Wildermyth: A Failed Legacy

Wildermyth:

Wildermyth: Setting Off On A Troubling Adventure

Wildermyth: A Failed Legacy

Story lines define and sharpen the features of the heroes. Wildermyth uses “hooks”, innate to each character, to guide their plot. The system develops surprisingly deep characters. Real personalities blossom out of events and the interaction between characters. Lanse was always silly despite the menacing threat. Calick couldn't help being serious, but wry. Melcus was always very straight to the point, as he tracked down his foes. Dru felt unapproachable due to her pride and power, until she mellowed. Belar, in wolf form, was always eager for adventure to help others. Their stories are engaging, in a vague, epic sort of way. Opportunity events, where a character has their own unique story beat, expand the characters. Calick confronted a demonic creature which had killed his parents when he was only a child, while Yuka traveled through wood and dale to put her master to rest.

Battles are interspersed with stories. Aside from the generic Chapter campaigns, campaigns have an overarching plot. Campaigns either have three or five Acts. Between each battle, short stories advance the grand plot, the Act plot, or just a random event. Initially dull, the campaign and Act plots improve in later campaigns. Generic events are engaging, until the player sees them again and again. By the end of the fourth campaign I had encountered at least ten repeat events (I didn't start counting until I had already encountered multiple repeat events). A story loses its epic mythos when different characters encounter the same exact circumstances. The music, which is sufficient initially, further undermines the epic nature, repeating a limited set of songs endlessly.

Interludes separate Acts from each other. During interludes the team gathers resources, crafts items, and ages. The developer makes aging look realistic (for cardboard cut out characters). Aging also leads to retirement. Heroes retire when they reach their retirement age. Interludes show interlude events, which are unique to this part of the game, but also suffer from a similar problem of repetition. After the interlude the heroes return to the map. It stays the same across Acts, except that each Act expands the level.

Wildermyth is already unique with its procedural story and battles, but its heralded feature is the Legacy system. Characters are supposed to carry over; building relationships, increasing in power, raising children and mentoring new heroes, and crafting artifacts of power. During a campaign the player earns Legacy Points. These are spent on many different actions (like averting calamities), but their most significant use is Legacy promotion. Promotion upgrades a hero along the Legacy tiers, from a nobody (0), to Folk Hero (+1), to Fabled Adventurer (+3), through to Mythwalker (+5). A hero can only gain one Legacy promotion per campaign, with a max of five. A Legacy hero retains their transformation, their pets, their artifacts, their injuries, hooks and resolutions, and their relationships. They lose their regular items, levels, and age. When the player finds a Legacy hero in a campaign they start with as many abilities as their legacy level, so a Balladsung Hero (+4) starts with four abilities. Legacy heroes also start slightly older than new heroes, about mid to late thirties.

Wildermyth tracks all the legacy heroes. The opening screen of the game shows them on a rotating basis. A separate Legacy screen allows the player to access the heroes and review them in detail. But there are two aspects to the legacy system that aren't satisfactory. Legacy heroes feel under-powered, unappreciated, and disconnected. They don't differ from other characters, except for a slight power increase. Secondly, the connection between heroes and their children is very tenuous. Calick and Symni fell in love, and from their union was born Mulvoth. But, Mulvoth is only considered Calick's child, not Symni's. Sometimes the child would only recognize their mother, but never their father. Nor do children receive anything from their parent. They don't have any story connection, they don't acquire any abilities; they get nothing. They might as well have no connection. The player can't build a dynasty because Wildermyth doesn't validate the idea. Massive Chalice had bloodlines comprising a connective tissue, but Wildermyth has nothing comparable.

Across its varied stories, Wildermyth weaves multiple themes. The general tone is optimistic, with a focus on love, awe, hope, reverence for mystery and life, and a search for peace. The heroes feel a duty to help those in need, a responsibility to their community, and the knowledge that those who can serve, should. It's heartfelt, yet not cheesy, overwrought, or too on the nose. The writers juxtapose this optimism with the knowledge that life, especially with monsters, is full of danger. Heroes and civilians suffer. They seek to overcome danger, but eventually, through defeat or age, fail. Acceptance of hardships that can not be overcome leads to peace. The character's recognize their inevitable death, leavening their levity with the long view of life. While seeking for a deeper meaning, the writers maintain a humorous streak running through the stories. Wildermyth contains joy, suffering, and hilarity.

In Conclusion, Wildermyth portrays itself as a game where the player guides a collection of heroes and their enduring legacy. Instead it feels limited in length. The combat is too simple, with only three character classes, and not enough abilities. The abilities that exist are basic and unexciting. While visually Wildermyth contains a variety of enemies, these, like the abilities, feel too similar to each other, lacking in imagination. By the second campaign the player has experienced the full extent of combat. The story is well written, but the repetition of numerous side quests and events jars the player from their immersion. The Chapter campaigns (with a semi-random story), waste the player's time. I did them to build my collection of heroes, but my advice; skip them and complete the main story campaigns. I found the game too easy on the recommended difficulty, but increasing the difficulty level makes combat into a laborious, yet deadly, drudgery. My most serious complaint is that the legacy system doesn't make characters feel special. Heroes don't build a legacy and hand it off in the form of children, deeds, or artifacts. Instead the Legacy heroes return to battle, again and again. It's been three months since I played Wildermyth and writing this review makes me want to return and try it again, because it sounds fun (despite the criticism). Then I remember it was boring. Wildermyth sounds worthwhile, but isn't, like the hearing of an epic tale, rather than experiencing its dangers for oneself.

Recent:

The Presidential Events: May 2022

Relevant:

Pillars of Eternity, Deadfire: Returning to the Wheel

Football, Tactics & Glory: From Stardom to the Sidelines and Back

Gods Will Be Watching: Fail Your Allies, Lose to Your Enemies, and Run Out of Water in A Desert