The tactical strategy genre is one I enjoy, and having a Steam Deck makes it even more enjoyable. My love of this genre stems from games like Advance Wars and Jeane D’Arc. So, when an email for Wardrum dropped in my inbox, I got curious. This is a tactical strategy game that combines rogue-like mechanics with rhythm gameplay. While I’m still very early in the game, it’s one I can see myself spending a lot more time with.
Rhythm makes you stronger
The core hook in Wardrum is that your units fight using rhythm commands to attack. It’s not quite Patapon. You aren’t hitting rhythmic commands to perform actions. Instead, it’s more like PaRappa. Each action has a set of key presses that you need to hit in time with the marker scrolling at the bottom of the screen.
Every attack is different, so you’re not using the same commands for every attack. I’ve noticed that the more powerful the attack, the harder the rhythm line is. The key to the strongest attacks is hitting the commands so you get “Good” or “Perfect” responses. However, the game does have a bit of wiggle room. Meaning, you can miss a command and still get an attack to hit.
In fact, I even had times where I hit all the notes, but I missed an attack. That’s part of the randomization of tactical games. You still want to aim to get all the commands because every little bit of HP you can take from a foe is important. This isn’t an easy game so you will be dying plenty.
Interesting Rogue mechanics
Yes, Wardrum is a tactical game, but it incorporates rogue-like mechanics. This is a run-based game, where each run has a random path with a few branching points. Because of that, you may encounter things in one run that you won’t see in a follow-up. It also means that the game wants you to die and to try again.
Early on, when a unit dies in combat, they stay dead until you can revive it at certain locations on your map. These spots don’t always appear, so you need to be smart with your units. You start a run with only four units. It is possible to increase your squad size, which does help. Even with an increased squad size, the game’s difficulty scales with it. So, enemy squads get bigger and stronger, too.
When a run ends, you visit an underworld zone before starting a new one. Here is where you can spend on things to improve your next run. Units don’t carry over their stats into the next run. However, you can use something they call “Essence” to improve your characters. These improvements do make the next run easier. You will notice that characters level up faster and feel stronger. So, when you encounter the game’s first big boss, you’ll be able to beat them even quicker.
More to discover
I’ve only put in about four hours into Wardrum so far, so I can’t speak too much about its story and a few other things. At this point, I’ve unlocked two other characters, but I tend to stick to the first four that you get when beginning a run. Your roster isn’t that deep, but you have the standard array of unit types you’d expect.
Every run includes the Drummer. But then you can add three more units to start with. In my runs, I’ve stuck with the warrior, the tank, and the archer. The other two units I’ve unlocked are the magic attacker and an agility character. There are a few more to unlock, including one who I believe is a dedicated healer. As I mentioned earlier, your squad increases as you progress. This also seems random. My first few runs had the mage join my squad. The last few runs have been the sentinel.
With regards to the story, I’ve only gotten to the second of four zones you can visit. Zones are also randomized, so after the first zone, you might encounter a different zone in every run. There is a lot of mystery here, but the game also relies on comedic dialogue in character exchanges. Because I am so focused on the turn-based combat, it’s not engaging enough for me to remember.
Having fun so far
Wardrum is a pleasant surprise and one that I want to keep playing. The game is challenging, but I am happy that I’m progressing at a decent rate. Each run has me advancing a bit more each time. While I have more to discover, I’m eager to see which other environments I’ll visit and which enemies I’ll encounter.
