Our Verdict
Underneath its unique plot device, Elrentaros Wanderings is a fairly standard JRPG, with interesting build mechanics but a severely lacking overworld and overarching story.
As an avid visual novel enjoyer and general anime fan, Elrentaros Wanderings caught my eye a few months ago, despite its mouthful of a name. The idea of a game where you spend half of your time in a classic dungeon-crawling RPG and the other in a high school visual novel is so unique and exactly my style, so I had to give it a go.
You play as an adventurer camping outside of the small town of Elrentaros in a fantasy land called Melvania. Your adventure starts as most do in these games – you get to know the townsfolk, enter a dungeon to rescue someone, and agree to help defend the town. It gets strange when you go to sleep one night and wake up in a classroom in a completely different universe, but all of the characters you meet are reality versions of the townsfolk. It’s your job to figure out what’s going on and which of the two worlds is your ‘true’ home.
Sadly, I have to start the complaints already. All of the marketing for Elrentaros Wanderings hypes up this idea of splitting your time between the fantasy world and the school reality, pitching it as a 50/50 split. It’s definitely the part of the game that convinced me to play in the first place, and given how many upcoming cozy game lists I’ve seen it on, I think a lot of others feel the same. What actually happens is that you spend hours grinding in the fantasy world for the occasional scene in the school, with extremely limited interactivity.
Not only is this disappointing because these connected worlds are the main mystery of the plot, but also for graphical reasons. The 2D illustrated backgrounds and characters in Elrentaros Wanderings are stunning, with unique and memorable character designs helping it to stand out in the huge genre. However, the overworld of the town is… underwhelming to say the least. Despite the town housing over a dozen citizens, it feels empty and lifeless, with endless bare green fields to either side. The dungeon levels are slightly more interesting, but I find myself avoiding spending time in the overworld if possible.
So, what about the combat? I’ll admit, the dungeon runs are pretty entertaining, with varied combat depending on your build and a bunch of extra abilities to unlock per item. The build system lets you go into dungeons, farm weapons and armor, then adjust them on the fly to increase your overall build level. I’m still a little unsure about which is more important, an item’s rarity or its level, but trying out different combinations keeps the combat fresh and adds a level of challenge.
You can also equip passives from the townsfolk by leveling up your relationship with them. Unfortunately, doing this is a bit convoluted and for some characters requires a lot of mechanical skill that I just don’t have. I want to unlock Hibiki’s passive for example, but it requires clearing a difficult dungeon level without taking a single point of damage, which is something I struggle with in any game. Completing the challenge doesn’t even guarantee you the passive either, it just unlocks the gift you need to up your friendship with him.
The other way to increase your friendship with characters is to give them gifts using special coins that you grow, but these are few and far between. I think given the visual novel game aspects, Elrentaros Wanderings could have leaned a lot more into the conversation tree and gift-giving elements of socialization from games like Stardew Valley or other dating games.
These difficult friendship challenges also lead to level caps on your equipment, making it incredibly difficult to progress without grinding. I know JRPGs are known for their grindiness and some people find that entertaining, but given how little plot occurs outside of clearing dungeons, it gets really old really fast.
Overall, I just don’t think Elrentaros Wanderings is for me. If you’re a fan of classic JRPGs with lots of grinding and diverse builds, it might suit you better, but my excitement for the ‘two worlds’ plot point was clearly overblown compared to what the game actually entails. At least I’ve met some adorable characters along the way.
That’s it for our Elrentaros Wanderings review. If you’re after a scare, check out our FNAF Into The Pit review next. Alternatively, find a different RPG to play with our lists of the best Switch RPGs, the best JRPGs, and the best ARPGs.