Tails of Iron review

Our Verdict

Tails of Iron is a beautiful and charming side-scroller with brutal combat and a grim story. Fight as the rat king Redgi and repossess your kingdom.

For

Beautiful fine art design
Brutal and rewarding gainsay
Plenty of content
Excellent narration

Against

Combat can exist frustrating

Tom's Guide Verdict

Tails of Iron is a beautiful and charming side-scroller with barbarous combat and a grim story. Fight equally the rat king Redgi and repossess your kingdom.

Pros

+
Beautiful art design
+
Brutal and rewarding combat
+
Plenty of content
+
Excellent narration

Cons

-
Combat tin be frustrating

Tails of Iron: Cardinal Facts

Toll: $24.99 (digital), $39.99 (physical)
Release appointment: September 17, 2021
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC
Genre: Adventure RPG
Developer: Odd Issues Studio
Publisher: United Label

Tails of Iron challenges you to reclaim your fallen kingdom from the clutches of a horrible frog association. Yous'll fight harrowing battles, dodging and parrying your mode to victory. This is a game that gives no quarter, demanding that you lot learn its intricacies right off the bat. Just exist gear up to fail over and over again as you get improve, and prepare yourself for many "You lot Died" screens.

This game is tough, brutal and grisly, but information technology all creates a certain charm that'due south hard to draw. It's like a bloody and war-torn version of Redwall. On the one hand, Tails of Atomic number 26 features a drop-expressionless beautiful hand-drawn art design, an endearing silent protagonist and veteran vocalism role player Doug Cockle as the narrator. On the other, you're left to deal with a night and grim story, which pits you against many a merciless and murderous enemy.

In this Tails of Iron review, I'll break downwardly this game, in which you must reclaim your crown and throne, and push dorsum the frogs that have invaded and pillaged your home.

Tails of Iron review: Gameplay

At its core, Tails of Iron has very unproblematic gameplay. You lot assail, contrivance, block and parry. Combining these skills can be a truthful challenge, notwithstanding. Each enemy blazon and boss has its own moveset and quirks, forcing you to arrange, lest you die repeatedly.

Tails of Fe is no walk in the park. The developers have outright said they were inspired by the Souls-like genre, also as other side-scrollers similar Hollow Knight. This isn't a Metroidvania, but rather an RPG-lite. You don't accept stats to invest in, simply you do get a broad array of armors, shields and weapons to accommodate your playstyle. For instance, heavy armors soak upward more damage, but they too greatly hinder your dodge curlicue.

This is a game of give and take. Some weapons hit harder, but others attack faster. Ranged combat has its identify, merely information technology tin can also get you into problem if you lot're non careful. Healing is a ho-hum process, pregnant that you'll accept to judge when it'south the all-time fourth dimension to recover your health.

Gainsay is brutal, in that location's no way around it. Tails of Fe severely punishes your mistakes, as even the most basic of enemies tin take you lot down quickly and efficiently. Simply you're not defenseless. Your shield tin take a lot of damage, your contrivance tin get you to safety, and your parry is an extremely effective counter. In fact, some attacks require parrying.

The brutality of the combat can be simultaneously frustrating and rewarding. Keeping the enemies' different tells — and which attacks crave a dodge, parry or block — straight in your mind takes some getting used to. You might discover some deaths to be cheap. Simply the game never feels unfair. Tails of Fe truly captures the primary appeal of Souls-likes: the intense sense of satisfaction from overcoming something that initially feels insurmountable.

You'll explore a broad diverseness of environments with their ain enemies, residents, quests and treasures to find. Unlocking new armors and weapons is the key to success, since some gear is more effective against sure enemy types. Some you can buy, some y'all tin can find and some require crafting.

Tails of Atomic number 26 review: Story and setting

At the height, I said Tails of Iron is like a grimdark Redwall. The rat kingdom is plagued by war with the Frog Association. The game starts with an terminate to the rats' fragile peace. You lot play as Redgi, a atomic rat who is heir to the throne. Redgi's goal is to repossess his kingdom and push the frogs back into their swamp.

As you lot get further into the game, you find that not all is as it seems. While the frogs are certainly cruel and needlessly trigger-happy, they have a deeper motivation than merely wanting to impale the rats. There'southward an interesting (if edgeless) meta-narrative in Tails of Iron that adds to its grisly charm.

The world you'll explore is fraught with danger, just yous'll besides meet some friendly NPCs along the way. Some even help you with certain quests, adding a sense of companionship in an otherwise-lone game. If you've played Hollow Knight, Tails of Fe does a pretty skilful chore of capturing the same atmosphere, albeit in a different setting.

Tails of Atomic number 26 review: Visuals and sound

Past far, the best matter about Tails of Atomic number 26 is its art design. The game is merely stunning, with mitt-drawn visuals that dissimilarity heavily with the darker themes of the story. Every scene was a treat to behold, and even the different equipment sets look smashing. This is truly a game that lives past its aesthetic, and I love it.

On a gameplay front, Tails of Atomic number 26 has smooth animations, vibrant attack telegraphs and satisfying effects that show your combat prowess. This is not only a beautiful game, merely also 1 that plays well. I didn't encounter any graphical glitches or frame rate drops, only a seamless visual experience.

Tails of Atomic number 26's sound also impressed me. Doug Cockle, best known as the vocalization histrion for The Witcher's Geralt of Rivia, narrates the game in his signature gruff, raspy voice. The sounds of battle that back-trail you lot throughout the game also tell their ain story, even downwardly to the dissimilar noises the enemies make.

Other than Crinkle'southward narration, in that location is no voice acting in the game. In fact, there's no written dialogue at all. The characters all communicate (to you) through pictographs and wordless noises. This won't be to everyone's liking, but it'due south pretty minor. Yous don't really lose out on any story beats; the narrator fills in the gaps for yous.

Tails of Atomic number 26 review: Verdict

Tails of Atomic number 26 should appeal to fans of brutal side-scrolling action games. I've mentioned Hollow Knight, but another game that I idea of while playing was Table salt & Sanctuary. A true second Souls-like, Salt & Sanctuary manifestly had an impact on Tails of Iron. If you lot call up "Redwall meets Hollow Knight and Salt & Sanctuary," y'all'll have a pretty skilful thought of what Tails of Iron is.

Just be prepared for intense combat that will actually button your limits. You will have to fight multiple enemies at once and it can be pretty stressful. But if y'all similar challenging games, and so I heartily recommend Tails of Iron. It's well worth the time and reasonable toll.

Jordan is the Phones Editor for Tom's Guide, covering all things phone-related. He's written most phones for over five years and plans to go along for a long while to come. He loves nada more than relaxing in his home with a volume, game, or his latest personal writing project. Jordan likes finding new things to swoop into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets. Jordan tends to lurk on social media, but you can best accomplish him on Twitter.