Wartales
A sandbox tactical RPG about surviving a plague-ravaged medieval world.
Wartales is a tactical role-playing game from French developer Shiro Games, published by Shiro Unlimited in 2023 for Windows, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X/S. Players lead a mercenary band through a low fantasy world struggling to recover from a magical plague, facing shortages and banditry.
Gameplay is sandbox-style, set in an open world where players explore an overworld map, discovering towns, dungeons, and other mercenary groups. When enemies or hostile animals are encountered, combat shifts to turn-based battles on a tactical grid. Survival elements are woven in: characters must gather raw food and leather, then craft items like cooked meals or clothing. Travel tires characters, forcing them to camp when exhausted; if mercenaries go unfed during camp, they may desert. While camping, characters can perform profession-based tasks such as cooking, blacksmithing, or appraising relics. Players can optionally enable level scaling; without it, regions grow harder as they travel farther. The game presents narrative choices and each region has its own storyline, but there is no main quest or overarching plot. Instead, it functions partly as an economic simulation, requiring players to finance their growing company. Cooperative multiplayer is included.
The developers aimed to avoid forcing quests on players, making it possible to decline any quest and preventing automatic quest additions. They cited games like Skyrim as more enjoyable when ignoring the main quest, inspiring them to omit one entirely. Their focus was on surviving a harsh world with maximum freedom. Wartales entered early access in December 2021 and fully launched on April 12, 2023. It arrived on Nintendo Switch on September 14, 2023, and on Xbox Series X/S on October 31, 2023. The "Pirates of Belerion" downloadable content was released on December 14, 2023.
Reception was positive on Metacritic. Rock Paper Shotgun praised its emergent gameplay and ability to generate interesting stories from its mechanics, honed during early access, though they suggested adding a main quest for more momentum. PC Gamer called it a deep and rewarding exercise in party creation despite its drab exterior.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Shiro Games
- Publisher
- Shiro Unlimited
- Platforms
- Windows
- Nintendo Switch
- Xbox Series X/S
- Released
- Windows WW, April 12, 2023
- Switch WW, September 14, 2023
- Xbox WW, October 31, 2023
- Genre
- Tactical role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The game takes place in a medieval land that has been devastated by a magical plague, leading to widespread shortages and lawlessness. Players lead a mercenary company across an open overworld map, encountering towns, dungeons, and rival mercenaries. Turn-based tactical combat occurs when hostile NPCs or animals are encountered. Survival elements require gathering resources like raw food and leather, which can be crafted into cooked food or clothing. Characters tire from travel and must camp when exhausted; if not fed during camping, mercenaries may desert. While camping, characters can perform profession-based actions such as cooking, blacksmithing, or appraising relics.
Reader's Guide
Wartales received positive reviews on Metacritic. Critics compared it to Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress, praising its emergent gameplay and the interesting anecdotes generated by the interplay of its mechanics, which were refined during early access. PC Gamer described it as a deep and richly rewarding exercise in party creation despite its drab exterior. NME noted that hardcore role-playing games have fallen out of favor, making Wartales a notable release, though they found its art style conservative and mechanics repetitive after progressing through several regions. The reviewer concluded that the game walks far enough off the beaten path to be interesting but is not bold or elegant enough to be essential. Rock Paper Shotgun suggested adding a main quest to give the game more momentum, acknowledging that this request went against the core design. The game sold over one million copies by November 2024.
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