Wildermyth: Setting Off On A Troubling Adventure

D028CE7E7CFEE8AA2BB46F3329FB7CAB058F1725 (2560×1440) Wildermyth:

Wildermyth: A Failed Legacy

Time to Beat: 27 Hours

Age of Ulstryx

Three Chapter Campaign

The Enduring War

Three Chapter Legacy Campaign

And, partially, Monarch Under Mountain

I remember in 2015 when Double Fine announced the Kickstarter for Massive Chalice. It sounded like Tim Schafer and his team had developed an innovative concept; a tactical RPG where the heroes aged, had children, were succeeded by their children who would grow up to be heroes themselves and continue the fight. Epic heroes would leave behind fantastic deeds and powerful relics. Children would learn skills associated with their parents. Unfortunately, Massive Chalice was a flop. A phenomenal concept, but subpar execution. I was supremely excited when indie studio, Worldwalker Games, released Wildermyth to acclaim.

Wildermyth is a procedurally generated RPG (like Massive Chalice), where the player controls a gaggle of adventurers. The game packages together six unique campaigns, plus an unlimited number of generic campaigns. Difficulty settings include Storyteller, Adventurer, Tragic Hero, and Walking Lunch. Custom is another choice. Difficulty is split along two different elements; the Strategic Map and the Tactical Battles. With Custom, the player can design a Storyteller Strategy Map (Easy) with a Walking Lunch Battle (Impossible). Wildermyth also offers a Carved in Stone option (Iron Man). I played the first four campaigns at Adventurer difficulty, and the final one with a Tragic Hero difficulty for battles. F017E55C10FCBB01F1788130158FAAFBC066E420 (2560×1440) Each campaign introduces three new starting characters. Every campaign is divided into either three or five chapters. In every chapter the player adds another character or two to the team. After a short story introduction, the player accesses the world map. The map is divided into regions. The player orders the characters to travel between regions. Time passes as the player's heroes move, and enemies (along with events) move as well. Some regions are bordered by rivers or other difficult terrain. The heroes spend time constructing a bridge to cross. In most circumstances, the heroes move to a new area, the player sees a short story (sometimes connected to the larger plot, sometimes not) and the heroes fight a tactical battle. Victory rewards the characters with equipment, experience, and resources. Victory allows the player to secure a region for additional resources. All heroes are inspired by their own unique quest. Temporarily diverted they wander off to resolve a character hook. Normally, heroes do not wander as a single unit. A maximum of five heroes participate in an activity at a time. Once I had six heroes, I would separate them into two groups of three. Before splitting the party, consider how difficult the challenges are. Splitting into smaller groups allows the player to explore double, or triple, the territory. 0F92E41EABB0543BDB671A3C9ACDBECE0C964D10 (2560×1440) The main mechanic of Wildermyth is combat. Combat is continuous, broken only by the brief story interludes. Every combat occurs on a grid. Most battles begin with no enemies in sight, just the heroes. An introductory screen shows the exact enemies to be encountered on the battlefield. These cards don't provide any data about the monsters. The player must learn about their foes through repeated encounters. Every unit has two actions per turn, and the player takes all their turns before the computer. But characters often take more or less than their full actions. Some actions end the turn automatically, while other actions are Swift (1^st one free) or Free (costs zero action points). Actions include move, attack, or use an ability. Some attacks deal physical damage, while other's inflict magical damage. Correspondingly, units have two types of damage block, armor to block physical damage, and warding which deflects magic damage. If an attack is entirely negated by damage block, it weakens the block by one point. Adjacent allies increase each others armor. Units also dodge and block attacks. Maps include plenty of terrain to take cover behind. Cover is depicted in a two by two grid. The grid can either be empty, or have one to four spaces filled in. Each additional space adds to the chance to avoid an attack. Like most activities, the player can often only bring five units to a battle. Coordination is key. Units perform a flank attack if one character attacks, and a second attacks on the same turn from more than 90 degree angle, inflicting critical damage. If the player orders a unit to move through dangerous terrain (fire, poison, traps) the game warns the player, allowing them to rescind the order. When a hero inevitably loses all their health in a battle, the player has two choices. The hero can be maimed (losing an eye or limb), or the hero can suffer a heroic death, dealing tremendous damage in their death throes. I almost always chose a maimed character. 45D7DD2973509B7ED59BBDE85913D3A9A7BA1DEF (2560×1440) Battles suffer from two problems, and since combat is most of the game, this is tough on Wildermyth. The first is odd. The battle scenery often doesn't match the story event that preceded it. For example, my party was ambushed after falling down a mysterious hole in the forest, but the battle map had me attacking a tower. The significant problem is the lack of diversity in gameplay. Wildermyth only has three classes; warrior, hunter (ranger/rogue), and mystic (wizard). Heroes gain seven levels maximum, and only one ability per level. There aren't too many abilities and many of them are plus abilities, meaning merely an upgrade of a previous ability. After three campaigns the player has seen all the abilities multiple times. Nor do abilities escalate. Higher levels don't unlock better abilities, just the same ones. The abilities seem pedestrian, simple, even for high level heroes. The same is true of the gear the player equips to the characters. The enemies, while they come in many shapes and sizes, have the same general problem. Most of them attack with a simple attack and that's it. What does set the characters apart are their visual appearances. FF75FDF208A7A7EBE2C342E93CFF647E98D551A4 (2560×1440) Wildermyth employs a cardboard cutout aesthetic. All units, heroes, and terrain are 2D objects standing up on a flat surface. I employed over twenty-four heroes, but the developer managed to make them all look distinctive. Every time the player hires a new hero they have the complete freedom to customize their appearance. Characters are further enhanced by equipment, pets, events, and transformations. Wildermyth has at least eighteen different transformations. It starts with an event. Belar swears allegiance to the Wolf God. Then a body part changes. Belar's arm becomes a wolf's claw. It continues if the player desires. Eventually Belar has four wolf limbs, and the head of a wolf. Transformations add further distinction to the characters, but then it becomes silly. Almost everyone had a transformation, and some people were offered two. In contrast, the terrain and monsters looked more generic and dull in color and detail.