Game News Wartales Released

[Athostar]

I think this isnt that game, but does anyone remember the name of that game where you have a party of 3 I believe with elements of time travel through the ages, from a sorta celtic time onwards... (it might've been released in the last couple of years if at all)

 

[ropetight]

I think this isnt that game, but does anyone remember the name of that game where you have a party of 3 I believe with elements of time travel through the ages, from a sorta celtic time onwards... (it might've been released in the last couple of years if at all)

Lost Vikings?

 

[Crescent Hawk]

Games being very samey seems like a modern malaise. With exceptions of course. its like sure these teams can make a good gampaly loop, but they lack the creative idea guy that wraps it all up with cool backgrounds, story\settings and cute little side shit to do.

 

[Tyranicon]

Games being very samey seems like a modern malaise. With exceptions of course. its like sure these teams can make a good gampaly loop, but they lack the creative idea guy that wraps it all up with cool backgrounds, story\settings and cute little side shit to do.

What, are you bored of generic fantasy template game #56632?

If anything, recent decades have shown that while good atmosphere, setting & story are interesting, they are absolutely not needed to sell games to consumers.

 

[Crescent Hawk]

Games being very samey seems like a modern malaise. With exceptions of course. its like sure these teams can make a good gampaly loop, but they lack the creative idea guy that wraps it all up with cool backgrounds, story\settings and cute little side shit to do.

What, are you bored of generic fantasy template game #56632?

If anything, recent decades have shown that while good atmosphere, setting & story are interesting, they are absolutely not needed to sell games to consumers.

Fine I will buy your game. You have your heart in the right place.

 

[Tyranicon]

Games being very samey seems like a modern malaise. With exceptions of course. its like sure these teams can make a good gampaly loop, but they lack the creative idea guy that wraps it all up with cool backgrounds, story\settings and cute little side shit to do.

What, are you bored of generic fantasy template game #56632?

If anything, recent decades have shown that while good atmosphere, setting & story are interesting, they are absolutely not needed to sell games to consumers.

Fine I will buy your game. You have your heart in the right place.

Man, codex is being awfully nice this week. It's offputting but appreciated.

 

[oscar]

Nearing the end of the first area and I'll give some thoughts:

- Combat is good and works well. Not at all like Battle Brothers though really. All hits attack (except ranged ones have a chance to inflict friendly fire instead) so combat is not simulationist like BB where a lucky crossbow hit to the head could one-shot a merc (or foe). There's a sort of initiative system Banner Saga-esque but less gamey and weird. Zone of control is also in what makes this system feel a lot less silly (in some games of this system you whack one guy with your sword then run across the map to whack another or an archer runs around shooting at some guy with an axe whose chasing and whacking him). Where things shine quite a lot is the wide variety of interesting abilities and building synchronisation between your mercs. All special abilities cost valour points (which are shared between the squad and reset on rest) though every character has ways to regain temporary ones in-battle (depending on their class and your picks this can be from something like engaging in combat or standing behind a friendly merc). Generally you want to save up your valour points for the tough fights and not blow your wad on a measly boar or two.

Playing on default difficulty I haven't had one death (well okay I tried a boss out from curiosity way too early and got a party wipe) so far compared to the heavy losses (especially early on) you often sustain in BB. A lot of this comes down to the deterministic combat system where if a merc is in trouble you've usually got time or an ability to save them. Environmental dangers in fight add some spice, with things like rock-slides in cave battles and fires giving you some fun use of knock-back abilities. In general though it's fairly satisfying albeit a little gamey.

- Economy is a bit weird. As said crafting is king here so there tends to actually not be too much to spend your surplus cash on (beyond the necessities of food and paying wages). The blacksmith perk tree seems 100x more important than the others (what usually give some measly bonus like consuming slightly less food or something) given how looted or purchasable gear tends to suck. This leads to iron (and presumably higher quality stuff later on) being far more important than gold so buy any scrap of iron you can find (what only seems to be found on the map, mineable or if you're lucky you'll find wandering caravans with it in stock).

Is it as pozzed as the trailer indicates?

The first region has you choose between supporting the refugees who are fleeing a civil war from a neighboring region, or standing by the local populace to hunt the refugees down or sell them as slaves. That should answer your question.

Also, fuck off to the appropriate sub-forum for your retarded politics talk.

- I found the refugees far from sympathetic. Many have turned to banditry and while there's some sympathetic ones a lot of them come across as entitled dickheads. Funnily enough there is one quest where the refugees are logging a sacred forest to the outrage of the locals. So yeah to its credit it's not the black-and-white "xenophobic locals being mean to the poor refugees" thing at all.

But this leads to another issue. I'm not sure if I missed the opening cinematic or something but you're dropped in this setting with basically zero explanation (though it's not A Song of Ice and Fire or something you can more-or-less puzzle together what's happening fairly quickly). I'm nearing the end of the first area and I still have no clue what the refugees are actually fleeing from (a tyrannical leader? Demon invasion? State of the economy?). The setting is quite low-key and dry (Witcher-esque?) with no magic so far and only some lightly supernatural enemies at night if you wander into the forests. These days I prefer "show don't tell" to pages and pages of irrelevant lore bombardment but I think a little more explanation of the world would have done well here. It's also hard to say if the writing is good because there's so little of it (this is another slight concern, the quest notes are often too vague with your quest journal being like "follow the instructions" what would be annoying if I hadn't played in a few days and forgotten the throw-away dialogue line that we need to meet at the fishing pier).

In some quests I sided with the refugees and some I sided with the locals but I ended up being recruited by the mayor to help smash the refugees' stronghold. I'm supposing that I took slightly more pro-local decisions so the game sent me there. If you care about these things the game is pretty low on the Poz-o-Meter with gender equality balanced by the only white people setting and general air of moral ambiguity (there also seems a lot more options to play a criminal/bandit style mercenary outfit than BB).

 

[Saark]

But this leads to another issue. I'm not sure if I missed the opening cinematic or something but you're dropped in this setting with basically zero explanation (though it's not A Song of Ice and Fire or something you can more-or-less puzzle together what's happening fairly quickly). I'm nearing the end of the first area and I still have no clue what the refugees are actually fleeing from (a tyrannical leader? Demon invasion? State of the economy?). The setting is quite low-key and dry (Witcher-esque?) with no magic so far and only some lightly supernatural enemies at night if you wander into the forests. These days I prefer "show don't tell" to pages and pages of irrelevant lore bombardment but I think a little more explanation of the world would have done well here. It's also hard to say if the writing is good because there's so little of it (this is another slight concern, the quest notes are often too vague with your quest journal being like "follow the instructions" what would be annoying if I hadn't played in a few days and forgotten the throw-away dialogue line that we need to meet at the fishing pier).

The refugees are fleeing the civil war in Arthes (it's the second region, if you play on the non-level-scaling mode). With the local lord and the pretender to the throne fighting over the region, the regular folk just kind of get thrown to the wolves as a result, with many of them fleeing the war.

It takes a while for your warband to get involved in some of the more serious "politics" of the regions, and most of them start out fairly small. A refugee is asking to be able to use a local farm, that the owner doesn't even use. Seems sensible, right? Bring back a wanted criminal refugee, or return him to the blacksmith as hired help? A guy stole a bunch of bread, as his family would've starved otherwise? In the end, they all tie in to the overarching story of each of the regions, with the final quest or two being a lot more high-stakes than that.

In some quests I sided with the refugees and some I sided with the locals but I ended up being recruited by the mayor to help smash the refugees' stronghold. I'm supposing that I took slightly more pro-local decisions so the game sent me there. If you care about these things the game is pretty low on the Poz-o-Meter with gender equality balanced by the only white people setting and general air of moral ambiguity (there also seems a lot more options to play a criminal/bandit style mercenary outfit than BB).

You will get both quests, one at the Haven and the other from Mayor. You get to pick sides once you get back to Stromkapp, and side with one side or another (similar to the earlier quest at the mill). It doesn't really affect the world in a meaningful way, and is more of a moral choice on the player's side, which is a big missed opportunity. Then again, diverging storylines and reactivity are probably not something you can add with just a little work, and many of the features of the existing game already need some additional attention to really flesh them out.

 

[Athostar]

I think this isnt that game, but does anyone remember the name of that game where you have a party of 3 I believe with elements of time travel through the ages, from a sorta celtic time onwards... (it might've been released in the last couple of years if at all)

Lost Vikings?

Lol good one, I loved playing that one when I was a kid. The game I was talking about is "The Waylanders".

 

[ropetight]

I think this isnt that game, but does anyone remember the name of that game where you have a party of 3 I believe with elements of time travel through the ages, from a sorta celtic time onwards... (it might've been released in the last couple of years if at all)

Lost Vikings?

Lol good one, I loved playing that one when I was a kid. The game I was talking about is "The Waylanders".

Lost Vikings - first Blizzard game i played, and it was great.

The Waylanders, though - that game that Avellone was freelancing on and developers broke their necks to remove his name from credits when allegations came?
Haven't played it, but general consensus on Steam is that is unfinished, buggy and abandoned.

 

[Barbarian]

Some tips:

On higher levels fire, bleed and poison begin to be really problematic. Specially fire. You will have longer fights where your dudes will eventually die due to status effects slowly eating away at their health - if you don't wipe out the enemies first that is. Many fights have a mechanic where reinforcements will keep spawning until you achieve some objective as well. Make your dudes tanky but also effective at wiping out enemies. Every class is viable but I prefer shielded bros and support units(archers and spearman). I find they work better than 2handed weapons. You should have one ranger at least - backstabbing is very effective. Cutthroat is by far the best of the 3 initially available ranger specializations.

I'm playing on region locked because I hate level scaling. Running a smaller party(7) too. I think that is the best way to play it. With level scaling things end up being something of a chore where every single lowly band of outlaws or deserters you come across is a potential threat. You will probably get annoyed before you finish two regions. I like how on region locked you have easy fights, medium fights and hard fights - the strenght and number of the enemies doesn't adapt to you.

With a smaller party you need to either discard some professions or have bros doing more than one. If you choose the latter, know that when you switch professions your current level on previous profession is stored, but not the exp between levels. It becomes difficult to level professions past journeyman level in a bro holding two jobs, so make sure the two jobs he holds are some of the less critical ones(i.e: woodchopper, fisherman, bard, etc). I think you absolutely need a dedicated Tinker, Thief, Alchemist and Blacksmith. Scholar too if you intend to finish the ruins and find legendary weapons. All the other professionals are optional - Woodsman, Miner and etc are handy for gathering resources but you can buy everything from merchants or even gather things lying around on the world map.

Spoiler

There is minimum interactivity between regions. I know who you side with in Ludern changes who gives you the hunt quest in Alazar for instance. But all in all each region quest is self contained

Like I said, this isn't a storyfag game at all. It is a very grindy mercenary rpg. Much more grindy than Battle Brothers considering all the crafting and resource administration you have access too.

 

[communard]

Very bland and cargo cultish. Not even very old or esoteric cargo which makes it even more egregious.

 

[Xunwael]

Very bland and cargo cultish. Not even very old or esoteric cargo which makes it even more egregious.

well, I thought it was alright. worst part is having to position the guys around the spread out positions every single battle. and the combat breaks midway through like in a lot of these; your party becomes invincible so all the battles get boring and feel like a chore. the later zones are boring as well.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Barbarian How is the alchemy? I took a look at this games mechanics and I thought the alchemy looked decent.

 

[Barbarian]

Barbarian How is the alchemy? I took a look at this games mechanics and I thought the alchemy looked decent.

You need to learn formulas, gather ingredients and use an alchemy lab. Nothing too complex. Some of the ingredients you need to destroy rat nests(quests involved with "the plague" - a plot point that is present in all regions).

 

[oscar]

The second area picks up the difficulty a lot. Lost two guys now. The level demands for equipment is kind of annoying. I've made all this superior ghost gear and can't use it until my bums hit level 5. Guess I got to grind easy contracts cuse everything else seems to be whooping my ass.

Poison and fire also seem a bit nuts. You lose almost as much as a regular attack per turn (and fire doesn't seem to ever end basically meaning you've got about three/four rounds max to wrap up the fight). Can even be stronger than a regular attack if they have high deflection or guard.

 

[Barbarian]

The second area picks up the difficulty a lot. Lost two guys now. The level demands for equipment is kind of annoying. I've made all this superior ghost gear and can't use it until my bums hit level 5. Guess I got to grind easy contracts cuse everything else seems to be whooping my ass.

Poison and fire also seem a bit nuts. You lose almost as much as a regular attack per turn (and fire doesn't seem to ever end basically meaning you've got about three/four rounds max to wrap up the fight). Can even be stronger than a regular attack if they have high deflection or guard.

Yeah, those effects stack and that is what makes them dangerous.

Are you playing region lock as well? (No level scaling).

You need to upgrade your class skills at brotherhood training grounds(unlocks at power and glory path level 4). Expensive but very necessary to keep fights against thougher enemies viable.

 

[Saark]

I basically considered it mandatory to have the Bandage skill on almost every member. While it's all but useless early on, being able to remove all ailments for just 1 AP is pretty damn powerful in the later stages of the game.

 

[newageofpower]

A few hours in... No unique gear yet, just been running around hunting bandits and doing some quests.
-I dislike the "item level" progression system, compared to Battle Brother's item tier system. I suppose this one is easier to balance, but a +1 level weapon doesn't give the same feel when your 2H dude finally gets a mansplitter in Battle Brothers
-I really like the camping/resource management layer, feels way better than BB's version
-Character creation, while barebones, is still better than BB's RNG centric approach
-Prefer hexes over squares, especially for open field combat, but overall the tactical combat is on par or better than BB

Battle Brothers killer

I've pumped like 1000h into BB and was even part of the beta/EA... And yeah, overall would prefer to play Wartales over Battle Brothers. Hopefully I'll still feel the same in a few days.

Well, Shiro Games have a bigger budget, bigger studio, more codemonkey, not to mention being able to see what worked/failed for Battle Brothers, they should absolutely turn out a better product.

 

[Shaki]

I've pumped like 1000h into BB and was even part of the beta/EA... And yeah, overall would prefer to play Wartales over Battle Brothers. Hopefully I'll still feel the same in a few days.

You won't. It's a nice game, but it gets old pretty fast. I really liked it at first, but now dropped it after ~45 hours and getting through 3 regions.

Playing region locked:

- It got far too easy really fast, even enemies above my level are too easy, and from what I've heard scaling mode it even worse here, as nothing will ever outlevel you and every enemy always has the same number/level as you.
- Balancing of economy is pretty bad, after the first 2 regions, I was swimming in gold, but unfortunately there is nothing good to spend it on...
- Xp gains are horribly balanced too, after lvl 7 leveling slows to a crawl, I was lvl 7 when starting 3rd region, and after finishing it I'm still at lvl 7.
- Items system is awful, level gated loot sucks, and non-crafted and non-legendary items suck, I didn't upgrade even one gear piece during the whole 3rd region, except for one legendary from the tomb. It was just ~15h of easy fight after easy fight, with nothing to do in between, 0 character management.

Overall big problem is that rewards are completely independent from difficulty of the fights. Fighting a 30 minutes long battle against enemies outleveling you, will reward exactly same xp as smashing lvl 1 enemies in 10 seconds. Same with quest rewards. The only reward that gets better, is loot, but usually it still sucks, and if you wipe a high level enemy, you won't even get to use their loot, because it's fucking level gated... All of this combined encourages grinding easy fights, as fighting tough opponents feels like a waste of time. There is 0 reward/satisfaction from beating tough opponents, which is pretty much the biggest sin a game like this can commit.

Add to this the fact that regions all follow exactly the same formula, and you'll never find anything new or exciting, you quickly hit a point when game becomes nothing but completely unchallenging grind to see numbers get slightly bigger.

Writing/atmosphere is also MUCH worse than BB, which doesn't help.

Good news is that majority of these problems are not hard to fix, it's mostly balancing issues, so it might become a genuinely great game in time. Right now tho, it's not even close to being a "BB killer".

 

[Seigneur Locklear]

Aside from noting the valid issues above, I believe my primary gripe with the game is simply how soullessly formulaic it is. I'm wrapping up the second region and it's all essentially the same shit as the first one, with minor, additional twists here and there. Even the "dungeon" is a copy paste of the previous one.
Protip: Don't bother with ironman. My power went out and the save got corrupted. Thankfully, I was only a few hours into the run.

 

[Ein Axt]

They definitely fucked up with the first three regions. 4th and 5th region had some nice gimmicks and quests. The core gameplay is pretty darn good. Some tweaks and more content would make Wartales a really great game.

I hope the expansion and DLC would do it. The blank map is huge and you can only go to like 50% of it or something. There are roads leading to invisible walls which I assume is for future content.

 

[fantadomat]

I played a bit this few days and looks nice,tho markets are shit for now. Visited three cities and all seem the same,also shame that there is not enough people to recruit in pubs,i am yet to see a warrior. Also not a fan of the leveling random system,there is a tech that you could learn that lets you focus a single point for the thing you want in leveling,it is called career something. Would recommend getting it first thing. Oh also can't see anywhere the proficiency of the people.

 

[Agesilaus]

If the combat were like Battle Brothers it would be near perfect. As it stands it's still fun but it could be better. Needs mod support and helmets.

wait, this game lacks helmets?

EDIT: Level gated equipment???

I got this in EA but never played it. Not in a rush to do so at this point.

 

[SenisterDenister]

No, the lack of helmets was intentional on their part. Enough people have made issues with it that they're going to have them in an update sometime later.