10 Things You Didn’t Know about Wildermyth
Wildermyth is a tactical RPG that is now in early access on Steam. As such, it is something that might be worth checking out for fans of tactical RPGs, particularly if they happen to have a taste for procedurally-generated content as well. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Wildermyth:
1. Tactical RPG
RPGs are a pretty popular genre of games. As a result, it should come as no surprise to learn that RPGs can be further divided into various sub-genres. One example would be tactical RPGs, which combine elements of RPGs with elements of strategy games. However, it is important to distinguish between tactical RPGs that focus on the tactical level and strategy RPGs that focus on the strategic level.
2. Procedurally-Generated
It is common for tactical RPGs to have preset stories and thus preset scenarios. However, Wildermyth isn’t one of them, as shown by its extensive use of procedurally-generated content. For example, players can expect procedurally-generated characters with procedurally-generated backstories. Likewise, players can expect a procedurally-generated world map with procedurally-generated enemies. Suffice to say that this increases the replayability of the game by a considerable margin.
3. Small Parties
Generally speaking, players control small parties of units in tactical RPGs. This makes sense because an excessive number of units makes for a confusing and cumbersome experience. Moreover, an excessive number of units makes it much more difficult for developers to come up with balanced scenarios to be overcome. As such, it is no wonder that Wildermyth has a party size of five, though it will be interesting to see whether that will change in the times to come.
4. Fighting In Unison Is Important
Fighting in unison is one of the most important priorities in most tactical RPGs. In Wildermyth, this is particularly important because units can boost other units’ armor values by just standing next to them, meaning that players will want to keep them together unless they are confident that they won’t take too much damage even if they break up their line. Otherwise, breaking up their line will be the prelude to a lot of pain.
5. Flanking Is Important
Speaking of which, flanking is very important in tactical RPGs as well. Yes, players can grind their way through their enemies from the front. However, that tends to be much more challenging and time-consuming than attacking their enemies from either the rear or the sides where they are more vulnerable. Here, attacking enemies from the rear isn’t an option thanks to the art style that has been used. However, attacking enemies from the sides is still very much viable, meaning that interested individuals will need to keep this in mind.
6. Characters Can Change Because of Events
Since so much of Wildermyth is procedurally-generated, this means that its characters can’t change based on the successive steps of a prewritten story. Instead, characters can have a wide range of events, which can have a wide range of effects on them based on the choices of the player. For instance, the example that has been often mentioned is a character meeting a wolf god, which can have enormous consequences for not just their look but also their combat capabilities. Meanwhile, another example that has been mentioned is the potential for two characters to have a romance, which is something that will provide both of them with a notable boost when they are fighting by one another’s side.
7. Novel Handling of Death Mechanics
It is often interesting to see how tactical RPGs handle the death of a character. Often-times, tactical RPGs will have no real penalty, meaning that losing a character in a battle will have no permanent consequences. However, there are also tactical RPGs that incentivize players to play better by having penalties of one kind or another. Sometimes, this means the permanent loss of a character. Other times, this means something less severe such as, say, injuring a character so that they are either unavailable for a time or becomes more vulnerable to being killed on a permanent basis. Here, it is interesting to note that players will apparently get a choice about what happens when a character is killed. One mentioned example is a maiming that opens up new possibilities in the future, while another mentioned example is the character going out in a glorious last stand.
8. Players Can Build a Character Bank
Amusingly, players can build a character bank in this game. Essentially, what happens is that characters can either die or retire, thus making them unplayable in that particular playthrough. However, those characters can be added to a character bank so that they can be called upon on later playthroughs. Having said that, what is particularly interesting is the idea of calling upon them for game after game, thus causing them to change further and further with each playthrough. Something that should make it very easy for interested individuals to get attached to their oldest characters.
9. Papercraft Look
One of this game’s most notable characteristics is its unusual look. Certainly, it isn’t the most impressive when it comes to graphics. However, the papercraft look of the game is nonetheless very well-put-together, with the result that it is quite capable of pleasing the eye. Moreover, it seems reasonable to say that this will help make the game look more timeless because the art style isn’t something that is going to become rapidly outdated thanks to ever-advancing technology.
10. Indie Game
On a final note, there can be no doubt about the fact that this is an indie game. After all, it is being made by a pair of game developers based out of Austin, TX. For a lot of people, the term “indie game” is bound to create images of something made by amateurs, which isn’t necessaily wrong but also isn’t necessarily correct. In this particular case, such images would definitly not be correct, seeing as how both of the game developers are veterans of the field. This explains much about the game’s polish, which is much smoother than what one would expect from something made by people who have never done this before.