Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter Second Impression

The original Tails of Iron was a satisfying experience, so it stands to reason that a sequel that keeps much of the core mechanics in place should be a no-brainer for me.

Last summer, I was able to play through an hour-long prologue chapter for the upcoming 2D Soulslike action RPG sequel Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter. After the intense outing that was the series’ first entry, I was eager to see in what direction Odd Bug Studio would go for the sequel. The answer was that, despite a new setting and protagonist, the new game seemed to offer much the same experience as its predecessor: an extremely challenging campaign filled with difficult combat encounters and stressful boss fights. If anything, stakes were raised a good amount with the addition of a blade-sharpening mechanic that demanded precise timing in the middle of battles to be carried out successfully.

Several months have gone by since, and the studio has been hard at work tweaking a few things and putting the finishing touches on the game ahead of its release later this month. After spending another several hours playing through the final game’s first couple of story missions, as well as trying out some of its available side content, it’s safe to say that the overall sense of the game is, indeed, much the same as the first installment’s. Considering that it was an outstanding, albeit tough-as-nails, experience, that is a good thing indeed. Additionally, I was able to take the newly implemented magic system for a spin for the first time. Surprisingly, weapon sharpening, which impressed me loads with how it added to the game’s complexity, has either been toned down in the intervening months or was always far more optional than it initially seemed.

Enemies don’t believe in playing fair.

Whereas the original Tails of Iron’s combat was entirely built around physical fighting, usually up-close-and-personal with melee weapons, its sequel also places some emphasis on elemental weaknesses. Weapons may be imbued with fire, poison, ice, or electricity attributes, while armor is often designed to protect against one or more of the same elements. Crucially, however, new protagonist Arlo doesn’t just rely on his equipment to dish out elemental damage; over the course of the game, four upgradeable magic spells let him directly afflict this hurt onto foes. During the three-hour preview session, I discovered two of the four spells and even upgraded one of them, so the dev team is certainly keen to bring this new mechanic into combat right from the word go. The system is very simple as well: each spell, once attained, is represented by an on-screen icon that slowly fills up as damage is doled out, and, once full, can be cast once before recharging again. Given how uncomplicated it is to activate in the middle of wild combat, it makes for a great new offensive option.

Apart from the addition of magic, combat otherwise remains much the same. Enemies typically hit hard, with many encounters consisting of multiple foes. While Arlo will usually only have to face a couple of enemies at a time (others will bide their time off-screen until one of their compatriots falls), there’s a very real chance of suffering defeat each and every time an enemy is engaged. Most attacks are color-coded and must be reacted to according to their type. White attacks can be blocked, yellow attacks parried, and red attacks must be dodged entirely.

Bosses follow this same premise, but often add additional parameters, like area or ranged attacks. It’s not uncommon that a boss may require many attempts to best, as their health pools are as considerable as their damage output. Unfortunately, I was a little taken aback at how quickly I found myself tiring of attempting the same boss over and over again, where the previous game held a similar level of challenge. But with every death, I would have to face the same attack patterns, with little to no discernible deviation. It simply became a matter of memorizing the patterns until I could predict the next attack, rather than having to think on my toes and react on the fly. I can’t remember to what extent this issue occurred in the previous game and that it’s only now become noticeable to me, but managing to eke out a win this go-round felt less satisfying than I would have liked, really just evidence I’d persisted through enough trial and error. While a little pattern recognition is perfectly acceptable, I’d prefer bosses to test my skills rather than my tenacity.

Prepare to face all manner of evildoers from the animal kingdom this time around.

It is worth pointing out one last battle mechanic here, particularly since I made such a big deal about its implementation in my impression article. When magic alone won’t cut it, Arlo can also use a whetstone to sharpen his blade, causing attacks to be even more lethal for a time. While I previously took this to mean that weapons are near worthless if not sharpened, it’s more a case of briefly buffing a weapon’s base stats. While welcome against particularly hardy foes, this mechanic is entirely optional, which is a good thing since whetstones are a single-use item that must be stockpiled to be of constant use. Sadly, the four quick-select item slots are assigned automatically once a new item is picked up, meaning that if one uses up their last whetstone, that slot goes empty and will be automatically filled by the next item picked up. Since I don’t relish the thought of constantly going through menus to re-equip whetstones so they are available in the heat of combat, the whole mechanic feels a little hamstrung. Instead, I simply contented myself with normal weapon damage bolstered by the occasional elemental spell and skipped this mechanic entirely.

The original Tails of Iron was a satisfying experience, so it stands to reason that a sequel that keeps much of the core mechanics in place should be a no-brainer for me. Even though I have one or two reservations at the moment, particularly concerning the ease of utilizing whetstones reliably and the pattern-centric boss encounters, I am still stoked for the game’s final release on PC and consoles later this month, just a few weeks away.

Disclosure: This article is based on a build of the game provided by the publisher.