Wartales: The Tavern Opens Review (PC)

It’s warm inside. The mead is unapologetically frothy, and the lute is chiming away to the distant sounds of hoofs clattering and swords clanging. In here, it’s safe, and the only thing that’s preventing you from pouring out another tankard is the pungent smell of rotting flesh ejecting from a casket of plagued corpses from the nearby morgue. But there’s potential, alright, and should you devote enough time and coin into its apparel, you should, with any luck, have the sturdy bones of a haven for your patrons. It won’t be an easy road to travel, but when all’s said and done, there’s little else to focus on in the world. Truly, the city outside of these walls may be on the cusp of collapsing into chaos, but within these burning quarters of the dimly lit tavern, civilization will continue to thrive. Outside, one door closes, but The Tavern Opens.

In a bid to further expand its medieval-themed fantasy RPG Wartales, developer Shiro Games has unveiled the outlines for its newest DLC—a business management and sandbox sim in which returning players are given the chance to lay the foundations for a bustling tavern from within the boroughs of a tattered city. But there’s a slight catch to all of this: the locals — they’re green with envy, and they’ll do anything to a take a big ol’ slice of the pie, or worse, capitalize on your successes. Not to fret, though, because you’ve got the ability to conquer the trade, for better or worse.

If you’ve just about swept the lion’s share of the trials beneath the rug in the original Wartales entrée, and aren’t entirely sure which avenue to peruse next, then be might want to give this one a shot. Not quite convinced? Read on.

Pour Another One

Wartales: The Tavern Opens isn’t quite the same as its original incarnation; it doesn’t cast its attention on an open-world setting, but rather, the inner chambers of a failing tavern—a location in which you, the newly elected landlord, must take into your own hands and transform into a booming bastion of pride for the local people. In a typical way that you might lay the groundwork for a business, you begin your journey with the absolute basics—a husk of a building, a slew of old tables and chairs, and a couple of gallons of the local brew. The goal, unsurprisingly, is to elevate these rather bare bones to a point that allows you to enroll new and improved assets that appeal to the masses, whether it’s greater decor, or general fortifications to prevent potential conflicts from arising from the ashes of some year-long feud with a rival faction.

What’s good about The Tavern Opens is that you aren’t restricted to just the one type of establishment; in fact, as the patrons vary from noblemen to bandits, you can, in essence, pick and choose your battles, as each person has their own share of needs and preferences. It’s merely the case, then, of deciding which sort of tavern you want to operate, and what avenues you should pursue in order to please the target demographic. And honestly, this is a great way to keep budding bar owners coming back for another round — literally.

Last Orders

In my case, I wanted to erect a swanky joint that would attract only the noblest of the noble—a chain that would ooze sophistication and grace, and one that would ultimately make a statement. But, that wasn’t always in the cards; the common folk were hell-bent on getting a pint, even if it meant staining the reputation that I was trying so desperately hard to keep in check. Still, I had it in my mind that, even though the clientele weren’t quite as deserving of the ambiance as other, slightly more important folk, I’d still find a way to turn a profit and make short work of the cards in my possession. In this tavern, fortune clearly favored the bold, and if I learned anything about the trade — it was that being bold, truly, was the only thing that mattered.

The Tavern Opens provides you with a generous selection of custom tools, decorative items, and managerial opportunities to choose from, all of which unlock as you make gradual steps towards the apex of the industry. From the beginning, it’s merely the case of hiring bottom feeders to serve your drinks, and of course, knocking the prices of your beverages down to compete with rival brands. After that, the sky well and truly becomes the limit; it allows you to branch out to highly skilled industry professionals, as well as make valuable investments in seasonal décor and other alluring features. This, for me, was where I found my muse: embedded in the crags and crevices of a frail dream, one of which happened to illustrate a top-notch business model that had become the staple in the medieval era. I wanted that, and so, naturally, I carried on.

Tending Bar

Of course, laying the groundwork for the tavern wasn’t that much of an issue, as I knew all too well that, to earn a living from the business, I had to make vital decisions that would make a genuine difference to the community. It was a medieval town, after all, and so, naturally, I thought it best to invest in only the most important assets and nothing more. With a few steady investments came a long and healthy journey of growth and success, and with that, of course, came a multitude of additional opportunities and business endeavors to capitalize upon. It was easy — for the first hour or two, anyway. But, being a business management game, it wasn’t all that long before the issues started to surface.

While the general decorating process is relatively straightforward and all by-the-numbers, so to speak, the financial side of things isn’t quite so forgiving. Similar to the base game, you must be willing to invest a set amount of coin into your exploits in order to earn a profit, which can take a great deal of time, given the fact that making progress from within your business isn’t in real time, but rather, every time you decide to rest and move forward to the next day. But, in ways, this worked wonders for me; it meant that I could see to other needs elsewhere and still have something to come back to as and when the time for me to tend bar came knocking.

The Tavern Opens isn’t a full game, but rather, a side quest that further expands on the base game’s mechanics and lore. Is it worth the price of admission? Perhaps — but only if you’re something of an avid fan of the primary model. Otherwise, you might struggle to enjoy it.

Verdict

Chances are, you’ve already played enough of Wartales—so much, even, that you’re probably hungry for another slice of it, in which case you’ll definitely want to up sticks and transport your wealth of knowledge into The Tavern Opens. Thankfully, it doesn’t intrude too much on your duties outside of the realm of business management; in fact, time only progresses once you decide to rest, and so, if you do have duties elsewhere, then you needn’t worry about allowing your establishment to be burned down while you’re gone. And that’s a plus, truly, for business management is typically known for being a round-the-clock gig, but here, you can simply choose where and when the job will take place. In other words, you don’t need to commit to something you don’t want to — hence it being an optional DLC, and not, for example, a full-fledged game.

Given the fact that this is DLC, it’s only fair to assume that most players who also have pacts outside of the bar probably won’t be spending a great deal of time crunching numbers and tending to the one job. And that’s fine, because at the end of the day, The Tavern Opens isn’t designed to steer you away from the base game; if anything, it merely serves as a bonus incentive to keep you busy between other tasks. Now, if that’s the sort of bonus objective that you wouldn’t mind onboarding, then you’ll no doubt enjoy seeing to its every need. If, however, you’d much rather put all of your eggs into the one basket, as well as sacrifice just about every other aspect of a traditional RPG, then you might want to consider an alternative option. Perhaps, then, Ravenous Devils ought to do the trick.