Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter Review
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When the original Tails of Iron released in 2021, it was something special: a hard-as-nails 2D action RPG with combat mechanics very reminiscent of the Soulslike genre. Blocking, parrying, and dodging were all baked into its DNA in a way that meant no one would get far without mastering all three. To top it off, it had a great hand-painted fairy tale aesthetic set within the animal kingdom, an A-list narrator, and fun optional content to engage with. In short, there was plenty for fans of the genre to sink their overgrown incisors into.
With Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter, developer Odd Bug Studio has wisely decided to double down on everything that made the first game work, delivering an experience so closely in line with its predecessor that it honestly feels as if the two games are hewn from the same salt lick. While the upside of this is that fans get more of what they enjoyed, there’s still a certain element of been there to the sequel, making it feel more iterative than innovative despite some small additions to the combat system and game content. Meanwhile, an exciting new mechanic introduced in the game’s demo has been significantly scaled back in the final release, making it far more ancillary.
The story this time around leaves behind original protagonist Redgi and instead follows Arlo, an illegitimate offspring of the king who as a baby was sent to the frozen north and raised by the Warden of the Wastes as his own. Now, learning to follow in his adoptive father’s footsteps, Arlo spends his days learning what it means to be the next Warden and protect the rat kingdom from the brutal and bloodthirsty bats who call the harsh northern reaches their home. Much as the previous installment saw the rat kingdom invaded by frogs, forcing Redgi to become the new king and reclaim his throne, so too is Arlo’s home of Winter’s Edge soon attacked by the bats. His father slain and his people killed or scattered to the winds, it’s now up to Arlo to venture into the wilds, rescue his friends, and rebuild his home, all to ultimately take the fight to the menacing Count Kazak.
There’s something unspeakably evil and creepy about bloodsucking vampire bats!
Where the narrative of both games already sounds similar on paper, in practice there is hardly anything to distinguish the two. After bad goes to worse in the game’s opening minutes, Arlo heads to the demolished Great Hall of Winter’s Edge in order to take on successive story quests, which invariably revolve around heading out into the wild to rescue an important inhabitant of his town — the blacksmith, say — or, later on, retrieve items needed by said workers to build or upgrade stalls and stores around the town square. Though this shuffles some very slight town-building elements into the mix, they are quite rudimentary and require no critical thinking to speak of, implemented instead as a series of what are essentially fetch quests. It also means that, until fairly late in the game, the narrative sort of drags from one bullet point to the next, never really doing much to set itself apart from its predecessor or provide an interesting narrative thrust. Although events are presented and narrated in entertaining ways, the fact remains that it feels like paint-by-numbers storytelling. The final couple of quests and areas, however, do break away from this pattern and provide at least a solid climax and conclusion to the story.
There are a couple of side activities one can use to break up the doldrums of the main campaign. A handful of NPC sidequests can be completed, generally tasking Arlo with retrieving a lost item and returning it, and while these do check a box on the completion checklist, they add little overall in terms of narrative or world-building. Dedicated explorers will also be able to challenge an optional super boss by first finding four runestones scattered across the game. The bulk of side content, though, lies in the game’s beast hunts, which pit Arlo against large, formidable bosses that are harassing the population he’s sworn to protect. Though there’s nothing particularly standout about these encounters mechanically, they are a welcome way to toughen Arlo up for the challenges ahead by providing him with spoils that can be used to improve his weapons and gear, all of which are upgradable this time around. A nice feature of these beast hunts is that they are broken into shorter segments, each of which ends with the bloodied beast fleeing and Arlo forced to give chase to continue the standoff at another location. This gives the player the opportunity to restock on life-sustaining bug or berry juice and — crucially — use one of the many save benches to avoid replaying sections over again.
Boss encounters in Tails of Iron 2 are the best kind of stress.
The core of the combat system remains unaltered. Players must weave through the dance of battle by reacting appropriately to color-coded enemy attacks, all while dishing out damage themselves during open windows of opportunity. Red attacks must be dodged as they can be devastating, while white attacks can be blocked easily. It’s the yellow attacks that offer a risk-versus-reward chance for reprisal, as blocking them at just the right moment actually throws the enemy off-balance for a bit, making for a perfect opportunity to unleash a flurry of blows upon them. Bosses hit hard and have a ton of health, but even regular enemy encounters bring with them a very real chance of death for Arlo, as foes love to congregate in small groups that can easily spell doom. Surprisingly, a new whetstone mechanic introduced in an earlier demo has been heavily diminished in the final release. What originally added much more nail-biting tension to boss encounters by forcing players to frequently sharpen their blades mid-battle in order to keep up a solid offensive output is now constrained by only being able to carry two single-use whetstones in the inventory, bringing the stress level during boss fights back in line with the previous release.
The game’s remaining new combat mechanic is the addition of magic elemental damage. Arlo literally finds himself blessed by the gods themselves, and over the course of his journey he will gain access to four elemental spells, each granting a different edge in battle: fire and poison afflict foes with a damage-over-time effect that is particularly useful for more drawn-out skirmishes, while ice and electric can freeze an enemy in their tracks temporarily, allowing for some free hits. While spells, once cast, slowly recharge over time before they can be used again, players are also able to drop elemental traps for their foes to trigger. However, like whetstones, there is a limit to how many of these consumables can be held at one time. Weapons and gear also come with elemental stats, as do bestiary entries, in theory allowing players to further fine-tune their offensive and defensive loadouts to suit the challenges on hand. In execution, however, some of this nitty-gritty ends up being too easily ignored. Having the option of bombarding a baddie with spells each time they recharge is certainly welcome, but rather than using up finite resources and researching codex entries it’s easier to just trust the solid steel clutched in Arlo’s tiny claws to slay nefarious ne’er-do-wells in twitch-heavy melee combat.
New elemental magic adds welcome options to the same tense combat system.
There’s no denying that the original Tails of Iron looked and sounded the part, and its sequel doesn’t lag behind in this regard one single bit. The artwork is painstakingly hand-painted, with multiple fore- and background layers scrolling by as Arlo traverses the 2D world. It’s at once beautiful and eerily dark, befitting the game’s rather violent tone, as animal villagers are routinely slaughtered on-screen, and piles of fresh corpses can frequently be encountered stacked by the roadside. Larger enemies, whose health must be slowly whittled away, may go through some level of cosmetic mutilation, with blood oozing forth from multiple cuts as the battles wear on, or even the odd errant eyeball dangling by its stalk.
Even the mini-map gets the glow-up treatment once again, featuring lots of detail that makes orienting oneself when fast-traveling a cinch. However, since the game’s sidequests and beast hunts are spread over only four areas (there are two hub areas as well, plus the game’s final area which is great and offers fun bosses but no particular reason to travel through it more than once), players will see each area ad nauseam, hunting the same or similar giant beasts down the same or similar forest paths again and again. For a sequel, it would have been nice to see the development team stretch their creative muscle a bit more, but the final product sticks close to its predecessor in terms of scope.
Winter’s Edge in peaceful tranquility…though not for much longer…
Of course, Doug Cockle — Geralt of Rivia himself — is back to lend his sultry, gravelly vocal talents to once more narrate Arlo’s adventure, often providing insight into the inner thoughts of a cast of characters otherwise brought to life through the use of instrumental tones — reedy pipes, airy flutes, and the like. Cockle’s narrator is used quite liberally, commenting on events with rapid frequency, though an extra eye should have been cast on the timing aspect of the in-game animation, as battles — particularly boss encounters — have a tendency to begin in earnest while the narrator is still delivering his lines to set the stage. Much like the previous game, the musical score is nice when it’s there, though employed rather sparingly, preferring to give way to the natural sound effects of the world and the excellent, bombastic clash and clang of combat.
Tails of Iron 2 is the poster child for a game that’s going to have a hard time winning over anyone who wasn’t already sold on its predecessor, not due to any lack of quality but because it essentially is its predecessor. It looks and sounds identical, and has nearly the same narrative, despite its new protagonist and setting. It also plays much the same, though the introduction of elemental magic is a welcome bonus source of dishable punishment. Returning players will know to expect a considerable challenge, as the game’s default settings don’t extend a helping paw (though both easier and harder modes are available and can be switched to at any time). All of these elements are what made the first game such a treat, so getting more of them is great, even if it means the game isn’t moving forward in any noticeable way. Unfortunately, some of this excitement is undercut by the new beast hunts, which feel like rather uninspired ways to pad a few extra hours into the game’s runtime. A retread of a fun game isn’t a bad thing by any means, but returning players should be aware that they’ve seen what’s on offer here before.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
More of everything the first game had going for it
Combat continues to be the best sort of stress
Looks and sounds fantastic
Multiple difficulty settings from the start
More of everything the first game already gave us
New protagonist and setting still somehow retread familiar narrative ground
Side content feels too much like padded filler
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