Wargroove 2 Review (Ouchie Daze)
Though I'm recommending this game, I do so with a good MANY caveats. I personally have enjoyed most of my time, but I have heard weird things about this game, that, while not having experienced, are worth checking in on. This is just some base level things I noticed that I can see not clicking with others.
Firstly, campaign mode. I think it's an interesting anthology of stories, certainly, but don't expect to entirely understand what's going on until the end. It's kind of a twist, but it is extraordinarily obvious if you are paying enough attention. For that reason, I think the easiest Campaign to ENJOY is the pirate campaign, which had some of my favorite story moments. The one to really look out for is the Floran and Faahri campaign. Personally, I really like the idea, but it's a slow and painful process bluntly. It's not supposed to be comfortable, not by a long shot, but expect for a lot of the game to be playing from a morally ambiguous to downright bad perspective. I think the Faahri have a really interesting reason why they're evil which largely comes from confidence issues, but frankly, on the Floran side? The plant people come out of this losing HARD. Is there ANY Floran W in this story? Happens in Strategy games there's just a LOSING faction, who basically exists to lose, but typically they have SOME form of fair gain out of it. The Floran feel like they just get NOTHING for what all they lose... But I think that's leaning more into the possibility of them having ideas for a 3rd game. At least, in an "ideal" situation. The story is open ended enough, with a LOT of developments and perspectives being revealed that I earnestly can't imagine it's just not going to go anywhere... Which is something that bleeds into other problems with this game I've noticed.
Game modes. Oh boy, game modes. Arcade? Gone. Puzzle? Gone. By the sounds of this, it ALSO has had a negative effect on the map/campaign creator in this game. So why is it this way? Well, Conquest mode. Now, I think, so far, Conquest mode is alright, but here's the catch, that's basically it for single player content outside of the main story. Otherwise, you have... Really typical versus matches. A Strategy Rogue-lite... I don't mind the idea, but it is VERY grindy. It half doubles as an Arcade mode, but there's a lot of catches to consider. You can't actively pick which character you play, you get three options per conquest attempt, randomized for that Conquest's CO pool, which you can unlock more COs for, they can get unique little events. It's charming, and in some ways compensates for the lack of Arcade mode while making any grind optional and not tie into the Story Mode like in Wargroove 1. Have I mentioned that Co-op maps do NOT exist in Wargroove 2? At least I haven't seen them. I think it's important to note that CO-OP ISN'T IN THIS GAME!
Ok. So, the big reason I'm saying there are a LOT of caveats is that Wargroove 2 feels less like a full-blown sequel, and more like an "Expansion" on the original game. There's a big new campaign, new faction and new commanders, new in-depth mode, new units, but there's also just a lot of stuff MISSING too. Remember how I mentioned the campaign felt open ended? Like there must be plans for a Wargroove 3? That's the only reason I can imagine the story takes the directions it takes. I imagine a lot of characters are going to get in-depth changes and developments between this game and a hypothetical third game. Not to mention for there to really BE a continuation, they're GOING to need a not small amount of new characters to deal with some of the big important holes that this game puts into the story. But the PROBLEM with this "expansion" feeling is that Wargroove 1 had Double Trouble. You know, a free expansion. I think the price on this is justified for what new stuff it DOES bring, but there are a LOT of things missing too, because they're stuck in Wargroove 1. A game that did feel more in-order. It feels like this is just a middle step to something else. If that something else comes along, it'd be good to know what happens in this game, but that's exactly the issue, this game feels a LOT more like set-up. Tying SOME loose ends, but opening so many more holes that I'm curious what the thought process behind it is.