Much appreciation to Shiro for making Wartales (hereafter referred to as WT) available on GOG. Before going on, I just wanted to give thanks for publishing on this most important platform.
WT is an insanely good game. It saddens me to not be able to throw it firm 5 stars, but I just cannot due to various bugs, one so bad that an important quest cannot be completed (black screen preventing quest completion). Upon submitting a bug report, it was noted many other players have experienced this very issue for some time and it does not seem to have been fixed. Also, WT has performance issues, even on powerful hardware. For instance, after completing battles the rewards screen is often very slow loading to the point of freezing for a time. Others have reported this as well. Overworld optimization could be better as well.
That aside, I have in rather embarrassingly short order logged 100+ hours in WT and regret not a single minute. You are rewarded with compelling emergent gameplay, challenging battles, and professions that are a joy to level. Exploration is fun and progression across the board is very rewarding. Capturing prisoners and recruiting them (or turning them over to a warden), being a thief, being benovolent (as possible), falling in love (or hate), exploring tombs, you name it; the world is your oyster. I just love watching my mercs grow and develop relationships! The story itself is not too deep, but the choices you do have can no less give you pause, which regardless of the complexity of a given story can add depth to a playthrough. Even still, the story is nevertheless interesting to experience. We needn't be Tolkien to have a great story!
Bugs aside, I do absolutely recommend WT and have faith Shiro will continue to polish this stunning title.