Wartales Reviews
Don't be fooled by its drab exterior, Wartales is a deep and richly rewarding exercise in party creation.
This grungy medieval low fantasy tactical RPG isn't just a sandbox, but a quick-sandbox, capable of sucking you right in with emergent stories and moments equally thrilling and silly. The trade off here is it can lack a bit of momentum, but if you stay curious, you'll end up well rewarded by its layered and considered world and systems.
A sandbox tactical/RPG hybrid with gritty, low fantasy charm, Wartales is systemically ambitious, but sturdy and clever enough to hold its own.
Wartales is an excellent sandbox RPG that gives you total freedom on the path to experience.
Review in French | Read full review
Wartales is the perfect game for those who love turn-based action and min-maxing their characters. The progression system is well-thought to keep you engaged while you explore each map. Combat and crafting are two other complementary systems that add extra layers of strategy.
The more you play Wartales, the more you’ll find that many of the mechanics get deeper and deeper. The game is enjoyable as a whole. RPG-style strategy games are always more fun when played with a large group of people, and Wartales delivers on that front. It’s not a heavy RPG by any means—the story and dialogue are pretty sparse—but the turn-based combat is where it shines.
In conclusion: Wartales is a mix of great ideas tempered by some questionable design decisions. I really want to love this game, and there is plenty of fun to be had, but I can’t help but feel like there was a missed opportunity to make a good game a true great. For fans of the genre I do recommend picking it up and giving it a go, but I really hope that the game gets expanded upon in the future to let it live up to its full potential.
Wartales is unlike anything else I’ve played this year, as it boasts a massive landscape of near-emergent gameplay where you are not the hero of the story, but you do have a crucial role to play in it. It’s a grim, dark world to take part in, but it’s utterly fascinating at the events that take place, and how you can help shape or unmake it. The dynamicism in which things unfold makes replayability high, and the inclusion of multiplayer co-op is the perfect kind of game night with friends. Shiro Games have crafted something special here, and Wartales excels for letting you make your own successes or failures through the choices you make along the way.
Manage a band of companions and explore the vast world of Wartales. Recruit different mercenaries from different regions and create the best roster of fighters and become a well-known force to be reckoned with. Be an ambitious adventurer or a most wanted outlaw. This is an RPG sandbox game that every medieval strategist has ever dreamed of playing.