A Short Recommendation: Wildermyth

The other week I had a long conversation with Vidyala, the person I've described to my friends in Classic as "the person who taught me how to be a Mage".

It's kind of funny that when I mention she's a blogger, a webcomic artist, or a WoW Insider columnist that I get kind of a "Oh. That's nice." But when I say "She taught me how to Mage,"* that gets people's interest up. 

Go figure.

Regardless, we spent some time catching up and reminiscing about the old days, and bloggers that are long gone --Lara of Root and Branch, if you can read this, we miss you!!-- but she did mention a game that she and her husband Voss** have been playing lately: Wildermyth.

Vid described it a bit like Paper Mario, but there's a lot of RPG elements to it, and there's also a bit of procedural elements as well. The fact that she recommended the game so highly --and that there's a multiplayer aspect to it never hurt-- had me intrigued.

And oh look, it was on sale, with a price much much cheaper than any AAA game.

The main loading screen...

 

So I tried it out.

Okay, I've been playing for a little while.
When you first start playing,
no characters are seen.

There are a lot of nice small touches to the game, such as when you come back after having played before, and you want to continue your journey.

You feel like you're part of a story.
Or a comic.

There's two main screens to the game: the main map and the tactical map. What bridges the two are the stories told in game that lead from one map to another.

When you're first starting out,
there's a lot of unknown territory.

 

The main map provides you with a "where to go" aspect to it, but you also have to clear the area to make it safe from the prowling monsters. First you Scout, then you Patrol, then you can clear an area of an infestation. Once all that is done, you can build defenses as roving incursions of monsters in the main story will invade from time to time, so in order to buy yourself some time the defense will suffice.

The tactical map is where the fighting takes place, and yes, this is where the Paper Mario references surface.

Sorry, it's not what you might think.
Too much Lovecraft on the brain.

 

After a fight, if you level up....

Your capabilities are limited, and your party can't heal in combat, so be aware of that. Sometimes during an incursion you have to just let the monsters take an area/zone before you can stop them, because their initial strength is just too large.

***

That being said, Wildermyth thrives on its stories. 

There's a few steps between the second
and this pic, but it still makes for
fun stuff.

I'd be lying if I said that the stories didn't fascinate me.

They're very well written, and while the procedural elements creep in, it is still great fun to enjoy a story that relies upon the visuals just as much as the written word. The devs behind Wildermyth do something very smart: they don't tell you everything. They tell you just enough to keep the story going, and let your imagination fuel the rest.

The game is highly addictive, and it's really worth some of your time to try out.

Thanks for recommending Wildermyth, Vid. I really appreciate it!

*Or that she was GM of one of the best "Strict 10s" raiding guilds back in the day. THAT usually works too.

**Not his real name, naturally, just his WoW toon's name.