Although some people don't like "soulslike" as a genre descriptor, I have no problem using it. Of course, soulslike is just another name for action role-playing games, but when you see soulslike, only certain mechanics are expected. They are usually difficult role-playing games that use a checkpoint system that emphasizes exploration and punishment for carelessness, among other characteristics. Iron Tail checked enough boxes to qualify, although its setting was closer to Moss Flower than Lordland.
"Iron Tail" is a side-scrolling action role-playing game. In it, you will play Redgi, the prince and heir of the Rat Kingdom. When you are ready to show your worth as an heir in an exhibition match, the kingdom is invaded by the frog clan. Reggie was defeated by their leader Greenwater, and the king was killed. With the chaos of the kingdom and the newly crowned King Reggie, you must guide Reggie to brutal revenge against the frog forces, lead him on a journey of rebuilding and regaining the land, and ultimately defeat the Frog clan. To do this, you need to engage in a lot of bloody battles.
Although you are technically an iron-tailed mouse, you are kind of cute. But don't let the animal characters fool you-"Iron Tail" is extremely cruel and has quite difficult bloody battles. Unlike most soul characters, the Iron Tail does not have a stamina bar. However, even with heavier armor, enemy attacks can cause considerable damage. Like most souls, there is an evasion check that gives you a certain number of i-frames, allowing you to dodge many attacks-but not enough to get rid of a wide range of effective attacks, especially attacks from bosses. Although you can block with a shield, and even use two-handed weapons in "Iron Tail", the battle is more like a rock, paper, scissors, rather than deciding whether you want to dodge or block.
Although the battle of the Iron Tail is very similar to the soul, it is still very different from the formula. In order to make up for the lack of physical strength, there are several types of enemy attacks: ordinary, unstoppable and must be avoided, unavoidable and must be parry, and you must constantly roll to avoid you being hurt. Sometimes it feels like fighting, so it's more like lock-in and key, rather than free flow like other soul-like games. The weapons available are only suitable for a few prototypes, which is of no avail.
There are three types of weapons in "Iron Tail": sword, spear and axe, which are one-handed and two-handed respectively. Unlike the Dark Soul, each weapon does not perform heavy or light attacks. In contrast, heavy and light attacks are carried out using heavy and light weapons respectively. This is a strange system, but it allows you to use two different weapon types at the same time. Each weapon type has a different attack mode, but there are only a few, which makes the attack options somewhat limited.
Although "Iron Tail" is a role-playing game, it does not have any skill points. Instead, upgrades are mainly through the equipment you find. You can also find the ingredients of different foods that can boost your maximum health. But like weapons, your customization options are limited.
Even with limited customization options, Iron Tail has some very interesting battles. I don’t understand how participating in a battle can lock your screen and sometimes force you to fight waves of enemies, but the actual battle is well done. There are also various types of enemies. Unfortunately, due to the combat nature of Iron Tail, I always pay more attention to the type of attack the enemy is doing, rather than the actual situation of the enemy. Although there are some very difficult boss fights in "Steel Tail", many of them feel like encountering a larger version of the enemy you are already fighting.
The first impression of "Steel End" is very strong. It has interesting world architecture and attractive hand-painted artistic style, which reminds me of the Red Wall novels I read in my childhood. Unfortunately, after the first third or so of the game, it really got into trouble. After completing the first few major milestones, you will be forced to carry out some side missions-something that the king absolutely does not have to do. There are even ironic dialogues mentioning the king of words in the mouse kingdom running errands, but you are still forced to complete ordinary tasks in areas you have already explored. Nevertheless, "Iron Tail" still has some good world constructions, and can handle the dialogue between the characters well: the mouse's speech is not directly translated, but is represented by pictures.
"Iron Tail" is not a perfect game, but it is very interesting. It may be difficult, but it has surprisingly brutal battles and it will definitely be fun in the first few hours. If you can endure a little bit of hardship and fight new enemies in the old environment, Iron Tail may be a good choice, especially if you are looking for a challenging side-scrolling action role-playing game.
"Iron Tail" can be logged on to PC via Steam today, and on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
We provided us with a Steam code for this review.
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Categories: Games, Games and Technology, Reviews
Tagged as: Action RPG, Battle, Moss Flower, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Red Wall, RPG, soulslike, Steam, Iron Tail, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X
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