Wargroove 2 Review

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Fast Facts

Strategizing for War

Wargroove 2 is a tactical RPG which follows rivaling armies as they engage in combat encounters throughout an overarching narrative. With detailed pixel art, a centralized plot and local quick play modes, does Wargroove 2 stand out from the competition? Find out in this Rapid Review.

When I play tactical RPGs, the story content drives a lot of the value for me. Therefore, I was hoping that this title would have an interesting story for me to delve into. Wargroove 2 does have a story mode where I got to explore lands as different clans in the Wargroove universe. I found the overarching narrative to be neat, and there are a handful of plot points that drive the story through completion. However, none of the characters or plot points kept me hooked. The characters I met and played as in the Wargroove 2 universe had encounters with multiple people and things, but none of these encounters significantly altered the roles they filled or how they functioned. As a result, the characters, while solidly designs, did not hook me as much as they could.

For example, in one scene, a character’s loyalty to another character results in a different character being captured. In premise, this is a story beat that I would enjoy a lot. However, despite some of the turmoil that the character felt, nothing meaningfully changed following this activity. Sure, it moved the plot forward, and gave me something to do, but none of the characters significantly grew or developed. Due to this, I did not find myself caring much about what happened to each of the characters.

Brain Training

Though I typically expect the narrative to drive most of the value in a tactical RPG, the gameplay also drives a significant portion. Wargroove 2 is fun. For starters, there are a ton of distinct enemy units. Creatures ranged from somewhat standard units like cavalry to ostrich riders and humanoid bird creatures. Though I am by no means an expert at these sorts of games, I found myself consistently purchasing a variety of different units, even after the units were introduced. Getting to experiment with so many distinct creatures was fun, and kept matches engaging.

Additionally, tactical RPGs require knowing a lot of information. Wargroove 2 does a pretty good job of disseminating that information in legible and easy to remember ways. As I encounter new things in the story mode, the developers detail what these things are and how I should leverage them in my gameplay. However, given the number of things that Wargroove 2 wants me to learn and remember, having a quick and easy way to revisit these teachings is vital. The team encourage me to learn on my own with two design structures. First, there is a help text button assigned in the key binds. This is not some menu I can navigate to in the settings, but instead a dynamic help text button that automatically populates information pertaining to the creature or item I have selected. This made it far easier for me to get help when I needed to, and made it significantly simpler for me to revisit the title after a long hiatus. I did not have to navigate through menus or even remember what attributes defined the feature to cross reference against a master list. Instead, I could quickly review without breaking my stride.

Traits of a Leader

Second, Wargroove 2 contains highly informative visuals. Unit ranges are clearly outlined, so I knew where I could send my units and where they could attack from. Moreover, damage calculations were automatically generated and displayed before any combat encounter. I knew exactly what would happen and could make informed decisions about whether that made sense given the current scope of combat. These details made complicated decisions far easier, as I quickly digested relevant information to make key decisions.

In addition to everything called out above, Wargroove 2 even features unique leader abilities. At the beginning of a multi-player match, there is a substantial collection of heroes I can choose to play as. While none of the units differ between leader selection, each leader has unique abilities which help keep gameplay novel. This did not drive too much, but these abilities were fun to experiment with, as they could significantly alter certain combat encounters.

Wrapping up the Package

To supplement everything mentioned above, Wargroove 2 has a lovely style. Visually, the pixel art pops nicely. Backgrounds are vibrant, but it is never challenging to lose sight of units or towers. Bright colors radiate from each locale too, and this makes the game easy to look at. In addition to the beauty of the game, I appreciated diverse the art can be. Each of the rival clans have unique versions of base units, which helps to differentiate their clan. Moreover, battle arenas were vastly different, again driving home how unique these clans and scenes were. The music was also pleasant, keeping me engaged throughout the story. However, it was nothing to purchase the game for. To me, it was sufficient, but nothing more.

Overall, Wargroove 2 is a fun time. The combat is engaging, with a stylistic flare to the visuals that made it easy for me to stay engaged. Moreover, the gameplay has both a narrative and versus mode which were intuitive initially and easy to revisit with all of the tools designed for learning. I was not overly enthralled with the story, but the core gameplay loop is still a lot of fun, and this title is one I can easily recommend to fans of the genre.

4 out of 5

4

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