Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter Review

Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter Review

One of the pleasures of gaming is playing a sequel that is equal to or better than the previous game. It doesn’t happen often. For fans of Soulslikes, finding a genuinely original take on FromSoft’s formula is equally rare. With the release of Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter, many gamers have reason to celebrate. The sequel iterates on the first game’s mechanics in smart ways and expands its emotional and narrative range.

Tales of Rodent Heroes

Odd Bug Studios’ 2021 game Tails of Iron told the story of Redgi. He is a young rat who inherits the crown of his father and sets off to defeat the frogs who killed his father and invaded the kingdom. Of course, this is not a nature documentary, but a story set in a storybook-like fantasy world of anthropomorphic animals.

The story premise for Whiskers of Winter is not wildly different. The hero this time is young Arlo, who becomes the Warden after his father is killed by the Dark Clan, a tribe of menacing bats. Some of the boss-type Dark Clan monsters are dragon-like and have nearly destroyed Arlo’s home. Arlo’s task is to rebuild by defeating the Dark Clan and gathering allies from around the sprawling, diverse kingdom. And, of course, avenge his father’s death.

In the opening prologue chapter, the player meets Arlo and his father, goes on a hunt, and learns the basic mechanics a la all action RPGs in the genre. The pair returns home to find it under siege and Arlo watches his father get killed in battle. Oops. Spoiler alert.

Dark Rodent Fantasy 

This is a good place to mention that like Tails of Iron, Whiskers of Winter uses a beautifully dark, hand-drawn 2D art style. It’s vaguely reminiscent of medieval illustration and for the sequel, there’s even more detail in the visuals. It’s world’s apart from the pixel art so often a feature of 2D Metroidvanias and Soulslikes. Creature and monster designs are clever takes on familiar animals. Like the art design, animations have a very specific style. Playing it feels like flipping through a flip or pop-up book.

Aside from the outstanding narrative voice provided by veteran actor Doug Cockle, there’s no voice acting. The script is florid, smart, and definitely on the dark side. Death and loss are prominent themes. The atmosphere is enriched by the game’s excellent music. However, the environmental audio and combat effects are a bit subdued.

Combat Part 2

In most ways, combat mechanics are a refinement and improvement over Tails of Iron. Players of recent Soulslikes and Metroidvanias will recognize the basic elements: heavy and light attacks, an all-important parry, dodge rolls, and a variety of melee and ranged weapons. For the sequel, Whiskers of Winter adds elemental magic-infused weapons and traps and a new grappling hook mechanic.

Most games that use a grappling hook feature puzzle-type levels or out-of-reach places but while the mechanic isn’t annoying to use, it feels a little superfluous to the generally linear level design. There’s a bit of inconsistency to when the hook’s connection points activate, too. On the other hand, ignoring the obvious places where the hook is required usually results in fall damage. The elemental magic infusions and traps are fun to use and can be quite effective against larger enemies. Aside from these additions, the mechanics of exploration, resource gathering, crafting, and upgrades are comfortably familiar. A contentious whetstone mechanic has been removed. The whetstone remains but it has a different function and doesn’t impede combat.

Good Gets Better the Second Time

In a deluge of Soulslikes and 2D Metroidvanias, 2021’s Tails of Iron stood out, thanks to its beautiful art, excellent combat, and engaging premise. All of that’s true for Whiskers of Winter. The sequel is just as visually distinctive and narratively interesting. The game’s combat can be extremely challenging, but this time there are options for dialing back the difficulty, which makes the game slightly more accessible to less hardcore ARPG fans. Tails of Iron 2: Whispers of Winter doesn’t radically reinvent the first game’s art or approach but definitely improves and deepens it. Anyone feeling fatigued with copycat pixel art Soulslikes should give Whiskers of Winter a try.

***PC code provided by the publisher for review***