Wartales

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.