Splattercatgaming checked out Dead Monarchy:

Dead Monarchy - Sandbox Medieval Mercenary Company Strategy RPG

The visual novel/RPG Trials of Kokoro has been released - a demo is available:

Trials of Kokoro

A young man awakens in a forest, deep in the Hinodean wilds. He doesn't remember how he got there, or where he needs to be. Despite this, wielding a blade is all too familiar to him, and his knowledge of ancient history is greater than scholars that have studied their entire lives. On a quest to remember his past, the young man sets out, eager to find his way...

Customize your heroes the way you want. The game contains 54 weapons, 150 different types of armor and accessories, and 92 unique skills and spells for the heroes to learn. Additionally, there are 54 gems to equip, which enhance the heroes' skills in different ways.

The world is full of dangerous enemies, and each requires their own strategy. The Aranea Queen, for example, can trap someone in webs, and devour them instantly if they aren't freed in time!

There are a number of status effects, bonuses, and penalties that will help or hinder you during the journey. If you are unsure what a status effect does, mouseover the character or monster, and all of their statuses will display descriptions. Additionally, use the Combat Log to check previous battles, or catch up on something you might've missed during the fight.

Battles are turn-based, with unique mechanics. Powerful spells will take time to cast, and characters can use Free Actions, special skills that allow them to instantly act again. Some fights will grant the heroes temporary abilities, like the Assist command, which lets someone provide aid to their friends.

No grinding. The game is a linear adventure focusing on battles, visual novel segments, and visiting merchants to resupply. Difficulty can be changed at any time, even during dialogue.

Enemy aggro is based on a threat system. Characters that deal the most damage will have the enemy's attention. To help tweak aggro management in your favour, a variety of options are available, like the Ring of Pacifism, or the skill, Defensive Casting.

Items have a number of different qualities and differences. Blades forged in Hinode, for example, increase their wielders' critical hit chance, while those made in Guinevere are far more accurate, and can damage an enemy's armour.

The story is emotional and relatable, focusing on a group of friends that face hardships together, and how they change over time. Trials of Kokoro explores themes of family, facing one's past, coming to terms with the world's true nature, and the concept of trust.

Henriquejr spotted the release notes for Wartales 1.0.25844:

Wartales v.1.0.25844 - Release Notes for 24/05/2023

Performance
Since the 1.0 release, we have been hard at work on optimizing the game, especially the stutters that would occur during gameplay. Today’s update should drastically reduce them, mainly those happening during finishers or mini-games.
Rest assured that we will be furthering these optimizations in the coming updates to provide a smooth and stutter-free experience to everyone.

Battle
Fixed an issue where the game would softlock when using the Instinctive Throw skill while unarmed.
Fixed an issue where the game would softlock when killing a unit after successfully bribing an enemy unit.
Fixed an issue where the game would softlock when using the Challenging Shout skill and an attack in rapid succession.
Marksmen in Nairolf Arena will now punch when engaged.
Fixed an issue where the weapon Looter’s dagger would only apply burning instead of a random status.
Fixed an issue where the skill Overwhelming presence would apply the Confused status during the attack preview.
Fixed an issue where a Confused Bear wouldn't die.
Fixed an issue where Corene could not be captured when in Dying state.
Fixed a crash during a Rouste match in Ludern that would happen when the opponent team scored.
When hiding the turn order, allies are now displayed properly on the timeline.

CO-OP
Fangs will be used properly when trading with the trackers across the world.
Fixed a crash when starting Drombach’s final battle.
Fixed a bug where multiple sound effects were missing client side.
Fixed a bug where outlines were missing client side.
Skull icons above bandit lairs now update properly client side.
Mud and flames are now visible client side during battles.
Equipping torches during battles in tombs updates the light radius client side.
Aim radius now resets properly after the client uses the Aim skill.
The Nimble fingers challenge now progresses when the client picks locks.
Chat will now scroll properly when a new message is sent.
Inventory and Path screens will now close when starting a battle.
Perks given by food consumed during a rest will now be applied to all players.

World
Fixed a crash when reentering the Church cellar in the cursed village in Drombach.
Fixed a rare crash when inspecting the rocks in the Forgotten Cave in Drombach.
Fixed an issue where the Jailor in Drombach would leave after the completion of the region’s storyline.
Fixed an issue where additional Rouste fields wouldn’t unlock on Early Access saves.
Fixed an issue where players could get intercepted by guards during fast travel if they were wanted beforehand.

Quests
Fixed an issue where the purifiers in Tiltren would ask for the player to deliver Torus to them regardless of if the player already did so, forcing a fight.
Fixed an issue where Corene would lose her clothes after her capture.
Fixed an issue where Polar Animals wouldn’t be able to sniff the hat in Gosenberg City.
Fixed an issue where Guards would be naked after the attack on Hovendorp’s Manor.
Fixed an issue where Drombach’s Hunt wouldn’t complete when siding with Alazar.

Other
Fixed an issue where Seed biscuits would give a 1500% influence increase instead of 15%.
Fixed an issue that allowed for coal and wood to be generated infinitely.
Fixed an issue that prevented Skills to be mastered if no weapons were equipped.
Fixed an issue that allowed traits and titles to be applied on multiple units with the uses of the trading post.
Additional minor bug fixes.

Localisation
All 3 Fortifying oils have been renamed to distinct names (Fortifying oil, Shielding oil and Strengthening oil).
Miscellaneous Localisation fixes.

Redglyph spotted the May update for Monomyth:

Monomyth - May Update

State of the Game: Video Devlog 4.0 | Beta Patch 3.1

Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

It's time for another update! This month I am in the middle of creating Beta Patch 4. While doing so I decided to release a small interim patch to fix some of the issues of Beta 3 and introduce the new trading system. As always you can find the video devlog and its transcript below:

See you soon and best wishes,

Michael

Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

It is time for another update on Monomyth! As you know last month Beta 3 started. Since then I have been working on Beta 4 and implemented numerous improvements as well as a new trading system. These newly implemented features will be added shortly in a small interim patch. So let’s go through all these things in detail.

First, let’s take a look at a few more general things that I have fixed throughout the last few weeks. I finally found the time to reimplement weapon load-outs on the new codebase, as they were present in the original Kickstarter demo. Now your character can wear two different sets of weapons and quickly switch between the two in a combat situation. Alternatively, you can also use this to quickly stow away torches, so you are not seen by enemies.

In terms of level design, I added shortcuts between different areas as well as fast traveling from designated points in the game. You have seen these fast travel points before, except now that all areas are in the game they are active and usable. Together with the shortcuts, these changes make the world feel significantly more interconnected and backtracking becomes less of a problem.

Of course, I have also worked on the game’s main hub. This will be the main area of Beta Update 4. Players will find most traders in this hub as well as an anchor point for the game’s main quest. Concerning quests I have added another small fix: Instead of having quest items clutter up the player’s inventory, the latest version of the game now features a dedicated quest inventory. This was another small feature I finally had time to transfer from the old codebase. However, in this version of the game, any item type can be a quest item. In the original demo, this flag was technically limited to regular combinatory items, meaning no consumables, weapons, or anything with specific functionality. The quest inventory itself works much like an item bar you would see in a point-and-click adventure game. It isn’t limited in size and you can just pull items from it to combine them within the game world. This works very well together with the menu-world interactions I implemented a couple of months ago.

[...]

Why does Exoplanet: First Contact work with a predefined character?:

PREDEFINED PROTAGONIST

We tell you how we decided to create a predefined protagonist.

Hello friends!

You have asked us if there would be an option to create your own character. In this article we’d like to explain why we can’t give such an option to the players and why we made such decisions.

Of course, it's great to be able to create a character based entirely on your own preferences - to define his appearance parameters, like in Skyrim, or even choose a backstory, like in Mass Effect. And many players will feel a strong attachment to such a custom character.However, fully predefined characters also have many advantages - remember Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2 or Geralt from The Witcher. So what can be said about our hero?

Jack Sharp — the one and only?

When thinking about what our main character would be like, we considered many factors, such as the technical and production complexity of implementing full-scale character customization. And by designing a predetermined character, we wanted to achieve certain creative goals, which we'll talk about next.

A fully customizable character means always a massive amount of work. Just giving players the ability to change the gender of a character, for example, would require creating a lot more assets and adapting each of them to additional animations!

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

Chapter 2 for Stellar Tactics is now available:

Chapter 2 released!

The story continues with Chapter 2. Introducing Azimuth, new missions and more!
I'm pleased to release Chapter 2 today. It's been a long road and I do hope everyone enjoys the new content. As always, it is likely a few bugs will surface over the next few days so I will keep an eye on the forums for any issues. If you do find any issues, please post on the bug forums here. Any details and screenshots you can provide will help: https://steamcommunity.com/app/465490/discussions/7/

Localization - The English and German versions of the game are in good shape at this time. French, Spanish and Russian translations will be very rough. If you are interested in translating any of these three languages, send a note to support@stellartactics.com and I'll get back to you.

CHAPTER 2 - Pick up where you left off after completing chapter 1 with a message when entering space. Note that there are some very tough battles in this chapter so, grenades, Azimuth (when you get it) and Psionics will really help.

AZIMUTH - The final ground combat system to be implemented. Azimuth is a reward received during the chapter 2 story. It provides you with a variety of powerful effects that can be mixed and matched to both benefit your crew during combat and to debuff enemies. Effects last through an entire combat area so they are best used either at the start of an area or when you have tough enemies to defeat. Azimuth uses energy gathered over time through combat, space travel and by charging Azimuth with Aznari Shards. Chapter 3 (the final chapter) will introduce Azimuth which can be used in space combat.

MISSION NPCs - Mission NPC's can now be found on stations. When pressing the highlight key (TAB by default), mission NPC's are highlighted in BLUE. These missions offer cash rewards, loot, faction tokens and general faction. All of these missions have several stages/locations that need to be visited with different objectives and pay out rewards based on the number of stages required to complete the mission for the NPC. This is the first pass at NPC missions. I expect that I will be expanding on and refining the NPC mission system over time.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

The tactical RPG Dead Monarchy has been released:

Dead Monarchy

Dead Monarchy is a turn-based, tactical RPG with roguelike elements, inspired by games such as Battle Brothers, XCOM and Jagged Alliance. Equip your warriors with historically inspired equipment and attempt to survive in a dying world overrun by all manner of monsters.

Currently the game consists of two layers. The "town" layer where you manage the player base and the "combat" layer where you engage enemies in turn-based tactical combat. As it stands, the core gameplay loop is to go out on a mission, gather resources, then spend those resources on upgrading buildings which in turn provide a variety of bonuses to your warriors. As you continue to upgrade your town and go out on expeditions, time will pass and the enemy will grow stronger and then will eventually attack your town. Failing a base assault without being completely wiped out will result in your building upgrades being destroyed.

This weakens the player and makes it harder for the player to achieve victory. To win the game in its current Early Access state, you must defeat all 5 Monarchs, one for each respective biome. This eventually results in a race against the enemy, with the enemy trying to wipe out your town and with the player trying to become strong enough to defeat all 5 Monarchs before getting wiped out.

• Turn-based, tactical combat where the player can control up to 18 warriors at once. No longer do you have to justify to yourself for playing with a small party of 6 poor souls against the world. Combat is phase based, meaning all units within a faction act before the next faction goes however movement is based on action points allowing movement multiple times in a turn.
• Counter attacks and attacks of opportunity, ranged combat, synergistic abilities, flanking, action point system, positional bonuses and elevation tiles that influence hit chance.
• 45 abilities divided into 9 weapon types. Sword, hatchet, mace, claymore, greataxe, warhammer and rapier. There are then 2 ranged weapon types, longbow and crossbow. Each weapon type has 5 unique abilities assigned to it.
• 50 unique armor sets currently implemented which make up the 20 tiers of standard armor and 30 rare cultural armor that the player finds out in the world. Standard armors have 6 color variations, cultural armor has 3 color variations. An armor set consists of the helmet and the body armor (torso to legs). Plenty of armor sets to come in the future.
• 5 unique biomes to fight in, with each biome containing its own environmental hazards. Combat maps also have partial random map generation. Rocks, trees, environmental hazards and singular elevation tiles are all randomly generated using an algorithm.
• 65 monsters of which 60 have unique monster models. Not all unique monster abilities are animated yet, so there could be some confusion when it comes to "feedback" during combat.
• Assume leadership over a town. Decide where you want to send an expedition team to scavenge, based on the rewards and resources that the different biomes offer. Use those resources to upgrade your town buildings to prepare your warriors against the eventual town assaults and to give them the necessary support to hunt down the Monarchs.

Dead Monarchy Studios is me, I'm just one guy. I'm a solo developer and a gamer who's been chasing a lifelong dream of creating a RPG that I could live in. I was born and raised in Australia and I spent my childhood playing games. Dead Monarchy is my passion project and it has been influenced by games such as Battle Brothers, XCOM and Jagged Alliance. I plan to develop Dead Monarchy for several years, even after release. If I don't, then I'll see you at the stake.

The open-world RPG Trail of Ayash has been released into Early Access:

Trail of Ayash - Gameplay Trailer

Trail of Ayash is an innovative and exciting open-world game focused on indigenous people and their struggles. Our world is a unique version of the lands dominated by the myths and legends of Its Inhabitants. Various tribes interact with one another, engaging in diplomacy, war, and expansion. This game is not historically related and doesn't include any real tribe.

We have crafted an open world rife for exploration and conflict. You will interact with the various tribes of indigenous people. That alone can make for a compelling gaming experience, but there is something more. Something much darker that lurks in the forests and wilderness. In the corner of your eye and the slight cracks in the earth. Also, to survive alongside your fellow tribals, you must learn caution! Creatures born from the minds of men and spirits that terrify the soul are talked about in hushed voices around campfires by storytellers and shamans. In the world of Ayash, they are very real, and the monsters of this world must be fought lest you lose your life or your soul to beasts, both natural and profane.

List of Included Monsters:
Djiein
Aglemus
Bloodflies
Crawlers
Burnt Monsters
Wendigos
Werebears
Werewolves
Wudies
Tizheruks
Flying Insects
Onyares
Cavemen
Rock Monsters
Saumens
Tizheruks
Native Monsters

You must change your tactics to survive the ever-changing world around you. You are prey. Become the hunter or die alone and forgotten.

Quests, Myths, Ordeals
Quests are inspired by various legends, myths, and ordeals from all over the world. Unnatural forces dominate the world. You have the opportunity to save it, or perhaps you crave domination yourself? You can also subjugate the land, becoming the worst beast than anything else in the world, or maybe You want to get by. Be who You want to be. Do you get a nearby friendly tribal to help you build a bridge over a lake? He may ask you something in return but be wary.

Not all tribes are friendly. Some beasts walk and talk in the shape of men. Some tribes engage in cannibalism, sacrifice, and executions. These all exist in the world and are hostile towards you. Do you fight them or sneak around them? Do you commune with their spirits to hide from them? It's up to you, but you may die in the attempt. You will not be missed.

The Plot
Become Ayash. Once, he was a respected member of his tribe until the war changed everything. Alone and without aid, Ayash must redeem himself amidst the intrigue of tribal society and the monsters lurking in the wilderness or perhaps avenge himself on those who abandoned him. The story is open-ended. You control Ayash; You decide who will live and who will pay. You choose how Ayash fairs on his trail.

Mortismal Gaming reviewed the tactical RPG Iron Danger:

Iron Danger - Review After 100%

Vagrus: The Riven Realms will get a new expansion in Q3 2023:

Expansion Announcement: Sunfire and Moonshadow

The time has finally come to announce our upcoming expansion for Vagrus and go into a little detail about what we’ve been working on for the past seven months. It’s been a long, hard road, and while we’re slowly making our way to the finish line, we still have a great deal of testing to do, plus numerous final touches to iterate upon. It’s a terribly exciting time at Lost Pilgrims Studio, and it’s time to share at least some of it with those who made it possible: you, the players. The expansion’s store page is available for viewing and is ready to be wishlisted here on Steam.

[...]

Vagrus: The Riven Realms will get a new expansion:

 Expansion Reveal

This week we have good news on multiple fronts; we will be able to reveal our expansion very soon (read on for more information) and we are pleased to announce that Lost Pilgrims Studio will again be participating in Tacticon, an annual digital convention hosted on Steam that celebrates strategy games from a wide array of talented developers. The convention is hosted by Indie strategy and tactics game publishers Firesquid and Hooded Horse and will run between the 11th and 15th of May. For full details of the event, you can visit Tacticon’s website here.

We were at Tacticon last year to announce our second free DLC, Seekers of Knowledge, but this year, we have something a little more prestigious to reveal: details about our upcoming expansion and a trailer showcasing it. It’s been a long time coming and we can’t wait to share more with you as we edge closer to its release. On that note, we’d point you to their stream as a small segment will be dedicated to the expansion’s reveal, with a short discussion about it from the hosts. We can also confirm that the reveal and discussion will take place on May 11th, between 1:45 and 2:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Finally, here is a link to Tacticon’s Showcase stream where you can watch live: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/TactiCon

We hope you’ll enjoy a glimpse at what we’ve been working on at Tacticon, and, as always – stay safe and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

Thanks MAHak!

PC Gamer reports that Wartales has been sold 600.000 times:

Mercenary RPG Wartales has sold over 600,000 copies

Wartales, Shiro Games' turn-based tactics RPG in which you lead a mercenary company in a low-fantasy world plagued by banditry, wolves, and, well, plague, is so gritty you could use it to strip paint. The tough early game, in which you'll march down Struggle Street trying to earn enough food to keep your employees alive and enough cash to pay them, might be off-putting to some. That hasn't stopped it from winning fans, with Shiro boasting that it's sold more than 600,000 copies so far and been wishlisted one million times.

Wartales is doing well with players on Steam, who've given it a user rating of 91% positive over more than 13,000 reviews. Our own Rick Lane gave it a score of 83 in his Wartales review, praising its "rich and granular mechanical toybox" as well as its potential for character-driven storytelling.

[...]

A demo for the tactical RPG Tenebris: Terra Incognita is now available:

Demo available now!

Friends, we are excited to announce that the demo version of the game is now open to everyone!

You can leave your feedback, impressions and wishes in our community page. Also, we look forward to seeing you on our Discord server.

Enjoy the game!

The Early Access title Together in Battle got new updates:

Together in Battle Updates

Version 0.2.02: Daytime overhaul!

Version 0.2.03: The Third Boss Fight!

Thanks Couchpotato!

The Strategy RPG Together in Battle will be released into Early Access today:

Together in Battle

Deep procedurally generated characters!

Every character has a distinct personality, portrait, stat line, skill progression, personal history, religious beliefs, life skills, hobbies, physical traits, romantic preferences, preferred gifts, hidden secrets, non-verbal tics and ways of laughing. The game even generates their family members and how well they get along with them. You’ll never get the same character twice!

These details are not just for flavor: they have consequences for how characters behave in their free time. A baker may use up some of your food to produce cookies and cakes you can eat or sell; a jokester may do funny impressions to boost morale; a blacksmith may repair the group’s weapons. Dancers are nimble; sailors are superior swimmers. Some characters are prone to depression; some, to self-doubt. Some characters will even undertake long-term projects like growing food, making dolls, or writing a novel. Everyone is different!

An evolution of the lauded Telepath Tactics combat engine!

With a simple deterministic core that never wastes your time, combat in Together in Battle nonetheless features dizzying tactical depth. Shove enemies into environmental hazards, off of cliffs, or into each other; take up defensive positions in tall grass, or hack it all down to deny that same advantage to the enemy; set traps and detonate explosives; build bridges and barricades; freeze water; burn down trees. The battlefield environment is yours to command!

Tons of content!

Together in Battle features dozens of random events and side quests; six different playable species; two dozen base classes with branching promotion options for a total of 72 distinct character classes; more than 150 different character skills; and hundreds of thousands of possible procedurally generated weapons and pieces of armor. Oh, and then there’s the characters…

A campaign creation suite!

Together in Battle comes with a very capable campaign creation suite to let you build your own full-fledged SRPG campaigns! Build characters in the character creator; place them in cut scenes using the cut scene editor; add branching dialogue trees using the dialogue editor; sculpt battlefields and place armies in the map editor; create skills for your characters to learn in the skill editor, and items for them to loot in the item editor.

Want to get really fancy? Construct your own scripts, then assign them to items and character skills for whatever custom effects you can dream up!

Wizard Worm checked out the tactical RPG Wantless:

Wantless Preview - Explore Your Patient Stories (Tactical RPG)

The Sci-fi RPG Consortium will be replaced with a remastered version:

CONSORTIUM Remastered

CONSORTIUM Remastered is a complete Unreal Engine remaster of the original Game One of the iDGi-1 Trilogy (CONSORTIUM 2014).

As Consortium Bishop Six, players are tasked with investigating a mysterious murder, uncovering hidden conspiracies, and navigating complex interpersonal relationships among the diverse crew members. CONSORTIUM Remastered features a highly interactive narrative, allowing players to make choices that impact the story's direction and the relationships with other characters. With its innovative branching dialogue system, immersive storyline, and richly-detailed world, CONSORTIUM Remastered offers players a unique and engaging gaming experience that explores the consequences of their decisions and the nature of trust and loyalty.

Thanks Couchpotato!

@Wccftech  ConcernedApe has revealed a small tidbit about update 1.6 for Stardew Valley stating that it will be friendly to modders.

As most of you will know, Barone, also known as ConcernedApe on Twitter, is working on his next game Haunted Chocolatier, but Barone has said that he's taking a short break from it in favor of a new patch for his previous game - Stardew Valley. Although not as large as Stardew Valley update 1.5, this upcoming update will include several changes for modders alongside new game content. As for the new game content, Barone revealed that there would be new dialogues with the arrival of the new patch. More details about this upcoming new update haven't been shared just yet.

"There is going to be a Stardew 1.6 update", Barone wrote on Twitter. "It's mostly changes for modders (which will make it easier & more powerful to mod). But there is also new game content, albeit much less than 1.5. I'm taking a break from Haunted Chocolatier to work on this at the moment. Then back to [Haunted Chocolatier].

[...]

Mortismal Gaming reviewed the tactical RPG Wartales:

Wartales - Review After 100%

00:00 Intro
01:17 Overview
01:40 Story Scenarios
03:07 Difficulty & Game Options
06:46 Progression Systems
15:04 World & Gameplay
21:28 Combat
26:34 Potential Technical Problems
27:20 Steam Deck Compatibility
28:32 Positives/Negatives
30:44 Conclusion
31:42 Wrap Up

Henriquejr spotted patch 0.6.013 for The Iron Oath:

Patch Notes 0.6.013

Hey all, we've just pushed a patch to fix up some remaining bugs, mostly centered around abilities. Barring any other issues that come up this week, this will likely be the last patch until our 'Tales by the Fire' update coming in June. We're excited to get to work on that and give dungeon crawling some much needed attention :)

Additions and Changes

• (Stormcaller) Changed Arc Lightning's Stasis Field upgrade to apply Sleep on targets (previously Rooted and Slowed)
• (Stormcaller) Wind Surge's Headwind upgrade now removes buffs from enemies adjacent to the target ally and Slows them for 1 Round (previously it inflicted a whole array of stat debuffs on a selected enemy, but we felt it didn't synergize well enough with the ability's base function)
• The Stormcaller can now target himself with Rainfall
• The Icebinder can now target himself with Arctic Armor
• Guardian's Radiance passive now requires 5 stacks to proc (up from 4) and now cleanses her own conditions too
• Due to the above change, Judgment's Vengeance upgrade now increases damage by 15% per stack of Radiance, down from 25%
• Reworked the Icebinder's Frost Burst ability and upgrades. We felt it was too niche, complicated, and required too much set up. By default it now targets a single Frozen enemy, removing the condition and dealing damage to them. We've also increased the damage multiplier of it to compensate for the changes.
• You can now control the push direction of the Pyrolancer's Return To Cinder ability (same functionality as deploying Ice wall)
• Added new portrait highlights when targeting enemies and allies in combat so it's easier to see who you're targeting
• Removed the progress pips for the Morale, Defense, and Movement stats since they cannot be ranked up

[...]

PC Gamer reviewed the tactical RPG Wartales:

WARTALES REVIEW

Turn a bunch of generic mercenaries into your absolute best buds.

Like a battle-hardened mercenary roped into another foolish adventure, Wartales hides its colourful inner life behind a grim, inscrutable visage. This player-driven RPG presents with a muted aesthetic, lacks a typical central storyline, and isn't defined by any single feature. It's a game that rebuffs your initial advances with a grunt, because it knows you'll be feeding the crows before the week's out.

Survive long enough to penetrate that tough exterior, however, and you'll discover a game built from a thousand little ideas. These ideas accrue over time into a journey that feels unique to you. It isn't as strange as Kenshi or as spectacular as Mount & Blade, but it makes up for that in how personally attached you become to the party you create.

[...]

There are gaps in Wartales' well-worn chainmail. The game's structure necessitates a lot of backtracking, especially in the early stages. You'll frequently need to return to villages to hand in contracts, buy food and other equipment, or sell items to lighten your inventory. It's also possible to get bogged down in a loop of only earning enough money to cover your basic costs, making it hard to push farther out to new areas. While I wouldn't describe Wartales as a tedious game, there are times when it can move frustratingly slowly.

More broadly, compared to, say, Divinity, the world itself is not especially characterful. Once you've explored a couple of regions, the format according to which those regions are built pokes through, dampening some of the magic. And while the quests and dialogues are capably written, I'd struggle to tell you the names of any characters I interacted with outside of my own party.

That said, the mercs who you recruit, train, eat with, sleep with, explore with, and fight alongside will be burned into your brain forever. Wartales may not be the flashiest or most accessible game around, but persistence will enrich you with the most valuable currency any game can provide: memories.

Score 83/100 - Don't be fooled by its drab exterior, Wartales is a deep and richly rewarding exercise in party creation.

Thanks Henriquejr!

Softpedia reviewed the tactical RPG Wartales:

Wartales Review (PC)

Wartales was born from the love for games like Battle Brothers, Kenshi or Mount & Blade. Shiro Games’ title draws inspiration from all these games and many others. Described as an open world RPG in which you lead a band of mercenaries in their search for wealth and fame, Wartales sets the stage for a rather sandbox experience that encourages exploration and experimentation.

The game allows you to adjust the level of difficulty, which also coincides with two different playstyles. You can either opt to enable level-scaling or keep levels region-locked and explore to your heart’s desire. Both are perfectly suitable for the formula, so it’s more of what you prefer between exploration or a worthy challenge.

[...]

Wartales is the perfect game for those who love turn-based action and min-maxing their characters. The progression system is well-thought to keep you engaged while you explore each map. Combat and crafting are two other complementary systems that add extra layers of strategy.
The lack of a full-fledged story is probably the only thing that Wartales is probably guilty of, but so are Battle Brothers and other similar games, so it’s not a real issue. The visuals and soundtrack are fitting for an open world RPG, but I would have liked to be able to zoom in a little bit more.

All in all, Wartales offers enough variation and strategy layers to make the journey not just enjoyable, but also challenging and rewarding. If you liked Battle Brothers, you’re going to love Wartales.

Score: 4/5

Redglyph spotted the March/April update for Monomyth:

Monomyth - March / April Update

State of the Game: Video Devlog 3.0 | Beta Update 3

Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

It's time for another project update! In this one, we will be talking about the latest beta patch and how development will continue after that.

Sorry for the delay this month. I wanted to make sure that the patch was largely finalized before creating the update. As always you will find the video transcript attached to this post!

Best wishes,
Michael

Text:

Time just flies! We are already in April but the development of Monomyth continues. The time to really wrap it up is drawing near, but there is still some stuff to do. So in this update, we will be talking about a massive amount of content that will be added to the game shortly and how we will continue from that. At this point, I don’t want to spoil too much, but I want to keep you updated on the latest work that has gone into the project. So let’s take a look at that.

I have been working on Beta 3 roughly for the last two months and it’s now close to completion. Right away I can say I am glad that for a change I have listened to my own advice and I learned from the mistakes made during the development of Beta 2.

Beta 3’s development was much better planned, much better scaled and unsurprisingly much better executed. I built most of it based on a blockout I did earlier in development, even before the refactoring. As a result, I didn’t go overboard in terms of scaling, and the geometry plus detail passes were done much faster.

This gave me a lot more time to make some unique assets that would add personality to the area. It also gave me time to implement more intricate and polished designs. This is reflected very well in the general engagement with the game environment. Or in other words, Beta 3 features more detailed level mechanics. This goes from secrets, to traps, to what I tend to call environmental sidequests or challenges.

I also had more time working on enemies and enemy encounters. So Beta 3 actually features multiple new enemy types, some taken over from older work I did, some made completely from scratch. None of these have been in the game so far.

[...]

Rock Paper Shotgun reviewed the tactical RPG Wartales:

Wartales review: a grimy medieval fantasy RPG rife with emergent stories

No long stories about beans this time, promise

‘The Tank’, I’ll admit, is a monumentally uninspired name for the mace-wielding brick privy of a man I’d bestowed the dubious honour of soaking up hits in place of my squishier mercs, but when sandbox tactical RPG Wartales let me assemble a party of 12 mad lasses and tapped chaps, the stash of good nicknames was always going to be the first casualty. So, The Tank he lived, and also died. Questing endlessly in this grimy medieval world won’t cut it. You’ll also need to keep your troupe paid and fed, so when evening fell to find nought but a handful of foraged mushrooms and a single mouldy apple I’d pried from the fingertips of a disemboweled bandit, it was time to get creative.

[...]

The presentation is probably a bit nicer than it honestly needed to be across the board. The music is lovely, all driving war drums layered with whimsical, slightly discordant European folk instruments. The minigames are all great aside from that bastard slide puzzle. Also, get this: I once picked two locks on a three lock chest but broke my last pick on the final one. I came back to it about three hours later with a fresh set of picks, and the two locks I did last time were still open! This sounds incredibly minor but I feel it exemplifies a sort of coherence and persistence about the world that I feel is crucial to the soul of this sort of game.

And this here is sort of the key to Wartales, I think. It feels consistent. It’s workmanlike without being uninspired, fascinating without being flashy. It’s like a loveable cockney chimney sweep with a sparkle in its eye. It might be too mundane to scratch the itch for high adventure, but if you’re feverish for a grounded low fantasy ramble with the occasional giant rat, Wartales will cure ya. Also, apropos of nothing: I still haven’t played Battle Brothers yet, so I don’t know. Go away.

FUDO checked out the tactical RPG The Last Spell:

The Last Spell | RPG Review

The open-world RPG Wartales will be released today:

Wartales

FIGHT, SURVIVE AND LIVE TO TELL THE TALES

It has been a hundred years since the world saw the fall of the once great Edoran Empire at the hands of an unprecedented plague that swept the nation. In the turmoil and uncertainty that has followed, mercenary work, banditry and thievery across the land is abundant, as honor has long since become an almost entirely forgotten virtue.

Now, prepare to lead a group of unscrupulous characters who revel in such activity in a massive open world where combat, death and a thirst for riches will shape and define your day to day life. You are not special, the chosen one or a once in a millennia hero ushering in a new era of peace. Your goal is solely to survive and thrive in this harsh and hostile world.

Only the bravest and most ambitious can hope to see their story written in the Wartales!

EXPLORE

• Journey through the gigantic world of Wartales and explore each of its corners in your quest for notoriety, wealth and recognition.
• Explore lively and vibrant villages, vestiges of a forgotten time, abandoned mines, deserted camps and more that litter this vast continent as you unravel the history of the world.

PROSPER

• Fight your way out of perilous situations with a new twist on tactical turn based combat, as you are confronted by wild animals, fearless bandits and more...
• Recruit new companions with numerous unique specializations, skill sets, weapon preferences resulting in a plethora of possible builds.
• Accept contracts that will see you defend, liberate and save the many inhabitants of the land, be they good natured people just trying to make their way or those with less honorable motives...
• Collect bounties! From the most insignificant petty thieves to the lands most notorious figures, there’s no such thing as a profit too small to take.

DEVELOP

• Enhance you and your companions capabilities with a deep and intuitive RPG progression and crafting system.
• Improve your group’s equipment by gathering materials and crafting powerful new weapons and tools.
• Develop your camp, adding new amenities, tools & equipment to increase your group’s morale and efficiency.