Wartales Review

mmorpg.com:

Tabletop gamers and cRPGers alike, take note — with Wartales, Shiro Games has put together a blend of RPG and survival mechanics that will surely have you rolling for initiative. Light on story and deep on game mechanics, Wartales is a grand open-world adventure where you take a band of budding mercenaries and try to achieve a single goal — survive. I’ve spent the last few weeks exploring what Wartales has to offer, and I can tell you that meeting that goal isn’t as easy as it might seem.

Your first step to adventure in Wartales is creating your party. Instead of meticulously hand-crafting each party member, Wartales uses a much quicker approach. First, you must pick your group's origin story. There are five starting groups to choose from, each with a preset assortment of classes, including Brute, Swordsman, Warrior, Archer, and Ranger. Each party begins with four companions. Your background also determines your starting resources. For example, you can be a group of unhappy farmers looking for a better life to get some extra food, while deserters running from the war will have additional raw materials but start the game wanted by the watch. You also get to pick a starting bonus for your group, such as reduced fatigue or increased constitution, along with a debuff like an increased chance of attack during rest or reduced knowledge XP gains. 

As for individual character customization, you can choose each member's gender, adjust their appearance, and change their name. And although you can’t swap out the predetermined classes, some classes allow you to start with either a one-handed weapon and shield or a two-hander, and all classes also get to pick a utility skill to aid you on the battlefield.  You can also select two