a lot like Proteus, honestly, except with a less starkly retro art style, and of course, the fact that it’s an MMO.
The idea for Wander came from Melbourne resident Loki Davidson, who believed there is a distinct lack of games telling a story, or just basically being games at all, without relying on violence. If you think about it, he is right- how many games can you name that don’t have combat in some form?
Wander is due out on the PlayStation 4 some time in 2015. Keep your eye on this one, folks, it looks pretty dang interesting.