Wayward Strand tells the story of Casey Beaumaris and her experience aboard an airship turned hospital. Who knows what stories she’ll hear and what secrets she’ll find while enjoying her summer vacation.
Working with the elderly requires a certain level of will and compassion. In Wayward Strand, the player sees if a younger person can the duties of a CNA. While working in an assisted living facility may not be the dream, it can still provide valuable experience. Young Cassie has an opportunity that not many her age get to have. But will spending time with the patients affect her ability to complete her journalism project?
Developed and published by Ghost Pattern, one takes on the role of Casey Beaumaris. In the summer season, the young lady is tasked with writing an article about something. While it can be about just anything, it’s decided the airship will be the subject of the assignment. Where did this airship come from before becoming a makeshift hospital? Who are the residents that currently reside aboard?
Wayward Strand may hide many secrets above the earth. But Casey has her sights set on uncovering each one. Will there be enough time in-between visiting residents and helping her mother? Will there be someone to set on stopping the inquisitive mind from acquiring such knowledge? Hopefully, it can be her most memorable summer yet.
Storywise, the game details of what one would expect from a hospital or assisted living facility setting. But, despite the somber tone of the location, it was teeming with lots of life. Each character had a fair amount of background. There was so much to know about each and every character. Some interactions with one character might open up conversation choices with another. And no interaction, despite how short in length, felt forced or fake in any way.
The gameplay was relatively simple. One could move with the W, A, S, D configurations or the arrow keys themselves. Mouse clicks directed most of Casey’s movement, depending on the room that was currently in view. Not every scene one encountered would have things to interact with. But this might change, based on two factors: the time of day and who was nearby at the time. A few of the residents had rooms with many points of interest. Time of day was an important thing to note, as certain characters either wouldn’t engage with the player, or they’d simply tell the player to find somewhere else to go.
Others areas may have had only a single point of interest, but could be interacted with more often as time continued to pass. Surrounding characters might only answer one or two questions. Choices might have seemed few, but reacting swiftly took importance at some points. It’s understandable to draw the story out further. However, it would have been fun to have more stuff to poke around in.
Conversations with certain residents in Wayward Strand could carry on for some time. And if one did not answer in a timely manner, the NPCs might take offense. It was a fascinating thing to see, the residents reacting accordingly to a lack of input from the player. Being careful about which conversation choices I made was important. If the wrong answer was chosen for a specific question, an NPC might take great offense. There were times when my silence was even more offensive than simply saying something one of the residents didn’t like. One could say the life that Wayward Strand displayed at times was a bit ‘scary.’
Remembering what one decided was painfully important. One should find it no surprise to be cursing the heavens for saying the wrong things. Because the game does not hesitate to remind one of who they offended, and what exactly it was that offended them.
One of the residents, Mr. Pruess, was especially difficult to deal with. He was not the unpleasant sort. But taking care with asking simple questions did less to aggravate his memory. As someone with relatives who have memory issues, the Pruess character hit really close to home. It reminded me so much of my own family member, occasional breaks were required to have a breather.
Visuals evoked a sense of gazing upon a living novel. The medium used in Wayward Strand was much like a motion comic. Panels themselves appeared in the way comic book movie sequences. Each conversation might take place in one panel, two, or three over a set amount of time. This typically happened only when the story itself progressed past the current point. Color-wise, the developers chose to give Wayward Strand a watercolor aesthetic.
There was one glaring issue regarding graphics. Occasionally, a game will suffer from something called “clipping.” Ida, as the character was called, during lunch, would bring a spoon up to her mouth. As that happened, the spoon when through her face instead of to her lips. While it was a small issue overall, it was hard not to focus on when Ida and Casey were speaking to each other.
The sounds were reminiscent of those one would hear at a hospital in the 70s. And all the music fit perfectly into every scene that had it. Each character sounded as if they each had their own actor. Voice acting for the title was fantastic. It helps greatly with immersing a player into Wayward Strand.
Wayward Strand may not be everyone’s cup of tea. It is written in a slow-burn style, putting emphasis on the interactions with others and how that unfolds. The way characters are written lends such a dash of realism to the game, it might be hard for others not to be triggered by certain interactions with the elder residents of the hospital.
Some of the interactions were personally triggering. It was not easy to get through certain scenes because of it. In fact, it was genuinely hard not to cry when experiencing certain parts of the story. Topics such as death, family conflict, and the deterioration of a person’s mental state are all part of the story.
But if you’re genuinely looking for a good cry. Or you would like a game that’s got more of a story than “point and shoot”, Wayward Strand is a perfect choice to fill those spots.
Wayward Strand is currently available on Steam for $19.99. For more on industry happenings, drop in for some gaming news. And don’t forget to peruse our selection of game reviews for our thoughts on the latest blockbuster.
