I bought this during early access to help support devs who had an interesting looking game. Wartales was fun but didn't have very much content which get's boring/repetitive pretty quick so I decided to play again when they finished the game. Unfortunately, what happened was the content I had paid for earlier was split up into DLC's and sold separately instead of added into my product. I feel like Shiro Games has stolen money from me. To anyone looking to try the game out I'd recommend waiting a few years until these crooks can finally complete something and then get it on sale.

Wartales, is a mercenary managing, tactical combat game with survival and crafting mechanics. Is it good? Let's get in to the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good:
Combat in Wartales is lean and clean. Incorporating most of what you'd expect from a typical tactical, turn-based battle system without the somewhat annoying RNG you might see in some games. When you make an attack, you will hit something, and the RNG will mostly affect the amount you hit for, whether any special effects hit, or occasionally whether you accidentally hit a teammate. Even early battles can be challenging, and with the threat of perma-death hanging over each action, careful consideration is needed before each move you make.

The open world and quests are all quite enjoyable. Every quest in Wartales is optional and you can take them on in any order you like, including the story quests. The story quests are all interesting, and include more challenging combat scenarios, but never lock you from progressing your mercenary group. You're free to take on the story quests, find contracts that reward money, or wander the world taking on combat at your own pace, and making money through crafting or trade. Most scenarios have multiple routes to completion that may or may not include combat. There is no true moral system in the game, though you will be pressed to take sides or make moral decisions. These usually are only rewarded with different items, or amounts of gold, and don't have a significant impact on your story.

There is a solid mix of weapons and classes in the game, and each has its use. A mixed group of mercenaries with varying skills and strengths is generally required in order to be successful. You can easily recruit new team members in taverns, and occasionally through quests found in the world, though I wish the latter would happen more frequently, or as a result of winning in combat. You can find weapons and armor via battle, trading with traveling merchants, or crafting. Crafting is typically the best route to get new gear and involves a simple mini-game once you have enough resources. There are also mini-games for gathering resources, though these are neither challenging nor varied.

The Bad:
Wartales is designed to be challenging, however much of that challenge in the mid to late game comes from the enemies you face gaining massive buffs to their health or numbers. The AI tactically isn't very challenging and can be easily tricked into maneuvering into volatile positions. In later battles when you lose, it's usually due to the vast number of troops the AI has, or their bloated health and armor numbers. Numbers that you can't easily manage at similar levels with your troops.

Even though the open world has many things to do, and several points of interest, there isn't much incentive to play in any other style than - take a quest - travel to a destination - fight a battle - return to town. You could try and live a life of crime, or purchase a DLC to open a tavern, but none of these activities feels particularly balanced against the typical, cyclic endeavor described above.

The Ugly:
The game is a grind. It will take you hours, upon hours, of several ever-lengthening battles to even dream of having any of your mercenary group reach later levels. My longest single campaign was played for over 25 hours, and I had only reached level 7 of a possible 15 levels.

Similarly, those ever-lengthening battles can also be a grind. As you expand your mercenary group to include more and more members, each battle can take multiple hours to complete. Since there is no checkpoint system, these longer battles require painstaking preparation and thought before each move and each commitment lest you make a mistake and lose the battle, forcing you to restart from the beginning.

Summary:
Even with the grind, I still highly recommend Wartales for players who enjoy tactical battles, and large open-world exploration. Though the game can chug to a halt mid-way through, I find the early hours to be extremely rewarding with each play-through.

If you liked Battle Brothers, then you are going to like this one as well.