Wargroove
Players who grew up in the 90s and early 2000s playing Game Boy might be looking at the screenshot above for Wargroove and think, “That surely looks familiar”, and they would be right. See, Wargroove was aiming to be a spiritual successor to Nintendo’s classic Advance Wars series, and it perfectly managed to capture the “easy to learn, hard to master” grid-based tactical warfare that made Nintendo’s title famous. This time, of course, it was transported to a lovely, high-fantasy medieval setting.
The game features a charming presentation with detailed pixel-art sprite animations, vibrant colors and maps, and memorable commanders, with Caesar, the armored wardog, being a fan-favorite standout. The game also has a ton of content when it comes to its single-player, but the whole experience felt a bit shallow because the four available factions (Cherrystone, Felheim, Floran, and Heavensong) might look distinct, but aside from each Commander’s unique “Groove” ability, their units are functionally the same. Essentially, just like Advance Wars, so yeah, if you like one, chances are you might love the other as well.
Iratus: Lord of the Dead
Yes, Iratus: Lord of the Dead is inspired by Darkest Dungeon. How could you tell? How perceptive of you! I hope you’re proud of that! You’re one smart cookie!
See what I have just done? Briefly, I have become the villain in this conversation, just like Iratus! That’s the game’s main twist! Players are the titular and arrogant necromancer voiced by Stefan Wey, and their role is to hack the living to pieces and craft undead minions using the body parts of fallen enemies to conquer the living world. There’s a ton of deep mechanics and customization, with a lot of party variety to explore and play around with, with different skill trees and crafting options to the mix. Unlike Darkest Dungeon, Iratus is a lot less forgiving, as players use the fallen body parts of enemies, making replacing your party a lot easier. Unfortunately, the game isn’t all sunshine and roses, and things can get a bit repetitive later down the line; the world-building isn’t as interesting or compelling as Darkest Dungeon. It’s a great option that turns the premise on its head. In the case of your enemy, that expression is a lot more literal.
Jagged Alliance 3
Jagged Alliance 3 was a surprise, especially to me. When the game was announced, I wrote about how my expectations were being kept in check because the series hadn’t had a decent game in nearly two decades. Fortunately, JA3 proved me to be flat-out wrong, something that I very happily admit in my review. The third iteration of the iconic series was released fully feature-complete, something you rarely see in gaming these days (quite the shame, in fact); the turn-based strategy layer and the overall dynamic campaign were pretty great, and the game even had the gall to add some light RPG elements that were fun and consequential! Imagine being that cheeky!
The biggest problem with Jagged Alliance 3 is that the game is so good, so good, that once you’re done with it, you don’t have any new DLC or anything to play around with, because the game never got any sort of post-launch content. I’m not sure what the reason was for that. The game was well received by players and critics alike, so maybe it didn’t meet sales expectations? I don’t know.
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