Wargroove 2

Genre: Turn-Based Strategy

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local and Online), Online Content Sharing

Game Company Bad Behavior Profile Page: Chucklefish

.

Review:

(Note: This game is included in Wargroove + Wargroove 2 Bundle, along with Wargroove)

Wargroove 2 is as Turn-Based Strategy game released in 2023 on PC and Nintendo Switch. This game is the follow-up to 2019’s excellent first game in the series, which takes the core gameplay from Nintendo’s own Advance Wars series, presents it with a medieval fantasy theme, adds hero units, and adds an impressive set of content creation tools. I was so impressed with this game that I named it my pick for 2019 Game of the Year, and I think it even surpassed Nintendo’s own Advance Wars Compilation/Remake released earlier this year. However, the question is, what does this sequel do to change the formula, 4 years later, with the reins of development now passed to developer Robotality?

The answer, for better or worse, is “not much”.

That’s not to say that Wargroove 2 has nothing new of any significance to offer. There are new factions with new commanders, new supercharged “groove” abilities for those who hold off on using them for even longer, new unit types, new mechanics like night battles, new options in the content creator (such as maps that can procedurally generate terrain), and a few other nice additions. Probably the most significant new addition is the new Conquest mode, which acts like a Roguelike-style survival mode where players need to be careful to conserve units from one skirmish to the next as best they can.

Quite honestly, I thought all of this new content was good, and in particular I can definitely see more skilled players getting a good challenge out of the Conquest mode. But for the most part, I don’t think anything here is truly game-changing. However, it kinda’… doesn’t have to be? The gameplay here is still absolutely sublime, giving players plenty of options while still keeping things fairly simple and easy to understand. The characters are still delightful, and the promise of a wealth of community-created content lends this game a potentially limitless amount of new content (although at this time, I don’t see any user-created campaigns just yet).

I should note that the graphics got a minor but noticeable upgrade, with more detail and fluid animation all around really making this game’s gorgeous colorful 2D pixel art visuals shine. There are also some nice new instrumental themes added to this game, with some noteworthy ones being Lytra ~ Little Soldier, Sedge ~ The Smell of Fear, Emeric ~ Echoes Lost to Time, and Rhomb ~ Valorous Heart, to name a few (most of these are themes for characters from one of the new factions that kicks off the game’s main campaign).

In the end, do I think Wargroove 2 plays things a bit safe? Yes, it absolutely does, and players who didn’t care for the first game probably won’t be swayed by this sequel. However, this is still a decent improvement over the previous game in numerous ways, and even if I was to undersell this game by saying it’s only marginally better than the original Wargroove, Wargroove 2 still manages to stand tall as one of the best Turn-Based Strategy games ever made. And at only $20, this game is an absolute steal.

tl;dr – Wargroove 2 is a Turn-Based Strategy game which, like the previous Wargroove, clearly takes its inspiration from Nintendo’s Advance Wars series, albeit with a medieval fantasy setting and a wealth of features and improvements over what Nintendo has on offer. This sequel makes multiple small improvements, such as a new Roguelike-esque Conquest mode, but mostly this is more of the same sublime Turn-Based Strategy gameplay we saw in the first game. And in improving on one of the best games in the genre, Wargroove 2 has arguably become the new king of the genre on Nintendo Switch. Plus, with the game costing only $20, Strategy fans will absolutely want to get their hands on this game.

Grade: A

.

This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Strategy Game

.

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Francis Obst, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Jared Wark, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}