However, even if a character dies mid-campaign they can return in another, often de-aged or slightly less powerful, as you add them to an in-game hall of fame that sees their legend retold time and again.Īll of these story and character elements are reflected in the combat, with age and experience determining abilities just as much as the weapons being used, while relationships to other characters opens up a range of different abilities depending on whether they’re lovers or rivals. Wildermyth is heavily focused on telling a characters’ entire life story, not just a one-off adventure, and whether you lose them to battle, old age, or ennui it’s always an emotional send-off. Reminiscent of The Banner Saga, you have to be careful that characters doesn’t burn out too soon, with veteran warriors more likely to get out while the getting is good than continue on into old age and inevitable defeat. Each campaign is split into chapters that take place years apart, with your level of success determining whether the kingdom is at peace during that time – which has a knock-on effect on what your characters get up to in the interim. Shorter comic book scenes pop up to detail each event and the effect it has on your party, from increasing morale to promoting feuds or causing characters to lose confidence.Įven if nothing drastic happens characters still gain permanent scars from battles or magic use and everyone grows old, often retiring to a non-combat role and allowing their children to take over. Whatever happens to your character though, it’s first and foremost treated as a plot point rather than something to be ticked off on your skill tree.

If your character has problems socialising then that will be reflected in the game, since relationships are important and the outcome of the plot, and your performance on the battlefield, can vary depending on whether characters are friends, enemies, lovers, or family members.Ĭharacters level up in normal role-playing fashion, but they can also gain magical abilities as they progress, often related to their personality and taking the form of superhero style powers like flight or pyrokinesis. The script throughout is excellent – well-written but not self-indulgent – with comic book style cut scenes that convey the story and illustrate how the traits have a clear effect on its outcome. Despite there being no pre-set characters everyone gets a little story intro explaining what they’re about, filled with personal details about dreams and interests and showcasing three unique personality traits, from greed to insecurity. You then pick one of a handful of campaigns, with their own procedurally generated content, that take around 12 hours each to work through. Things start off perfectly normally for a role-playing game, with a party of three characters that you can choose to either customise yourself or leave randomised. It’s constantly becoming harder for indie games to be discovered on their own but the rewards for seeking out Wildermyth are quickly evident, in what feels like a genuine milestone in RPG gaming. Wildermyth is without question one of the best games of the year, but with its non-descript name and lack of marketing – from a first-time developer, no less – it completely passed us by until readers began recommending it. This isn’t some bookish attempt to replicate Dungeons & Dragons in video game form but an ambitious effort to make something unique in the annals of video game storytelling.

However, one key difference in the approach is how Western role-players are often much more focused on trying to replicate a tabletop role-playing experience – something which has always been much less evident in Japanese games.Īs you might imagine, or otherwise we wouldn’t have brought it up, Wildermyth is purposefully reminiscent of the sort of freewheeling adventures you can experience with a good Dungeon Master, but it’s also much more than that. As with any modern genre debate the issue is largely irrelevant, since most games nowadays incorporate elements from multiple different game types. The recent release of Cris Tales highlighted the difference between Western and Japanese role-playing games, and the long-standing question of whether they are two separate sub-genres or not.

The most innovative role-playing game of recent years is a low budget indie title where no story is ever the same twice. Wildermyth – create your own legend (pic: Worldwalker Games)

Wildermyth warrior abilities