Wargroove has been talked about like it is an Advance Wars clone, and with Nintendo COMPLETELY ABANDONING Advance Wars I was of course interested. With that said there are a lot of clone games out there and I'm usually not a big fan of clone games so I was hesitant. But a bunch of people are saying this is a truly great game so I had to check it out.

Apparently not only does it have the main campaign and bonus missions and stuff, but a map / campaign editor that lets you create entire campaigns complete with your own cutscenes, which you can then share with others. I will probably never have the time or energy to do this, but it's a pretty cool idea!

There is also online play... if anyone here gets this we should try out the online!

Haven't gotten too far yet so I can't say much, but it definitely feels like it is doing enough so far to not feel like a straight up clone. It has a fantasy setting (more like Fire Emblem in this sense), a big focus on each unit type having its own way to get critical hits, the way you use bases is different, etc.

Anyone else playing!?

@Zero

I've been interested in this game for what feels like years now. Unfortunately it's come it just after Resi 2 and KH3, both games that have taken up a lot of my run (I've been getting into challenge runs of RE2 like I never have before). I'll be sure to check out Wargroove soon, but I've got a lot of games on my plate right now. I'd be down for some online, for sure.

A few more stages in, definitely liking this game. I'm not even sure I'd call it an Advance Wars clone, Advance Wars is for sure the series it borrows most from but it borrows from other series too (for instance it does the Fire Emblem thing where you have a powerful commander on the field but if they die you lose the battle) and it does enough of its own stuff too. Just feels like a very solid, well made turn-based strategy game.

The one small complaint I have so far is that the music is pretty cliche fantasy stuff, it's not bad or anything, just feels a bit generic. Not really a huge deal though, the game is fun.

I really like the "critical hit" feature in this game. Not being random RNG but actual conditions you need to meet.

I've only beaten the first three maps so not far enough in to put down real thoughts aside from thinking the man character was a man in every single promotion prior to release.

I cleared the mission with the wagons. This is a pretty fun time so far. I likey.

I don't love the art style from what I've seen in videos. It just makes we want a proper Intelligent Systems game.

But it does look fun... so torn.

@deathly_hallows Really? I actually kind of like the art style. It's nothing super special but it has its own charm. The animation for the dog CO is adorable.

OBVIOUSLY I would have preferred a new Advance Wars but what can you do? Enjoying this game more than the last Fire Emblem game I played though.

@Zero
I think I'm just sick of the extra-chunky pixel look. I love 2-D art and retro games but sometimes I just like new games to look like new games, ya know? After playing Monster Boy it's hard not to imagine what could have been for this game if they'd have put a bit more fidelity into the artwork.

That said, the dogs are cute and I will probably buy at some point.

"Finished" the game! I put finished in quotes because it is an indie game so OF COURSE you can't get the ULTIMATE SECRET TRUE ENDING just by beating the game. In fact, I have to say, the regular ending was kind of weak. Apparently you need 100 stars to unlock whatever it is (another stage?) that gets to the true ending, and I finished with 50-something, so I'm way off. I'll probably dick around the arcade and puzzle modes a bit more (can get stars in those too) and probably try to finish the one (side) mission that I haven't finished yet, maybe try that map editor too, but I doubt I will go for 100 stars.

With that said, I don't really play strategy games for the story, and it was a great strategy game. Filled the Advance Wars void a bit, even if I would have just preferred a new Advance Wars. Also it is a TOUGH game, maybe not quite as tough as I expected based on chatter surrounding it (except for the aforementioned one side mission, I beat everything on the default difficulty level without going down) but definitely a tough one. Many of the stages really push you, and a few I had to cheese and just rush the enemy commander to win.

Seriously though this hiding the true ending behind a bunch of extra crap trend has to DIE.

Well, I finished that one super hard but not actually that hard once you realize what to do side mission so I have now finished all of the missions in the campaign other than any secret ones that may be unlocked later on.

I also played through the arcade mode once on the middle difficulty. A decent mode, but a slow way to earn stars. I'm still only at 56 or so stars. Ug. Why do indie devs always do this?! Don't lock main / story content behind a bunch of extra stuff!

Man, I really wanted to love this game. I really can’t put my finger on it, but for some reason it didn’t click with me. I couldn’t tell you anything I love or hate about Wargroove. It’s just a fine strategy game. I wouldn’t put it on the same level as Advance Wars, XCOM, or even the middling Fire Emblem Games. But overall it’s just fine. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

I definitely liked it a lot more than you, but not as much as the better Advance Wars games. Also, the main novel mechanic (different unit types having their own unique ways to get critical hits) is something I mostly forgot about in practice, too many units and different ways to get crits to memorize and I didn't want to keep checking all the time. So other than the story / presentation it wasn't super unique.

Still, I think it's probably one of the better turn-based strategy games that I have played that isn't Advance Wars / Fire Emblem / Disgaea. Definitely liked it more than Fire Emblem Birthright, which I never finished. I think it had a pretty perfect difficulty level for a turn-based strategy veteran, and if it is too hard, you can knock down the difficulty at any time (I never did this, but I like having the option, have done it in other games before.)

Honestly my only main annoyance is hiding the "true" ending (which I looked it up, also has its own stage) behind needing to collect way more stars than you will probably have just playing through the campaign on the default difficulty level. It's highly unlikely that I will put the time and energy into getting those 100 stars to get access to that stage / ending.

Finally got around to beating Wargroove's main story. Didn't 100% everything (haven't done Arcade at all and still have Puzzle Stages to do) but at the very least completed the main story w/ the "true ending."

I understand Zero's annoyance at how they locked the true ending but I didn't have much difficulty. By the time I got to the end I had 96 stars I believe so the rest was easy in handing the puzzle stages (which can be rather fun). Only missed out on 3 stars in two missions. I did make a conscious effort to try to get 3 stars (whether through A or S rank) though I wasn't aware of the secret ending requirement.

Obviously takes a lot from Advance Wars (to the way a good amount of units play very similarly to units from AW) but do enough to put their own spin on the formula. Anyway I thought the game was pretty solid even though I don't like it as much as Nintendo's outing that inspired it.