The original Tails of Iron, released in 2021, was a unique take on the Soulslike genre. Due to being created by an unknown indie developer at the time, Odd Bug Studio, it was a fairly niche title that many players either skipped altogether or weren’t aware of.
Although it wasn’t widely popular at launch, the original Tails of Iron was a critical success. Over the years, fans of the genre have come to agree that it’s one of the best hidden gems that utilizes the Soulslike formula.
The mix ofHollow Knight’s art style andDark Souls' challenging combat worked really well for Odd Bug Studio’s first outing, and now with Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter, the developers have created a sequel that is equally great and even more punishing.
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Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter does everything right for a sequel. It’s bigger, has refined systems, and adds much-needed features that make the overall Tails of Iron experience much more enjoyable. However, the game also has some crucial flaws.
In this Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter review, which I played on my trusty Steam Deck, we’ll be discussing what the sequel does right, and unfortunately, what it does wrong.
A Darker Tale From The Rat Kingdom
Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winters follows a new protagonist named Arlo, the son of the Warden of the Wastes. Arlo’s main goal is to venture through the north and unite various characters to help with the approaching evil entity—the Dark Wings. The Dark Wings have mysteriously escaped their imprisonment, threatening the state of the kingdom.
Players will encounter new characters as they traverse the snowy lands of the Northern Wastes and recruit them to help build the town of Winter’s Edge and reform it to its previous glory.
Similar to the original, none of these characters are voice-acted, except for the narrator. Instead, pop-up bubbles of pictures are shown to get their points across. Conversing through pictures isn’t the most conventional way to tell a story, but the narrator, Doug Cockle, does a phenomenal job of making the overall plot engaging.
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Once Arlo recruits all the allies he needs, it’s time for him to take down the Dark Wings and their king once and for all. Besides helping in the all-out war, each recruitable ally plays a major role in Arlo’s progression.
Each ally the player recruits brings a new addition to Winter’s Edge to help aid in the main quest of stopping the Dark Wings.
Some examples include a rat that can forge new weapons, a cook that’ll grant permanent upgrades to Arlo, and even a shopkeeper with essential goodies for survival.
A More Refined Elemental Combat System
Like its predecessor, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is a punishing Soulslike emphasizing blocking and character placement. Nothing much was changed to the overall foundation of the combat, and players will still have to focus on the enemy’s colored indicators (red, white, yellow) to determine if an attack can be countered, or whether it must be blocked or dodged.
However, a massive change in how players interact with the combat system is the inclusion of elemental abilities. Players can collect four spells throughout their playthrough; Lightning, Poison, Ice, and Fire, that can be used to attack enemies from afar. As a result of having these abilities, the game largely focuses on enemies having elemental weaknesses.
These abilities are a nice touch as they can give the player breathing room in a tough battle. Fire and Poison inflict damage over time, a perfect way to finish off a boss when they’re down to the last inch of health, while Lightning and Ice can be used to stun enemies as the player rushes in to get a couple of free hits.
These aren’t always readily available, though, as they are on a cooldown, and the meter can only be filled up by inflicting damage on enemies.
Similar to how the main protagonist focuses on elemental spells, there has also been a huge increase in the number of elemental attacks enemies execute.
I can see why the developers did this, pretty much to even the playing field, since the player has a new arsenal of abilities, but the AoE that these enemies (especially bosses) can cause through these attacks causes problems in the overall flow of combat.
Some AoE attacks remain on the field for a period of time; a pool of fire, for example, that the player has to avoid. This, mixed with a handful of enemies attacking you, allies assisting you, and attack indicators all going on at once, can be overwhelming. In other words, there is way too much happening on-screen at times, and it can start to feel janky.
Complete Overhaul of Resistance Stats
Since elemental weaknesses are a focal point, the weapon and armor stat system has been adjusted to fit that vision. Instead of gear having specific enemy resistance, for example, Mole and Frog resistance, like in the original Tails of Iron, they now have elemental resistance and inflict elemental damage.
For example, a helmet can grant you +10 in Fire resistance, while your sword inflicts +20 Ice damage. This setup, in particular, would be a great build to use against a boss that utilizes fire attacks since it exploits the boss’s weak point. In return, the player will deal additional damage and receive less.
While the new stat system is great and adds more strategy to preparing for boss fights and levels, it removes the possibility of players having a fully optimized and final build for their playthrough.
Due to the amount of damage one can do to a boss when their elemental weakness is exploited versus one that isn’t is night and day. The same can be said for the amount of damage an enemy inflicts if the player doesn’t have high resistance against an element.
Some AoE attacks remain on the field for a period of time; a pool of fire, for example, that the player has to avoid. This mixed with a handful of enemies attacking you, allies assisting you, and attack indicators all going on at once can be overwhelming.
This means that with every boss and biome, the player is encouraged to change weapons and armor to match the specific situation. It would have been nice to create a singular build similar toother Soulslike titles, but the elemental system in Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter makes it nearly impossible.
Monster Hunting Is a Fantastic Addition
The best addition to combat progression is the new “Monster Hunter” feature. Instead of using just materials tocraft equipment, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter now focuses on collecting monster parts to create new weapons and armor. And to get those specific monster parts, you have to kill specific enemies.
This is a brilliant way to make side quests and exploration more engaging and meaningful. The game even has specific hunting quests that can aid the player in collecting a certain monster part. If there’s no hunting quest available that has the monster part they’re looking for, there’s a handy-dandy Beastiary to help out.
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Say there’s a weapon that requires a Tailspinner Eye from a Tailspinner Queen. This means a player can look in their Beastiary (a manual that shows enemy weaknesses, location, and item drops) and hunt that beast down to create that specific weapon. If you’ve ever played Monster Hunter byCapcom, you know what I’m talking about here.
Exploring This Hand Drawn World Is Easier Than Ever
Fortunately, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter makes a huge improvement in exploration. Unlike the original, wherebacktracking is excessiveand tiresome, the sequel improves on this by adding more fast-travel points for players to use at the cost of some resources.
The increase in fast travel points makes it less annoying to take trips back to home base to craft or purchase important items that’ll help overcome a challenging boss fight. Overall, this allows the flow of the game to remain at a steady pace, rather than slowing down to a halt due to backtracking.
However, this doesn’t mean there is no backtracking whatsoever, because there is. There will come times when the player may not have the necessary materials to build a fast travel point, meaning they’ll have to trek through an entire level to get back to home base. It’s rare, but it does happen.
As for platforming, it’s as barebones as it gets. There are occasional grappling hook sequences, where Arlo can use a grapple to jump between platforms, but the game never fully utilizes this mechanic.
In fact, I’d say there are more ladders to climb than hooks to swing across. This isn’t necessarily a terrible thing, but I just hate to see a mechanic with potential implemented into a game, but never fully realized.
Closing Thoughts:
Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is a great sequel that is bigger and more punishing in the best way. The addition of elemental spells and a monster-hunting gameplay loop make the overall experience a huge improvement over its predecessor. However, the game has some issues that are hard to ignore. Due to the game’s large focus on exploiting elemental weaknesses, it’s hard to create a reliable build without having to constantly switch gear to accommodate the upcoming boss or biome. Additionally, the increased emphasis on enemies using elemental AoE attacks mixed with multiple enemies in some encounters can really make it difficult to focus on what’s happening on screen. Still, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter does enough stuff right to warrant its existence, and any fan of the first should definitely play it.
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