Wildmender is a survival game published by Kwalee and developed by Muse Games that challenges you to not only survive, but to create a thriving new world. After awakening in a small desert oasis without any memories, you are tasked by the spirit Vidyas to bring life back to the barren desert with the help of fallen spirits, forgotten gods, and your trusty spade. Between exploring the wastes and sculpting the perfect oasis, there’s a lot to keep players engaged.
After a brief tutorial from Vidyas, the world opens up to you. Armed with only a sickle and spade, however, it’s unlikely that you’ll get very far without a few upgrades. Walking around during the day is an easy way to waste all your water thanks to the harsh desert sun, not to mention roaming enemies and other environmental hazards. Sticking to the shade, traveling at night, and conserving water are all important tips to keep in mind, especially in the early game when your abilities are limited. Your effective travel range opens up as you unlock new traversal abilities, better gear, and improved restoratives.
Your first spring is only a trickle of water at first, but it can become a network of rivers when upgraded. While the water mechanics sometimes behave in unexpected ways (mostly due to occasionally weird terrain morphing when digging with the spade), I had a lot of fun digging new channels to irrigate my gardens. You can upgrade spring water production and eventually unlock additional springs as you acquire new abilities, and that extra space will surely be needed as you fill your garden with new plants and furry friends. Beyond that, it’s just outright satisfying to watch a trickling stream becoming a burgeoning river.
Wildmender is pretty generous with directing you where to go and what to do for the most part, aside from having to locate the main temples of the Gods (which have a tendency to kind of stand out anyways). You can certainly explore the world blindly if you wish, but Vidyas and other allies continue to offer tutorials and advice when it comes to new mechanics and unexplored areas. Just make sure to listen the first time, because they won’t repeat themselves.
The main loop of Wildmender consists of exploring the world, acquiring new resources, and then upgrading your garden and gear in order to explore even further. Players can build a base anywhere, really, since you can set up a lean-to, workshop, storage bins, and the works anywhere you want. The only limiting factor is soil and water if you want to be able to set up a farm or be able to sustain yourself long-term, but temporary outposts still have their merits. Nearby resources are also an important consideration, but the ability to fast travel makes this moot once you’ve unlocked enough travel gates.
Things gets a bit trickier as you encounter new biomes, though, since they have different environmental hazards and terrain. The salt flats drain your water much faster and are littered with narrow crevasses, while the canyons are filled with deadly poison and winding chasms that block line of sight. You’ll have to use the plants and raw materials you find in each biome to create protective gear and potions to overcome their inherent hazards, as well as your own good sense to not overextend yourself. Each area becomes progressively less dangerous as you heal the land, as well, which provided a hefty sense of satisfaction to me after first slogging through an area consistently half-dead to then being able to casually stroll back through and appreciate the work I’d done.
I found the world to be the most challenging enemy by far. There are bands of wraiths to encounter in the wild and you’ll occasionally have to fight off waves of them, but combat is relatively straightforward as long as you stay mobile. Enemies tend to group up a lot which is easily punished by a nice flamethrower dousing. The only times I ever really died in combat were when I was already dying of dehydration of starvation mid-battle, so the real lesson is to just stay conscientious of your resources at all times.
Those looking to save time should earn the favor of the various gods in order to acquire their boons as soon as possible. I remember spending about five minutes digging a ditch that could have been excavated in five seconds with the Earthwright’s Chisel. That said, the Cloak of Winds is easily my favorite boon. Sailing over crevasses and sand dunes with its upgraded jump and slow fall was a definite improvement over trudging through the desert.
I didn’t love the art style at first, finding it a bit simplistic, but I began to find it charming the longer I played. There are also a lot of great effects that enhance the visuals in each biome, besides the fact that each biome feels unique in its environment and style. Wildmender really comes alive at night, with a stunning starscape and the breath-taking luminescence from the spirits of long-dead trees. And with accordingly atmospheric music to boot, exploring new locations was just always a pleasant time (as long as I wasn’t dying of thirst).
All in all, Wildmender shines as a unique and charming survival game that offers a unique twist in an inundated genre. The range of powers at your disposal, the control with which you can shape the land, and the sheer scale of restoring life to the desert all make Wildmender stand out among its peers. There are certainly more challenging survival games out there, but not many that let you transform the world in the way the Wildmender does. The wasteland normally stays a wasteland, but here you can turn it into a paradise.
Austin reviewed Wildmender on Xbox Series X with a review code.
