Wolfstride was a difficult one to like at first - long, drawn-out pacing and a story that evokes "cool" anime without being very cool itself, but at its core is a fair bit of fun and some intensely satisfying strategy RPG battles. With giant robots!

The player jumps into the shoes of a former yakuza man (Dominic Shade) as he helps his crew rise to the top from a busted old mecha into a slick and well-oiled fighting machine. The game is split between two major forms of gameplay - the cool mech fights (piloted by a different character, Shade's friend Knife Leopard) and all the running around, story, and prep work for these battles (done by Shade). Shade runs around town, talks to characters (and optionally does side quests for them or gives them pineapples in a very Social Rank-like system) and makes money in No More Heroes-esque minigames to fund extra parts and repairs for each battle. It's a slow game in that regard, and while the player feels tempted to simply rush through each day there's plenty of bonuses that await people that patiently move through every day and look through every corner. In a lot of cases there aren't a ton of corners so the player can still run through it all quickly but it's a grind over 63 in-game days.

When the player DOES get a chance to finally flex some strategy know-how (and the game will make sure the player endures multiple scripted fights beforehand), the product is very satisfying. The player is on a 1D grid between them and their enemy with various ranges and bonus panels for attack, and can utilize a variety of interchangeable skills to deal damage to various parts of a mech, break armor, push the enemy back into a corner, repair via a Nano Gauge, fulfill circumstances for a "Morale" damage bonus, and more. These mechanics are spoon-fed sparingly over the early game but by the time the player reaches the end of their journey they'll have a powerhouse that can balance different strategies to achieve victory. At times the player will be waiting days on a decent upgrade, but in the meantime they have optional challenges apart from the story-based battles that can give the player a great deal of trouble if they aren't tuning their strategies accordingly.

One of the more important parts of Wolfstride is its story and art direction, and while its art direction is IMPECCABLE (blend of pixel art and hyper-stylized and segmented art, all cool monochrome), its story has some ups and downs. The main cast is fun-loving, if not a little immature with its use of dialogue and unnecessary amounts of cussing, but the main character of Shade has a lot left to be desired, with a "cool" persona reminiscent of Spike Spiegel but just kind of comes off like a dorky jerk. With full voice acting, slick cutscenes, and a slow-burn world building that seems unrelated but ties in right where it needs to, it almost makes up for having to follow sophomoric characters and writing. Music is guitar riffs, lonely whistles, and background music that is sparse in soundtrack but can come up with some exciting battle themes.

If I'm going to be honest, I was going to rate Wolfstride lower up until the endgame, but the game truly rewards players looking to stick it for the long run. Challenging and satisfying mech battles that encourage a fine-tuned strategy, a story that pays off with both in-game rewards/upgrades and a little chuckle here and there, and some VERY delicious art direction (those mechs) help bump this game up a notch to be well worth playing. Keep in mind that this is a game for the patient!