Tails of Iron 1 & 2 review

Who would have thought a rat with a sword dishing out bloody violence on frogs and bats would be so fulfilling? But here we are. This is my review of Tails of Iron and Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter from Odd Bug Studio: two games made four years apart that I just spent more than 20 hours playing to 100% completion.

Both are 2D side-scrolling adventures that combine challenging, Souls-style combat, amazing art direction and an anthropomorphic medieval story. The storytelling is a big part of the charm. Both games are narrated by Doug Cockle, the voice of Geralt in The Witcher games, whose storybook narration makes every moment better.

They share the same look and many of the same mechanics, but the second game, released four years later, shows how much the developers expanded and refined their idea. Whiskers of Winter is the much better game.

Tails of Iron: fun, but frustrating

The first game was still fun enough that I got 100% in about 8 hours in one playthrough. But a lot of that time was spent venting about sluggish controls, basic combat and an awful hop-style jump. The jump was my biggest pain point. It might be realistic for a rat, but it made me miss simple jumps and struggle with basic movement.

You play as King Redgi, on a campaign to avenge his fallen father and rebuild his kingdom. As the story progresses you restore parts of the castle: fixing the kitchen to upgrade your health, and repairing the smithy to craft better armor and weapons from blueprints you find, buy or earn from quests. By the end, a dark, brooding land and throne room have become a bright, happy kingdom.

The zones are laid out on a simple map. Some need side quests to unlock, and there’s a healthy amount of discovery and backtracking. Combat is simple: block, parry, roll past, then a few quick hits or one heavy hit. There are lots of weapons and armor, but the armor felt similar, so by mid-game I just stuck with whatever had the best defense while staying light. I ended up a tank. The bosses were fun, but most fought in similar ways, and the end of the game didn’t feel much different from the start.

Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter, more of everything

Going straight from the first game into the second made me truly appreciate how much the developers improved almost every part of it.

You play a new rat, Arlo, son of the Warden of the Wastes in the northern kingdom. He appeared briefly in the first game’s DLC and is now grown up. There’s a Game of Thrones “the North” feel to it: more hostile enemies and more places to go, with frogs again, plus bats and insects.

You still hop back and forth between areas, but the zones are more distinctive and the characters you help are more interesting, from the owls of the Golden Forest in their tree village to the white-whiskered rabbits in their warren. Along with side quests that give upgrades and items, there are repeatable hunts to clear out specific enemy groups and bosses. There’s enough to stay interesting without getting boring, including three post-game hunts for the final trophies, which also set up the two planned DLCs.

Combat that finally feels good

• A real jump: the terrible hop is replaced with a higher, longer jump, and inputs feel quicker and more responsive.
• More weapon types: including a third, ranged gun type.
• Elemental effects: fire, lightning, poison and freezing open up real build variety.
• Cleaner armor upgrades: three upgrade stages per item, using materials you can farm.

This is where it starts to feel more like a Soulslike. I built loadouts for specific bosses based on their weaknesses and attacks: lightning against bats, and poison, fire or ice against others. I was constantly changing my loadout before fights. A bestiary lists what every enemy and boss is weak to and what they attack with, which makes planning builds easy. I loved this added depth. It had me trying different approaches and hunting for specific upgrades with purpose.

Elemental magic

Game 2 also adds four elemental spells, each with one upgrade, and they took boss fights to a whole new level of variety and excitement. I’d roll past enemies, hit them with ice or lightning to stagger them, then apply fire or poison to keep damaging them while moving around for quick light or ranged attacks.

Enemies are far more interesting too: more elemental attacks and defenses, and more variety in how they fight, flying or burrowing underground and popping up elsewhere. Unlike the first game, it felt like a real challenge.

Should you play the first game first?

You don’t need to play the first game to enjoy the second, but I still highly recommend it. It only takes about 7 or 8 hours, and its story ties directly into game 2. My only wish for the sequel’s post-game was co-op with friends, so I could keep playing.

Verdict: two games worth supporting

The best word to describe Tails of Iron 2 compared to the first game is more: more variety, more depth, more story, more characters. By the end of my 10 hours with it, every mediocre feeling and complaint I had about the first game was completely gone.

You can feel the love and craft Odd Bug Studio put into this series, and as an indie studio, they deserve your support. With the first game now a few years old and often on subscription services or discounted, both games deserve your time and your money. Let’s encourage them to keep making more Tails of Iron.