Trouble stirs on the shores of Aurania.
Wargroove 2 is the sequel to Wargroove, released on October 5, 2023.Some time after the world almost fell to Requiem's power and Aurania's forces formed a tentative peace to save the world, an ambitious new faction from a far-off shore has arrived to reawaken the power for themselves.
Tropes:
Spoilers for the first Wargroove will be unmarked!
- Advanced Ancient Acropolis: The Kingdom of Cacophony is survived by these, filled with Tron Lines and robotic Guardians, which form a new tileset for battle maps.
- The Alliance: Following the events of Wargroove, the Kingdom of Cherrystone, Felheim Legion, Heavensong Empire and Floran Tribes are united under a non-aggression pact called the "Pan-Auranian Treaty of 3042". It shows signs of breaking down in the ending, to Mercia's dismay, after Empress Tenri of Heavensong turns out to have been the story's Big Bad and refuses to apologize or budge on any of her ambitions.
- All for Nothing: Just about every excursion that Madam Pistil pulls some of Rhomb's troops for her own activities, tends to come up with absolutely nothing to show for her hard work. On top of which, the absence of troops that Rhomb could've had results in battle going downhill for Rhomb. He ends up captured twice, thanks to Pistil's antics.
- Ancient Grome: The Faahri Republic's aesthetic, with some Power Crystals for flavor.
- Anti-Magical Faction: According to lore entries, the practice of magic is actually forbidden among Heavensong's citizens (since visiting Cherrystone mages such as Emeric aren't penalized when they visit). In theory, this extends to the Saffron Isles, but the Empire typically doesn't waste its time interfering with old magic as long as it's kept behind doors. Of course, this is a hypocritical case if Tenri's fans are magical in nature.
- Army of Thieves and Whores:
- The new look for the Outlaw Clans presents them as Pirates with a mix of equipment and races from Cherrystone and Heavensong. Their Flavor Text tells the story of people from all walks of life deciding to join a rag-tag La Résistance against Heavensong's colonial government in the Saffron Isles.
- Since the Faahri detest violence, their newly-minted military recruits by offering to absolve outstanding financial debts, particularly in regards to the Republic's education system. As Octagon sums up, almost none of them actually want to be there, but they have no other options.
- Backup from Otherworld: In the mental world crafted by Maestra, when your commanders get taken out, they receive a hope-restoring vision of friends and family, and you can choose one of them to replace the fallen commander on the battlefield. In the case of Mercia and Nuru, the options include Mercival and Greenfinger, both deceased.
- Big Bad: Empress Tenri of Heavensong is revealed to be orchestrating the hunt for Cacophonic artifacts — bankrolling the Faahri Republic's expedition to the Gloomwoods, sending Ryota to enforce the colonial rule of the Saffron Isles, and hiring Vesper to try and steal the Fell Gauntlet — in the belief that Cacophony's Black Magic can be harnessed for the betterment of the world. She reacts poorly when Mercia and Emeric refuse to go along with her ideas, which include a planned invasion of Felheim if Valder refuses to surrender the Fell Gauntlet.
- Bittersweet Ending: Maestra is defeated and sealed away once more, but Tenri's crimes completely fracture both the alliance between the nations and the peace on the continent. Mercia's attempts to broker a new peace treaty end up falling flat, as Tenri demands that the Bandits repay Heavensong for all the damage they caused (which Nadia naturally refuses), Nuru is still deeply embittered over Heavensong's role in Zawan's death and Felheim naturally refuses to hand over the Fell Gauntlet to Heavensong. And naturally, relations between the Floran and the Faahri are also going to be strained (since it was their forces who killed Zawan) though Rhomb clearly intends to try and mend bridges with them. With the continent now on the brink of war, Tenri sends Koji away to an academy in the far north in the hopes that he won't have to be involved in the fighting to come.
- Cassandra Truth: With the exception of Lytra, who muses on Hans' final words before they depart, none of the Faahri forces even stop to consider that his warnings about the lyre they just took from his island might be valid.
- Desperately Craves Affection:
- Lytra, on account of being The Chew Toy who no-one has ever once respected or taken seriously, frequently speaks of not wanting to disappoint anyone when she becomes more trusted by the rest of the expedition. In particular, she becomes all but smitten with Pistil when the Mad Scientist recruits the young mouse to be her assistant. Eventually, Lytra realizes that Pistil is a narcissist who only valued her as a lackey, and finally grows enough of a spine to ditch her.
- Ironically enough, it's revealed towards the end that Pistil herself suffers from an Inferiority Superiority Complex, using her scientific accomplishments to cope with a crippling fear of being seen as a disappointment. This unfortunately makes her susceptible to Maestra's hypnosis, and Pistil spends the final battle deliriously giggling that the wraith queen loves her unconditionally.
- The Empire: The Heavensong Empire gets a bit of tarnishing this time around, as we get to see them as the unloved colonial rulers of the overseas Saffron Isles — According to Nadia, the previous Emperor rolled in with warships a hundred years ago, killed the native monarch, and then made a show of bringing "order" to the reeling archipelago. That his daughter, Empress Tenri, hasn't felt the need to make any changes to the oppressive colonial government has only fanned the flames of the growing La Résistance. In the final chapter, its revealed that Tenri has been playing the trope straight, leading The Alliance to break down when the other nations refuse to cooperate with her any longer.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The bandits led by Hans that initially accost the Faahri exploration group do so for riches, but upon realizing that the Faahri are planning on unsealing Cacophonic relics, give their lives trying (and failing) to prevent them from leaving with the first one they find.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: In the "Dark Skies" storyline, Valder has lost the Fell Gauntlet, and is unable to use his groove in both missions where you play as him. His sprite is also edited to show the Gauntlet's absence, and even his unit Flavor Text has been altered to call him "the deposed Lord of the Dead".
- Guide Dang It!: Some of the bonus objectives can be rather obscure. In the last mission of "Dark Skies", one of them is called "Defeat the Enemy Commander with a bird." You'd think that an Air Trooper is what this calls for. Nope! You need Koji's Groove (read: Sparrow Bombs). Frustrating part is, you don't get to control him in the map, and he only accumulates Groove when Errol and Orla take out units.
- During the first mission of the "Dark Skies" campaign, one of the bonus objectives is to "Visit an old friend". One assumes this means going to Cherrystone castle in the north-end of the map to enlist Caesar's aid with the fight. How you do that exactly is not clear in the slightest as simply attacking the doors to the castle doesn't get any results.
- Is It Always Like This?: After Caesar's guards piss-off Pistil and she spends the entire chapter angrily grumbling to herself, Rhomb asks Lytra if Pistil is always so displeased. Lytra responds that this is nothing.
- Just Following Orders: When Rhomb's forces enter a second Cacophony ruin and find signs of Cacophony civilians having been slaughtered by Silmor soldiers, Rhomb is disgusted at the cruelty and questions why they did it. One of Rhomb's soldiers tries to reason that the soldiers were under this trope... and at this point, Rhomb realizes his own forces are subject to this as well, given how they've disrupted and hurt the Floran for nothing. This prompts Rhomb to call off the expedition and prepare to depart. The only one who objects to this is Pistil; the few soldiers they have left just like the idea of returning home alive, while Lytra feels she's had fun and made friends so it's been worthwhile to her.
- Just Think of the Potential!: The justification given by Empress Tenri, when she reveals herself to be the Big Bad. While she starts by claiming she just wants to keep dangerous artifacts out of the hands of villains like Sigrid and Sedge, her arguments quickly shift to how the Magitek of the Precursors could be harnessed for the betterment of the world. Mercia, who has firsthand experience with how an Artifact of Doom like Requiem can warp minds, takes a more cynical stance and points out how all those advanced technologies she covets (like the Portal Network) could be easily repurposed for warfare.
- Kraken and Leviathan: Kraken are a new class of sea unit that focus on short-ranged attacks with Combat Tentacles. They also have the ability to instead ensnare units on land or sea with their tentacles to immobilize them.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: Numerous developments from the first Wargroove are presented matter-of-factly during the story of this game. The first cutscene alone recreates the final confrontation with Elodie and Requiem. The codex includes entries for both Elodie and Dark Mercia, and openly lists Sigrid and Sedge as "deceased". Meanwhile, from Double Trouble, we see that Vesper is stuck trying to teach fumomancy to Ragna in Felheim, as punishment for her crimes in the co-op campaign.
- Living Memory: Not only are every character that's died so far this in Conquest Mode (such as Mercival and Zawan), the same goes for Ceasar since he wasn't present when Maestra's scepter caught everyone else in its mental grip, as Dark Mercia discovers after he beats her in Gloomwoods Conquest. That's why he's able to talk there.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: The whole of Conquest Mode.
- Mini-Boss: Newly introduced to the series are "Mini-Commanders", secondary characters who take the form of common unit types with unique names, designs and special equipment. While not playable, they show up as recurring secondary characters in the story mode, while Conquest Mode uses them as "elite encounters" that the player is funneled into fighting.
- Misery Poker: When Major Shosa decries Felheim to Valder by citing the pain and loss the previous Fell Lord inflicted on Heavensong in killing Tenri's parents, Valder has little sympathy, pointing out that the Fell Lord's death that followed almost immediately after plunged his Nation into Fallow. Heavensong's palace still stands, while Valder's hometown no longer exists.
- Naïve Newcomer: Lytra of the Faahri is both inexperienced with warfare and with humans in general, which allows her superiors to give tutorials in the form of teaching her how the world works.
- Nerf: Quite a few units from the first game have received these, some more severe than others.
- The Warship received a particularly nasty nerf in that it cannot attack naval units anymore, limiting it strictly to land-targets and breaking the Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors triangle among naval units.
- Errol and Orla's groove have also been given something of a nerf, specifically Orla's groove, which no longer instantly-kills units in its area of effect, but deals a small amount of damage every turn. Both Grooves also come with Emblems that generate the effects, making them vulnerable to attack just like Emeric's Crystals.
- Despite being low-tiered, Elodie was nerfed even further by making her Level 1 Groove last only one turn while her Level 2 Groove works like normal.
- Nice Mice: With one exception, the Faahri are shown to be a largely nice and very sympathetic race. Lore indicates they are not usually the sort to wage war and their invasion upon Aurania is regarded as unusual, and it is in-fact, their first-ever military expedition.
- Occupiers Out of Our Country: The infestation of "pirates" around the Saffron Isles is actually the cover of a rebel movement against the Heavensong Empire, who conquered the distant archipelago a hundred years ago, and have been running an oppressive colonial government there ever since. Nadia, the new Outlaw Clans commander, is a Rebel Leader posing as "the Dread Captain Firebird", and she works alongside other "pirate" captains to sow chaos and waste as much of the Empire's treasury as possible.
- Once More, with Clarity: During the map ‘’High Noon’’ in the final campaign, when Vesper and Pistil show up as reinforcements for Tenri, short cutscenes play flashing back to moments in the previous campaigns where their connections to Heavensong were first hinted at.
- Pirate: The Outlaw Clans are redesigned with this aesthetic, though it's quickly revealed to be a theatrical play-act put on by a La Résistance movement opposed to the Heavensong Empire. They're only interested in loot and plunder as far as it funds their cause and inconveniences the Empire. The classic skull-and-crossbones aesthetic is another deliberate sting against Heavensong, since the previous Emperor (who originally conquered the Saffron Isles) was killed by the Felheim Legion.
- Posthumous Character: Sedge and Sigrid are playable in the Conquest Mode, custom maps and Multiplayer, but the codex acknowledges them both as deceased following the events of Wargroove's primary campaign. Sigrid and Sedge being around during Conquest Mode is one of the first things that tips other characters off that something isn't quite right about the lighthearted adventures they're having.
- Proud Scholar Race: The Faahri are obsessed with learning and science (particularly in regards to the Precursors), and their rite of passage to adulthood is a pilgrimage where young mice venture into the wider world and bring back as much unusual knowledge as they can. Until very recently they didn't even have a standing army, and a military expedition arriving on Auranian shores is regarded with shock by those familiar with the Faahri.
- Rat Men: The Faahri Republic, a new faction introduced in this game, consists entirely of anthropomorphic mice the size of humans. Given mentions of Pre-Enightenment, it's possible that they used to be ordinary rodents.
- Roguelike: In addition to the Campaign and Multiplayer modes, there is a new Conquest mode in which players choose a commander and fight in a series of randomly-generated skirmishes where units, health, and gold carry over between battles.
- Shout-Out: The achievement
Everyone is here! (link leads to spoilers) - Simultaneous Arcs: After the initial Faahri campaign (which doubles as the tutorial) is beaten, the story splits into simultaneous campaigns focusing on what's happening with the Felheim Legion, Floran Tribes, and Outlaw Clans, with an icon for Heavensong's campaign visible but initially locked.
- Theme-and-Variations Soundtrack: Unlike the bespoke theme songs of the previous game, Wargroove 2's OST is almost entirely built around remixes of the main theme, with different instruments and tones based on the faction and character in question.
- Traveling at the Speed of Plot: Given some Lampshade Hanging in one conversation — Queen Mercia is away on a diplomatic mission to Heavensong when Valder's message for help reaches Cherrystone Castle, where Koji, Errol and Orla are having their playdate. While the kids are eager to get to the bottom of it, Major Shosa insists that they instead return to the Empire and catch up with Mercia there:Orla: Yer off yer heid! That'll take weeks! Or days..?
Ranger: Transit times are a bit unclear. - Villainous Legacy: According to the codex, Sedge has left a bit of a mark on the Floran Tribes after his passing. The Floran riverboat design is attributed to him — Greenfinger Zawan forbid their construction on the grounds of being too dangerous for Florans to use, but his followers built a couple of them anyway. Speaking of followers, an early lore entry has a Floran scout express concern that Sedge's Renegade Splinter Faction didn't disband with his death, but simply took everything they could from their camp and retreated somewhere out of sight...
- Villain Shoes: There are a couple of chapters in the campaigns where you briefly play as the Arc Villain, including:
- A possessed Ragna going against Koji, Errol, and Orla.
- A self-righteous Tenri fixated on a With Us or Against Us mindset as she picks a fight with Mercia and Emeric. And eventually everyone else alive except Pistil, Vesper (who are on her side), the kids, and Ceasar (who aren't present in the battle).
- We Are as Mayflies: Faahri (and their felines) have an average lifespan of 30 years. Lytra is around 15, and Pistil is pushing 27, though Rhomb's age is unknown.
