Preview | Tails of Iron - Souls-like Mischief

Hollow Knight: Silksong seems a long way off but fans are constantly salivating at the prospect of its reveal, so much so that it manages to find itself trending on social media even when literally nothing about it has been said. The simple fact that Nintendo is holding an indie direct is enough to prompt a surge of speculation and soon to be crushed optimism. There’s a real hankering for more and Tails of Iron, from Odd Bug Studio, is right around the corner and ready to fill that niche.

We got to take a look at this upcoming Metroidvania and I cherish what I’ve played of this game so far but I am also a little biased. It’s a game about rats, and I own six, all of whom I love dearly. Suffice to say, I have strong feelings about the little fellas and how they’re sorely misunderstood and it’s nice to see a game framing them in a positive light for a change (right after The Suicide Squad’s Ratcatcher 2, too).

Your squeak is my command!

Tails of Iron has you playing as a rat in a kingdom of rats who are dealing with an invasion of frogspawn. Yep, that’s as silly as it sounds. Death’s Door had a swamp section dedicated to King Frog and it was a ludicrously fun time but Tails of Iron’s looming threat is an entire army of frogs. They’re villains leaping at the chance to conquer a poor mischief (that’s rat-talk for a group, by the way). Meanwhile, the publisher managed to land Doug Cockle of The Witcher fame - Geralt of Rivia himself - to say the term 'frogspawn.' The developer walking me through this preview told me that the team initially joked that it would be cool to land such a big name voice actor but they didn’t think it was possible. United Label managed to make their dreams come true. If that tidbit hasn’t sold you on Tails of Iron, you're lying. Cockle narrates the entire game, adding a flair that makes it feel like a fantasy fairy tale, sort of like Varric’s intermittent bickering in Dragon Age 2. 

Many of the rats in the game are based on the director's own pets, sharing their names and even appearance. It was a touching moment when, after I’d finished the gameplay preview, Jack Bennett, the producer and designer, asked me to open the ‘Extra’ tab where there was hand-drawn, sketched artwork of the directors’ rats huddled together in a cuddle puddle. I’ve never been so touched by a game’s extras section, nor have I ever felt such a warmth of familiarity with somebody making a game before. It’s a Memoriam tab because, sadly, rats don’t live all that long, and so during development, they passed away. I get it. 

This is genuinely quite lovely.

I might be a dupe and yes, I am literally the ideal person to sell this game to, but this gave the game an undeniable earnestness I can hardly describe. It also doesn’t help that I’m still reeling from the heartbreak of losing Splinter, one of the sweetest pets I’ve ever owned.

Anyway, you play as one of these rats throughout the game (others serve as your brother, king, and helper) and throughout the journey, you get to dress your rat up in armor and clothing.To boot, there are weapons varying from swords to spears to axes - it’s adorable. There’s even a little crown and beanie that you can put on but it was the red sweater that warmed my heart. So, the game’s cute and sure, that’s a major selling point, but does it have more to offer than that? In short. It seems so, right now.

The visuals are striking with a rich parallax effect that comes from the hand-placed layers of each scene, resulting in a level of depth you rarely see in a 2D-sidescroller. As for the gameplay, this demo was thrilling - you’re roped into every fight, and it is a meticulous dance on a fine line of quick-fire strikes, parries and ripostes. Yellow sparks above an enemy’s head indicate a move you can parry while red sparks indicate that you need to dodge. Red circles mean that an area-of-effect attack is inbound.

This symphony of variations is random while enemies play on the defensive like you would, holding up their shields, dodging, keeping their distance, and waiting for an opening. You had to play it smart while getting into the groove. I was a little rusty at first when I immediately forgot all the button prompts after being hurled into a boss fight but I quickly slipped into the flow of gameplay and found myself thoroughly engaged. 

He’s a friend from work!

I was told a key reason for that is the stamina bar being cut during development. Odd Bug Studio explained that it was distracting having to constantly look to the corner so now, your eyes are always on the enemy, waiting to see what prompt comes up. It’s a seemingly small change but one that seems to have paid off in spades. You’ll rarely find your eyes leaving the action which is what made it more engaging than I was expecting.

Stupid rat game is going to make me ugly cry like a stupid baby, isn’t it?

Another key part of what makes combat so interesting to me was how forgiving parrying was when we played Tails of Iron compared to its inspirations. In Dark Souls, you practically have to be frame-perfect with your deflections depending on your shield. Tails of Iron has a far wider window with enemies and you can parry them from afar, stunning them to get a few quick slashes in (maybe even a strong attack if you’re feeling frisky). Also, in Soul-like games, stamina management is an integral part of ensuring you don’t run out of rolls and end up stunlocked in a barrage of enemy strikes that end in you being a little more than a smear on the lavish pillars holding up Anor Londo. Streamlining these elements makes Tails of Iron feel fairer in longer encounters as you can afford to pay more attention to dodging and hitting than anything else.

Ultimately, that’s what is so appealing about Tails of Iron. It’s a difficult game and certainly nestles itself into the ilk of games that demand precision from the player, like Super Meat Boy, Sekiro, and Nioh. However, it does so without being insultingly difficult for the sake of being unpleasant. Like Hollow Knight, you use plentiful benches to rest at and save before boss fights, after them, and in the sections between. They aren’t sparse. Meanwhile, you carry about a healing flask that you can refill at select kegs which are also in abundance. Besides that, no equipment is redundant, every new piece of gear is an upgrade so hopefully, you won’t be travelling through menus. The opening tutorial was an intuitive but fast-paced welcome mat, and the bosses we saw weren’t ridiculously spongy in their health.

I CAN’T HEAR YOU! YOUR ILLUSTRATIONS ARE TOO VAGUE!

A nice stylistic and accessibility choice I noticed was that NPCs speak through images in bubbles rather than text or voice-over so anybody can understand what’s going on. Often, they’ll end their conversations with giant arrows pointing the way to go. While recent releases such as Eldest Souls catered to the die-hard Souls community members seeking painstaking challenges, Tails of Iron holds your hand, pats you on the back, helps you slip on your running shoes, and wishes you luck on your journey. It’s warming through and through, and at no point did it feel like an arduous task. However, it remains to be seen if that kinder approach hinders the game’s challenge later on. 

According to the developer walking me through the preview, people died plenty in certain scenarios - he’d often point to bosses as perfect examples of as much. In my case, as somebody who struggled to no end with Hades and Sekiro, it wasn’t too bad. My only death was a mandatory one so it certainly seems fair, but it still has an edge that’s no doubt going to trip up newcomers not well-versed with the genre. 

Simply put, in only 40 minutes, Tails of Iron became my most anticipated for the rest of the year. It’s got the potential to stand as tall as its inspirations, the potential to become an indie hallmark deserving of that same popularity that might cause fans to spiral into a frenzy simply because an unrelated third-party announces an indie press event. If you play anything next month, make it Tails of Iron.