Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is a 2D sidescroller Soulslike developed by Odd Bug Studio and published by United Label. The story follows the adventures of Arlo, a young lord trying to rebuild his kingdom and avenge his father, having lost almost everything to the bats. The road to revenge is piled with countless enemy critters.
Is the game good? Well, in a few minutes you’ll find out.
LITERARY VISUALS
The visuals are the first thing I like to cover, and they are the first thing that’s going to leave an impression. The narrative of Tails of Iron 2 is based on fairytale motifs, and the visuals reflect that.
Character models have black outlines of various density as if they were sketched using different nibs. Pay close attention to the colors, especially when there are multiple contrasting tones, you’ll feel everything was colored using blender markers. Because the game is a 2D sidescroller, the developers focused on cramming as much detail as possible into the backgrounds, often adding NPCs and environmental effects to create a layer of depth. Combine that with the fact that dialogue between characters is comic book speech bubbles, it can feel like you’re going through the pages of a fantasy book or a graphic novel.
Locations in the game are distinct not only due to architecture and NPCs but also due to the color combination. The swamps rely heavily on earthy tones while the starting area is mostly tundral with a reliance on white and muted blues. While the levels are reasonably sized and you won’t be interacting with every single NPC in the game, the constant variety and detail in the visuals makes it feel like the world is much larger than what you’re going through.
I HOPE YOU LIKE FAIRY TAILS
While the premise is unique, the narrative is alright at best. It is not bad, just formulaic.
The game is narrated by Doug Cockle, the man known for voicing everyone’s favorite Polish monster slayer. His delivery is ideal for this kind of presentation, like you’re listening to a storyteller regale you with some ancient tale—or ancient tail, as the game would put it. I hope you like portmanteaus because the story is full of them. They add to the charm and while there is plenty of death, the game has its share of humorous moments.
The sidequests were a good way to get extra gear and resources, but besides that, there really wasn’t that much appeal. The soundtrack is also within that category. It’s not bad. It serves a purpose, but no particular track stuck out to me.
FANTASY TAIL COMBAT!
The good news is that the gameplay loop is enjoyable, with a few things to remember.
Soulslikes combine action and RPG at their core, allowing players to adopt an active or passive playstyle. Tails of Iron 2 leans way more to the action side than the RPG side. That’s not to say there aren’t RPG mechanics. They exist to enhance the swordplay rather than their own way of approaching fights. If you’re one of those Soulslike fans that prefers RPG mechanics and spellcasting builds, this might not be the game for you.
You can equip different armor pieces, a single ranged weapon, a shield, a single-handed weapon, and a two-handed weapon. Your weapons can vary wildly in appearance; most come with status effects. Each weapon and armor piece has different stats; you can hotkey four consumables. Like soulslikes, your defensive maneuvers are a block, dodg,e and parry. And like Soulslikes, there’s a weight stat determining your mobility. Later in the game, you’ll unlock spells.
Combat is fast and responsive, and juggling multiple enemies simultaneously is common. Enemies do not mess around and playing with a mouse and keyboard is…subpar, to say the least. Taking advantage of your entire arsenal and staying mobile is essential for survival. Bosses and the occasional mob enemy will be finished with a takedown. Something about a cute little critter performing a fatality is both incredibly funny and incredibly metal. Fortunately Arlo is invincible during the animation, so besides looking cool, it won’t leave you vulnerable.
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Just like death brings critters, the enemies combine a range of attacks, from projectile attacks, to attacks that can be parried or only avoided. Enemies are also equipped with status effects and resistances. You can use an in-game glossary to prepare, and even if you don’t use it, the damage numbers will give you a hint. Going in the menu pauses the game (unlike other Soulslikes), so you can comfortably swap your gear if something isn’t going your way. Saving loadouts would be the quicker option, but the current system is perfectly usable. You recover health by drinking from your mead flask, which you refill by picking berries, and the game is done by resting on a bench or sleeping. Areas where you can save and heal are frequent enough, and the game has the presence of mind to place boss battles not too far from them.
I mentioned how some attacks can be parried. While Arlo is a fledgling rat lord, he’s also a master at parrying. That’s because you don’t need to press the parry button before the attack connects, but during the enemy’s attack windup. You can hold the parry button down and earn yourself a few free hits. Enemies don’t always perform parry attacks so that you won’t abuse them, but they do sometimes feel like a crutch. A few times, the dodge was unreliable, and some bosses have the trademark Soulslike boss traps. You know, where you think everything is fine and then it isn’t.
Consumables help, but besides the item that increases damage and the traps, I haven’t found much use for the rest. The game already encourages you to be as mobile and aggressive as possible, so there likely won’t be many situations where curative consumables will be paramount, at least on normal difficulty. For crafting, you need to find the proper expertise and materials through the environment or by scavenging dead enemies. It is an okay system. It will allow you to roleplay as whatever kind of rat warlord you desire, but at best it’ll offer you a slight edge in different situations.
CONCLUSION
Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is a good game. The enemies are formidable and beating them is satisfying. The presentation is the fruit of good imagination. The story and bits of the gameplay could be tinkered a bit more. While it may take a while until I want to revisit it, I have enjoyed my time with it and recommend it if you’re a fan of Soulslikes.
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