Wartales – The Curse of Rigel Review: Into the Weald's Darkness
An atmospheric expansion that drags your mercenary troop into a shadowy forest full of graft, corruption and risky alchemy. Great mood and a clever Thaumaturge class, but expect brutal choices and a fair share of tension.
The Curse of Rigel drops Wartales into a claustrophobic, shadow-eaten valley where light is the most valuable resource. If you liked the camp-management and squad tactics of the base game, this expansion deepens the mood with graft mechanics and a new, delightfully dangerous Thaumaturge class.
Gameplay leans into exploration and resource pressure: you thread your troop beneath the Weald's canopy where lanterns and light don't just look cool — they keep you alive. Encounters feel tense because darkness warps the battlefield, alters sanity and sometimes flips the usual hit-and-run formula of Wartales. The graft system is the expansion's spine — enemies and environments can leave mutating fragments that boost power at the cost of lingering corruption. Camp research and alchemy tie into that: the new Thaumaturge plays like an oddball alchemist-support, inhaling fumes to buff allies or debuff foes but risking severe side effects. Combat stays tactical and crunchy, with new corrupted enemy types that force positional play and crowd-control thought. Exploration is moody and sometimes repetitive, but rewards the bold with unique loot and narrative beats. Integration with the base game is smooth: the class is available to all players and Rigel content layers onto existing campaigns.
The Curse of Rigel is a solid, moody expansion that rewards careful play and punishes complacency — not for everyone, but satisfying for those who like dark, tactical RPGs with risky mechanics.
Pros
- Powerful atmosphere — the Weald is genuinely creepy and memorable.
- Interesting risk/reward systems: grafts and Thaumaturge fumes add meaningful choices.
- Smooth integration with the base game; new enemies and loot diversify combat.
Cons
- Darkness mechanics sometimes feel punishing and can stall progress.
- Exploration can repeat similar set-pieces — atmosphere carries a bit of repetition.
Player Opinion
Players praise the mood, the new corrupted enemy designs and the Thaumaturge's novelty — many say the class revitalizes late-game builds. Criticism centers on difficulty spikes from the darkness mechanics and occasional feeling of backtracking. If you loved Darkest Dungeon's pressure and squad management from the base Wartales, you'll probably enjoy Rigel's oppressive, tactical twist.