Wanderlust: Transsiberian

graphics: [✓] that's not the point [] you'll want to go stare at some leaves afterwards [] just a quick glance out the window and you'll be fine [] eh, it's okay [] not realistic but good nonetheless [] careful, you might confuse it with reality [] you forget what reality is artstyle: [] the 90s called and they want their polygons back [] everything is made out of rubber and silicone [✓] photorealistic (it's just literal photos followed by walls of text) [] attempted realism [] if salvador dali was a 3D artist [] 3D masterpiece [] a child probably drew this [] some scribbles [] could be a cartoon [] your new 2D waifu [] are we in an art gallery? [] tetris [] good ol' pixels [] better than terraria [] no way it was drawn in ms paint! [] unique in it's own way gameplay: [✓] boredom simulator [] it exists [] it was engaging until it wasn't [] cures your boredom, engages your mind and leaves you wanting more [] i mean, who needs reality anyway, am i right? difficulty: [✓] even my grandparents can play it [] casual gamers, assemble! [] requires some prior gaming experience [] you might as well just join an esports team interface: [✓] there is no interface [] basically a calculator […

Wanderlust: Transsiberian, developed by Different Tales and published by Different Tales in collaboration with Pretty Soon, is an interactive narrative experience that transforms one of the world’s longest railway journeys into a reflective, choice-driven travel diary. Rather than delivering traditional gameplay mechanics, it focuses on atmosphere, writing, and emotional nuance as players traverse the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok. The result is less a conventional game and more an introspective digital novella about travel, companionship, and personal perspective. At its core, Wanderlust: Transsiberian is structured around narrative choices that shape tone rather than drastically alter plot direction. Players follow two men embarking on a long-distance rail journey, each bringing distinct attitudes toward the trip. One approaches the adventure with curiosity and enthusiasm, while the other carries reservations and subtle skepticism. Through dialogue options and situational decisions, players influence how these characters react to their surroundings and to each other. These choices do not lead to dramatically divergent storylines but instead color th…

Wanderlust: Transsiberian is not a game, it's a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure e-book that's been dumped on Steam masquerading as a game. As a visual/interactive novel, this doesn't feature any notable gameplay, it's just a lot of clicking through badly written dialogue that would never have been accepted or published in print, which poses the question, "How did something this badly written end up on Steam?". To answer that question: When someone hoping to become an author is unable to get published in print, they spend $100 and dump their high school fan-fiction onto Steam, under the guise of a game. This E-book features Choose-Your-Own-Adventure elements where you make some decisions that don't do anything to change the fact this is just an E-Book. Nobody finished reading a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book and said "Boy, what a great game I just played!". Because E-books aren't games. And neither is this. This godawfully bad, pointless E-book was slapped together with the "Ink" addon for Unity, a Unity asset that's a construction kit for making garbage E-books easily. So, no real game development took place when slapping mediocre pictures onto a godawful E-book about trains. N…

The game may be quite interesting, but in half an hour I found 2 "flies in the ointment". 1. Remember, or better yet, write it down. The last Tsar (Tsar of Moscow and all Rus') was Peter the Great. Starting with him, the highest title was "Emperor". There were no "tsars" in the 19th century, the title sounded like "Emperor of All Russia" or "Emperor of All Russia and Tsar of Poland". Once again: in Europe, during the first railway stations in Russia, the Tsar was only Polish. I think that the phrase "Russian _Empire_" itself hints at the fact that it is ruled by the Emperor. 2. Did everyone get out bottles of vodka and start drinking it? It looks like the authors themselves are alcoholics. I don't know about their country, maybe there really is drunkards lying around in every carriage, but in our country they can kick you off the train even for the smell of alcohol on a person. Drinking alcohol on Russian trains is an administrative offense + violation of travel rules. Apparently, these Russophobes (I mean the authors) could only remember two words from school history lessons: "Tsar" and "vodka", the rest was difficult. Why do I accuse them of Russophobia? Because a fundamental u…

It's well written; it's an interesting topic; UI and everything looks nice. It's just that the protagonist and his brother-in-law could not get along and make the trip way more or less a painful experience.

Wanderlust: Transsiberian has so much potential, but it falls short in a frustrating way. The story and setting are interesting, and I wanted to get lost in the journey—but the lack of narration, animations, or even just a wider variety of pictures made it feel like a slog. Staring at walls of text with minimal visual engagement honestly made my eyes hurt after a while. Even adding one of these elements—whether it be voice-over narration, more images, or even slight animations—would improve the experience significantly. As it stands, it feels more like reading a plain digital book than an interactive travel adventure. If you have the patience (or very strong eyes), you might enjoy it. But for me, it just needed something more to truly bring the journey to life.