The Wagadu Chronicles Early Access Review: Should You Wait to Waga-Do?

As I sailed forth from Jiwe to Kifo, which I considered to be my final journey in the land of Wagadu before I completed my review, I had nothing but hope for the final leg of my adventure. The Wagadu Chronicles by Twin Drums released on Steam into Early Access on December 4th, 2023. During my time I’ve met shamans, scouted elephants, battled a lion or two, and crafted a whole lot of confusing items. It’s time to lock up my final thoughts on this Indie Afro-Fantasy escapade.

If you have yet to read my original prologue to this final review, I would recommend referencing it if you’re looking for more details on some of the points I touch on here that aren’t so fleshed out, such as the early game and initial story aspects. In some ways, those points really only partially transfer to the final review proper, as some of the features drop off to the point where the best points of the game become more pronounced, while the aspects that were tedious only became exacerbated the longer I played.

Once of those features was combat. In the early game, it would often come to pass that my opponents would, at most, range in perhaps three bat-moth-like creatures. As I progressed through the world some of the enemies became more varied, a pig here, some snake-like humanoids there – but the real kick in the korodani was when I hit Kifo, one of the higher tier islands. In Kifo enemies could range from just a couple mild mannered monsters to 11 enemies swaddled together in a beat-you-senseless cocoon of monotony.

Previously I mentioned how slow combat could be, and in that context I was speaking of defeating just a couple bat-moths. When the numbers range past 10, you could determine that these encounters were built with grouping in mind, but setting grouping aside, the length of time it takes for each enemy to go through their combat phase was demoralizing. This was compounded by the simple fact that my bowman would still miss from time to time, stripping me of a successful turn, the