Although the strategy role-playing game Wartales has been in Early Access on Steam for quite some time, it only officially released with version 1.0 on April 12. Our author Schuhmann played Wartales in an early phase and is now revisiting it at launch. He says: ‘For 30 years, I wanted to bring as many characters into a battle as I want – now I can do that, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing.’ He compares Wartales to controlling and managing a raid group in WoW all by yourself.
What is the idea behind Wartales? Wartales takes place in a grim, realistic fantasy world where there are no dragons or powerful wizards, but famines, a plague spread by rats, and immigration problems.
You don’t control a single character, but rather lead a dirty and somewhat ragged band of mercenaries: you start with 4 people, recruit more, become increasingly powerful, but you must also take care of paying and supplying your people.
Your mercenaries need to be warm and well-fed; otherwise, they’ll complain and woe unto you if the rogue accidentally hits the warrior with an area ability – then the mood will plummet.
6 classes and 18 subclasses form the core of the gameplay
The actual gameplay consists of turn-based battles. Here, Wartales shines with its 6 different classes, each having 3 subclasses that strategically stand out and differentiate themselves: while the pikeman and harpoonist are closely related, they perform different strategic functions:
- The pikeman is more defensive and lets the opponent come to him.
- The harpoonist stands in the second row and tries to hit 2 or more opponents who are in a line to pierce them all.
The entire system invites experimentation and challenges you to look for synergy effects.
There are no mages or healers. You must design battles such that the damage from your enemies is distributed to your well-armored warriors with shields and plate armor, while light melee fighters, archers, and rogues take as few cuts, stabs, and bites as possible.
If your mercenaries die, they are dead and must be replaced. After each battle, you need to attend to wounds and repair equipment.
The Sentinel is a classic tank; however, that good man could have also become a Berserker or an ‘Executioner’ at level 2, both more damage dealers or off-tanks:
As in a classic role-playing game, you take on quests in a tavern and recruit new mercenaries. In Wartales, everything is morally gray; you can help refugees survive in a new land, or you can assist locals in dealing with the refugee crisis.
The strength of Wartales lies in a large, multipart progress system. Everything grows and becomes stronger: your mercenaries, their equipment and skills, the camps, your recipe books, even your ponies constantly improve and become more useful. This leads to an effect in Wartales where you always close Steam feeling like you’ve become a bit more powerful.
In the past, everything was somehow more heroic and less dirty
Which games is Wartales similar to? The basic concept of such tactical RPGs has existed forever. I played ‘Shining Force’ on the Sega Mega Drive 30 years ago: back then, it was much more heroic, but even then, one collected various characters to lead into battle, fighting in tactical battles against enemies.
Modern versions of this gameplay can be found in Battle Brothers, Fire Emblem, and XCom games. ‘Mount & Blade’ has many similarities but offers action battles.
‘Jagged Alliance 2’ is considered a milestone of this type of game because it placed much emphasis on the personality of individual mercenaries. The rivalries and friendships among mercenaries of different nations are legendary and unmatched to this day.
Wartales: ‘Battle Brothers, but prettier?’
Most compare Wartales to ‘Battle Brothers but prettier’, as YouTuber HandofBlood writes (via youtube). The comparison is fair, but there is an important difference:
- In Battle Brothers, you are free – you are in a sandbox like the one from Ultima Online.
- In Wartales, you follow a clear story – like in a theme park like WoW.
