Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest Review - Bringing The Books To Life

First Released October 23, 2026

7.0

Score

0

Top Critic Avg.

0

Critics Rec

Follow

Link copied to clipboard

Published Oct 23, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT

Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest is a solid turn-based RPG that should appeal to fans of the book series as well as first-timers to the genre.

Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest is an official game that takes place in the world of Erin Hunter's popular fantasy series. Releasing on October 23, 2026, for PS5, Switch/Switch 2, and Xbox, the new Warrior Cats game lets you create your own cat and choose between four clans: ThunderClan, RiverClan, ShadowClan, and WindClan. Each has its own story to play through, featuring unique characters from each clan and different locations for each clan on the map.

Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest features some familiar faces alongside new characters, and longtime fans are likely to recognize a landmark or two as well. This is a completely original adventure, so even if you're new to the world of Warrior Cats, you can still enjoy what's being offered here. Ahead of the Disney+ show arriving in 2028, this is a great way to experience the series in an immersive and engaging way beyond the books.

A Turn-Based RPG With Customization & Plenty To Do

The game begins by getting you to create your own cat. You can customize the look, as well as the name, although you'll also be given some suggestions. You can also pick your clan, and because there are many save slots, you can easily create one cat for each clan and play through each storyline to see what changes. From there, Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest will introduce you to a number of systems.

The turn-based combat in Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest utilizes a rock-paper-scissors system for strengths and weaknesses, similar to what's used in the Monster Hunter Stories series. You can change the type of attack based on your opponent, but they can change theirs as well, so you'll need to pay attention. After each battle, you'll get EXP and spoils.

You can use the materials to make healing flowers and various other consumables and items. You can also find materials in the overworld through exploration. Materials to make a variety of goodies, including decorations for your den, which you can customize. Each clan also has their own village, allowing you to interact with NPCs, make purchases, and create consumables, accessories, and more.

The story is fairly linear, often giving you a specific objective related to a hunt or finding a specific material in order to progress. Because you're (mostly) free to explore the surrounding forest, it never feels like there's a shortage of things to do. In fact, just running around as your customized cat while listening to the game's relaxing, atmospheric soundtrack is a good way to spend some time.

Great Systems Make Up For Some Clunkier Aspects

Not everything about Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest works quite so well as its combat and gameplay. The art style, which attempts to stay true to the books, was a bit of a sticking point for me. It's mostly fine, but the graphics can look outdated at times, which may detract from the experience for some people. The environments look nice enough, but the cats and other animals can sometimes have an uncanny valley feel to them.

Movement sometimes feels clunky, and I sometimes wish combat were slightly faster, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. Overall, I thought of Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest as a kind of "Monster Hunter Lite," and I mean that in the best way possible. My kids, who are all fans of the series and are also arguably the target demographic here, absolutely loved this game, so it certainly has their seal of approval.

Clans Of The Forest Is Great For Warrior Cats Fans

I've played a lot of video game tie-ins for movies, TV shows, and even books. Despite some less-than-perfect graphics, Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest is still a surprisingly robust and well-crafted game. I was honestly (and pleasantly) surprised by how well this runs on PlayStation 5. I'm used to tie-in video games sometimes feeling rushed or having performance issues, but that wasn't the case here. Developer Bamtang Games and publisher Trailmark Games have created something Warrior Cats fans will love.

Warrior Cats: Clans of the Forest isn't revolutionary, but it's a solid turn-based RPGthat should please fans of the book series. Even if you know nothing about the books written under the collective name of Erin Hunter, the systems in place here still make for an enjoyable role-playing game, and can be an especially good one for first-timers unfamiliar with the RPG genre.