Wartales
" Engaging open-world RPG with strategic turn-based combat but repetitive quests limit story "
Wartales Review
Wartales is a tactical turn-based RPG set in a gritty medieval world where players lead a mercenary company through open-world exploration, combat, and resource management. The game offers deep strategic combat with various classes and skill trees, alongside crafting, professions, and camp building. Many players appreciate the freedom to explore, the challenging battles, and the ability to shape their party's development. The game is praised for its solid mechanics, immersive atmosphere, and long playtime potential, with some comparing it favorably to titles like Mount & Blade and Battle Brothers.
However, the game has notable shortcomings. Many players find the world lifeless and repetitive, with bland characters and quests that lack meaningful impact. Performance issues, especially long loading times and crashes, detract from the experience for some. The DLCs receive mixed reactions, with some feeling they are overpriced or add little value. Overall, Wartales is recommended mainly for fans of tactical RPGs who manage expectations and consider purchasing on sale.
Highlights
Players highly praise Wartales' engaging and deep tactical combat system, which offers diverse classes, skill trees, and combo strategies. The open-world exploration and sandbox elements provide freedom to choose playstyles and missions. The game's art style and atmospheric medieval setting receive positive remarks, enhancing immersion. The crafting and professions add meaningful layers of gameplay complexity. Many users appreciate the game's longevity and replayability, with some logging hundreds of hours. The mercenary management aspect, including troop interactions and camp building, is also a standout feature.
Criticisms
Common criticisms include repetitive and bland quest design, with little variety or narrative impact. The game world is often described as lifeless, featuring copy-pasted NPCs and respawning enemies. Performance issues such as stuttering, long load times, and crashes—particularly on certain hardware and in multiplayer—are frequently reported. Some players find the DLCs overpriced and question their added value. The crafting minigames and resource gathering can become tedious, and the story and character development are seen as weak or shallow. Additionally, travel times and pacing slow down gameplay for some users.
Pros
- • Engaging and strategic turn-based combat with diverse classes and skill trees.
- • Open-world exploration allows player freedom and multiple playstyles.
- • Deep crafting and profession systems add layers of gameplay complexity.
- • Immersive medieval atmosphere with appealing art style and sound design.
- • Long playtime potential with rewarding progression and replayability.
- • Mercenary management and troop interactions create emotional investment.
- • Adaptive difficulty options cater to different player preferences.
Cons
- • Repetitive quests and bland characters limit narrative engagement.
- • Game world feels lifeless with copy-pasted NPCs and minimal impact.
- • Performance issues include crashes, stuttering, and long load times.
- • DLCs perceived as overpriced and adding limited meaningful content.
- • Crafting minigames and resource gathering become tedious over time.
- • Travel and pacing can feel slow and frustrating to some players.
- • Multiplayer suffers from bugs and connectivity problems.
Rating Criteria
About This Game
2025 ROADMAP ⬇
About the Game
A century has passed since the fall of the Edoran Empire at the hands of an unprecedented plague that swept the nation. Now, the land is rife with mercenary work, banditry and thievery, with honor having become an almost entirely forgotten virtue.
Now, prepare to lead a group of unscrupulous characters in a massive open world where combat, death and a thirst for riches will dictate your day to day life. You are not the hero of this story, destined to usher in a new era of peace. Your goal is solely to survive and thrive in this harsh and hostile world, by any means necessary…
Only the bravest and most ambitious can hope to see their story written in the Wartales!
Lead a group of mercenaries on a dangerous quest for riches and recognition in a medieval world ravaged by destitution and greed, recruiting new companions with numerous unique specializations, skill sets, weapon preferences and personalities.
Customize your group's skills, equipment, and appearance with an intuitive RPG progression and crafting system, while developing your camp with luxuries, tools, and equipment to help your team endure and recover from the hardships each day brings.
Journey through a vast, open world in your quest for notoriety, wealth, and recognition, immersing yourself in lively villages and remnants of a bygone era. Explore abandoned mines, tombs, and camps as you piece together the history of this harsh world.
Collect bounties and take on contracts. From protecting the innocent from petty thieves to defeating the land's most notorious figures, there's no such thing as a profit too small to take.
Overcome your foes with a tactical turn-based combat system that rewards careful planning and strategic thinking, selecting the best combination of characters, equipment, and tactics to succeed in each unique battle.
Traverse the vast open world of Wartales as a band of up to 4 players, planning tactics and devising a strategy before confronting some of the many hostile inhabitants that roam these mysterious lands and defeating them as a team.
Share money, loot, resources, and end the day with a delicious meal around a roaring campfire with your loyal companions, building camaraderie and forging unbreakable bonds that will help you overcome any obstacle.
Wartales is an open world RPG in which you lead a group of mercenaries in their search for wealth across a massive medieval universe. Explore the world, recruit companions, collect bounties and unravel the secrets of the tombs of the ancients!