Wargroove 2 - Switch Review

Wargroove 2 is another win for tactical RPG fans this year on the Nintendo Switch. The original Wargroove was shown off in the original trailer for the switch and was heavily inspired by the Advance Wars series. In the sequel, we have a new faction with mice people who cavalier on cats, commanders who achieve a stronger level of power, and a whole new roguelite mode called Conquest.

The Good

From what was the long dormant Advance Wars rose Wargroove; just splash a coat of fantasy over it, change up the mechanics just enough to differentiate yourself, and make the commanders playable and you’ve got gold. Now with Wargroove 2, they’ve kept the core gameplay but refined it by adding just enough content to play around with. Commanders now have a secondary power that charges after their first is ready, a stronger version to turn the tide in your favour. The maps encountered in story mode are challenging and provide multiple routes to approach the enemies or different objectives instead of just routeing the enemy.

Conquest is a whole new addition to Wargroove and takes a shot at the rougelite genre through tactical RPGs. It’s actually quite challenging as you have a set amount of units that you start with and healing is relatively sparse throughout the run. But you can recruit more allies, purchase items, and rest up to prepare yourselves for elite battles. Gems are the currency you earn by progressing through runs, which can then be used to purchase new heroes and stories.

I genuinely love Wargroove and their artistic design choices; all the characters feel so lively and the environments just bring everything together. Each nation has its own clearly distinct units aesthetically, which makes it a joy to see how they all portray the same units in their own unique ways. It helps bring life to this world and adds a distinct feel for each nation aside from their colour differences.

The custom map maker in Wargroove is exceptional, allowing for custom sizes, an automatic symmetry option, and specific victory conditions. There is just so much you can play around with; it’s basically Super Mario Maker for Wargroove 2 and you have to truly delve into it to appreciate everything on offer.

TL;DR

• Refines the formula
• Adds a roguelite mode
• Adorable art style
• Robust custom maker

The Bad

In regards to the aesthetic differences, it does take a bit longer to learn what each unit is instead of knowing at a glance. Unfortunately, there is no mechanical difference between the nations aside from what commander you use. It makes sense for consistency; however, having units perform better based on their nation in different scenarios would have been an extra layer of strategy to account for. 

The codex is filled with a lot of lore about the characters but also holds a lot of detailed information about their stories and, more importantly, gameplay wise with their abilities. To get the full details of commanders' grooves, you have to go into the codex and that just breaks up the flow of combat on occasion. This point is mute after you’ve memorised everyone’s abilities but that takes a lot longer than you’d want, especially for newer players.

TL;DR

• The only mechanical difference between sides is commanders
• Codex holds a lot of important information

Final Score: 9/10

Ultimately, Wargroove 2 is the perfect sequel, changing nothing important about the original gameplay, expanding on what worked well, adding additional factions, and adding a fresh new game mode to soak hours into. While there are complications, they are miniscule and redundant by the time you learn everything about the game. Wargroove 2 is a shining gem in the Tactical RPG genre and well worth anyone’s time to invest in the world and experience the fun.

Thank you for checking out our Wargroove 2 Switch review, thank you to Chucklefish (via Honest PR) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

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