Warsaw Rising: City of Heroes (2019)

People compare this to Darkest Dungeon a lot... (I mean they share a lot in common... that dark celluloid heavy-shading art style where you can't see the eyes is almost exactly the same... ) which i feel is a bit misleading. Tactically and macro-wise they aren't anything alike. But I suppose that if you aren't really into TBT/TBS type games, it's close enough.

With that said, I found that I made the mistake of playing Partisans: 1941 before this.... No, its not the same game really, but the idea of it is really close ( and I just enjoy that sort of TBS well over this sort of TBS) and its arguably more refined, complex and overall interesting in its scope.

Warsaw is a good design... overall. I like how you slowly unlock characters (and apparently, its random who you get and you have to do subsequent playthroughs to see them all..OK.. Maybe some things ARE like DD after all, heh)

A lot of the game is random, the battles themselves and the missions also seem to be... And sometimes that RNG can really make or break how easy or hard the game can be. Overall, on easy anyway, it asnt really hard. As long as you have charaacters who can heal, you can pretty much tank through anything. (I was able to generate volunteers with a heal ability, i dont know if that is random, i also had the nurse and unlcoked the doctor later)

Some of the mission types are way harder than others. And it feels like it really shouldnt be that way. (Finding five specific hidden things, like crates on a mission map is next to impossible to do in time, but killing three enemy parties of any type? thats easy) some missions i was able to win in literally under a minute with no battle, and some, couldnt complete them but would take me maybe an hour to try and fail... kind of frustrating!

I guess it works but I did not really like the way resource management in this game works, or the way you use supplies in missions. I also felt kind of in the dark on weapons and their stats and on picking gear. Some abilities clearly better than others as well... Also, what weapons you come across are ALSO random... I found 3 walther ppk's and not a single character who could equip that kind of weapon for whatever reason. (what the heck)

mixed on the ending. (dont look it up!) I know its historical bla-bla-bla but other than given simple narrations for the outcome of the characters you unlock, there isnt really much of an ending or reward for the player. All in all it was fun to play for a few hours, but I could have just as easily quite halfway through the playthrough instead of force myself to make it to the end.

Oh, this review is for the old non-free to play version. Apparently there is lots of negative reviews on this game after it was aquired by a historical society or something who made it free to play because they are a nonprofit and that resulted in a jankier/crappy version? Apparently you can unlock this version by enrolling in/activating beta versions (so it is still available... felt like i should mention that)

Warsaw is a turn based strategy game that puts the player in the space of leading a cell in the Warsaw uprising. The game doesn't pull punches, making it clear how desperate and doomed to failure this uprising is. This could make an extraordinarily bleak game, but the developers do an amazing job giving characters vibrant and realistic backstory, gritty graphics, but somehow injecting some hopefulness into the narrative. It's still grim, but not oppressively so.

What Works Well I want to start with what I think the game does well.

It nails the ambience, shedding light on a segment of history I had no idea about. I can't help but think this was one of the goals of the game. If so, mission accomplished. The game oozes history from the codex entry, the soundtrack, and the variety of enemies tied to Nazi military units.

The combat system is brilliant, initially I didn't quite get it, abilities are tied to where your characters are positioned, and only target certain spots on the board. Weapons and attacks use different types of ammo, and if you run out, you can no longer use those attacks. And finally board position can grant cover, bonus damage, and other benefits. This means combat is a constant jockeying for position, balance between abilities, with multiple routes to success. It was a lot of fun to "crack" and the leveling mechanics for characters help you hone in on specializations for characters.

The game seems to be (I have only beaten it once) largely random, what characters join your crew during the resistance, events, and even missions all seem to be mostly random. This means you could replay it and easily have a very different experience.

Finally, the game length works really well. Most strategy games take dozens and dozens of hours to beat. In Warsaw, I think that amount of time would really wear on the player. Instead, you can beat a campaign in like 8 hours, and then dive back in if you want for a different playthrough. Basically, it stays just long enough.

What Could be Better

My two biggest complaints are sort of tied together. First, since combats and enemies seem to be randomly generated, I didn't feel like I ever had big climatic "boss" fights. This works for the historical setting, but makes missions start to blend together some.

Early on, I had to fight a tank to end a mission, this was thrilling as it was incredibly tough. But I never had this same experience again. I think a few scripted missions, forcing the players to take on tougher, or named targets, could go a long way to giving some ramping of difficulty and sense of drama to endings. Perhaps they avoided this because it doesn't quite fit the historicism.

Along those lines, once you hit the date the uprising was ended, the game just sort of ends. I was hoping for a cut scene, or perhaps scrolling text with images of our characters establishing what happened in Warsaw post uprising. Something to contextualize the "what next" and give a true sense of ending would have been greatly appreciated.

Overall, I really enjoyed Warsaw, it was quick, tactically challenging, and interesting. I'd recommend it to people who want to learn a little history and enjoy strategy games.

I picked this game up on sale, I loved the concepts I saw it contained, and thought it would be fun.

So far 5 hours in and I am not disappointed. The combat is a little odd at first, positioning on the map matters a lot (which is good), but getting the right position is tougher, either spend 1 of your precious turns moving, or get the right set up at the beginning of the mission.

The leveling up, and exploring is great. And the tone manages to balance the heavy themes well.

Will post full thoughts once I finish, but I will definitely be binge playing this, this week.