24.6 hours played
Written 7 days ago
Wildermyth is a rare kind of tactical RPG that successfully blends strategic gameplay with emergent storytelling in a way that feels both deeply personal and endlessly replayable. You begin each campaign by assembling a small group of villagers—ordinary people with basic personalities and backgrounds. As you guide them through procedurally generated stories, these individuals grow into heroes, shaped by the decisions you make, the battles they survive, and the bonds they form. Watching a character transform over the decades—aging, forming rivalries, falling in love, or even returning from retirement—is one of the game’s most rewarding aspects. Every journey feels like a personal tale, uniquely shaped by the moments you encounter.
Storytelling is handled through illustrated comic-style panels that appear between encounters, featuring short narrative choices that can change everything from relationships to abilities. These events are surprisingly varied and emotionally resonant. Sometimes they’re whimsical, like chasing a mischievous spirit, and other times they’re deeply affecting, such as confronting loss or making sacrifices for the greater good. Despite being procedurally generated, these stories often feel handcrafted. The writing is tight, often humorous, and surprisingly moving. It’s here that Wildermyth captures something few games do: the unpredictable magic of collaborative storytelling, akin to sitting around a tabletop with friends.
Combat unfolds in classic turn-based fashion, but with a few twists that keep it feeling fresh. Characters are divided into archetypes—Warrior, Hunter, Mystic—but each one evolves in unique ways based on your choices. Mystics, for instance, don’t just cast spells; they interact with the environment through a system called interfusion, allowing them to animate nearby objects or harness them for magical attacks. Hunters can set traps, go invisible, or snipe from afar, while Warriors become tanks or mobile disruptors depending on their builds. The battlefields are small and manageable but still offer plenty of tactical depth. It’s a system that rewards creative thinking, though on lower difficulties, combat can begin to feel formulaic over time.
What really sets the game apart is how it embraces transformation and legacy. Characters can be permanently altered by magical events—gaining animal limbs, glowing eyes, or even celestial traits—which impact both narrative and combat. These changes accumulate over time, and when characters retire or die, they become part of your legacy. In future campaigns, you can recruit these past heroes, now older and perhaps more powerful, adding a sense of continuity and evolving mythology to your world. There’s a genuine feeling that you’re building legends, not just grinding through levels.
The art style reinforces this mythic tone beautifully. Characters and environments are rendered in a vibrant paper-doll aesthetic that looks like it came straight from a living storybook. Combined with a subtle, emotional soundtrack and polished sound design, the game achieves a tone that’s both cozy and epic. It invites you to slow down and invest in the characters—not just for their skills, but for who they are becoming.
While the experience is largely positive, it’s not without its flaws. After several campaigns, you may start to notice repeated story beats or similar event structures, which can dull some of the narrative surprise. Combat, while elegant, occasionally lacks variety in enemy types and objectives, especially if you aren’t pushing yourself with higher difficulty settings. Multiplayer, though a welcome feature, has some interface quirks that can interrupt flow if players aren’t well-coordinated.
Even so, Wildermyth remains one of the most charming and emotionally resonant strategy games in recent memory. It invites players to create their own sagas, filled with joy, heartbreak, triumph, and transformation. Few games can make you care about your characters the way this one does—and fewer still can make their stories feel so organic and memorable. It’s not just about winning battles or completing objectives; it’s about watching someone grow from a naive farmer into a beloved folk hero, and knowing you helped shape that journey.
Rating: 9/10