Wartorn Preview
Best described as a combination of squad-based real-time strategy and rogue-lite progression, Stray Kite’s Wartorn is unique. Of course, genre-crossing hybrid games aren’t news. But with a striking visual style and focus on elemental magic, Wartorn looks to carve itself a nice little niche in an overcrowded field. A recent combat demo showed a little of what Wartorn is all about.
I Need Backup
Made by a team of industry vets and with a strong nod to Bungie’s venerable Myth franchise, Wartorn places the player in control of two elven sisters, Yara and Elani. In addition to their own magical abilities, the pair have squads of allies providing support. Levels are fairly compact. You steer the sisters and their forces down a linear path toward an objective. Whoever survives the gauntlet can upgrade and regroup up via some persistent rewards before the next level. If the caravan is wiped, the run ends, a la your favorite roguelike-or-lite.
Naturally, the player has control over both the sisters and the ranks of their mini-armies. Formations, facing, and specific weapons, spells, or approaches fluidly change during battles. The player can briefly slow down the action to make things a little more tactical and less frantic when making decisions. Of course, the sisters have both melee and ranged assistance, tanks, and healers. All the traditional fantasy races make an appearance, plus some notable additions.
The description above could be applied to lots of tactical fantasy games. Wartorn blends in more than a few additional ingredients. For starters, the environments are largely destructible, which can help shift tactics mid-battle. Next, the game’s spells are highly focused on a rock-paper-scissors approach to elemental magic. As in, water douses flame and heals plant units, tar ignites whatever it covers and electrical spells love water. Finally, the rogue-lite mechanics help the player feel like they’re always making at least some progress. Even in the demo, it’s clear that the game builds in a lot of creativity towards combat.
Cool Brushwork
The demo I played was focused on combat and not the overarching narrative. There’s lots of stuff I don’t know. However, I can attest that Wartorn’s spell and combat effects are striking and impressive, with lots of character. In fact, the game’s overall aesthetic is remarkably unique, with a painterly art style that could easily support an animated film. The only downside to this almost impressionistic visual approach is it leans into vibrant color more than sharp detail. Occasionally it’s a little hard to parse the action.
Composer Felipe Tellez brings his experience with concert music, feature film scores, and interactive entertainment to the project. Tellez has created a colorful score that matches the visual aesthetic. The music blends together orchestral textures and evocative melody with subtle electronic timbres and highlights a warehouse of exotic world instruments.
A Promising Path
If Wartorn’s demo is any indication, the final product should be a thoroughly engaging blend of systems and mechanics. Real time squad-based strategy, magic, fantasy and roguelite come together in a way that feels pretty organic. Whether the narrative and campaign sustain the experience remain to be seen, but the demo is an intriguing introduction. I look forward to playing the game when it drops into early access this year.
Thank you for keeping it locked on COGconnected.
