Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter review

Tails of Iron was one of the best surprises of 2021, becoming one of my favourite games of the year thanks to its brutal combat and excellent storytelling. Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter has taken that formula and made the sequel just as impressive, with a story that rivals that of Game of Thrones and The Witcher, bringing back combat and making it more responsive and exciting, in a world that is both beautiful and devastating. Who knew that throwing rodents into a dark fantasy setting could be this good?

After an epic introduction where your entire home is destroyed by a new threat known as the Dark Wings, Arlo must avenge the death of his father and lead his people as the new Warden of the Wastes. It’s impressive where a game without dialogue can help you warm to characters so well, but I was fully invested in Arlo’s journey, with every new discovery as thrilling as the last. It helps that Doug Cockle, famously the voice of Geralt in The Witcher games, narrates the story throughout, adding a gravitas to proceedings.

The world is beautifully hand-drawn, with environments ranging from snowy mountains, dense forests, and ruined towns. Not only does each location have such detail, the characters also have some lovely touches that give them such life. You’ll encounter many different characters and races, but there’re also a ton of enemies and bosses that look stunning. Odd Bug Studio nailed it the first time around, but with Whiskers of Winter, the team has truly outdone itself.

The combat is punchier, heavier, and more responsive that it ever has before. While each strike feels weighty and swift, the dodge, parry, and block is more responsive this time around. Some of the bosses are tough to defeat, but you learn their movements and attacks and are able to take advantage of the tight controls to overcome any obstacle. If you do struggle with the difficulty, there is the option to lower it (or raise it if you’re after a tougher challenge), but the middle difficulty offers the perfect balance.

Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter offers plenty of opportunities to upgrade your gear and craft new stuff. By killing bigger creatures, you’ll harvest their corpses to get valuable resources. You can build different sets and equip on the fly for different scenarios, too. Some enemies can use poisonous attacks or harness fire and ice to attack, but different armour sets have a resistance to these elemental effects. You can also craft more powerful swords, spears, axes, crossbows, and more to build your perfect arsenal.

You can also upgrade your settlement which gives you access to better gear at the blacksmiths, or better food from the kitchen to give you additional buffs. This not only improves Arlo as you venture closer to the Dark Wings, but also offers a sense of community with your people, and makes the stakes feel higher. As I mentioned earlier, you do start to warm to the characters, especially Arlo who I love with all my heart. While some conversations are hard to decipher due to small images appearing in speech bubbles, Lord Cockle makes these interactions easier to understand.

You have some side missions available as well, such as monster contracts where you can go and kill some larger creatures and earn resources and gold for doing so. The more effort you put into upgrading, the easier it becomes, but Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is never a walk in the park. You’re challenged with every enemy you come across, as they all have stern attack patterns featuring vicious speed and purpose. Some might find this too much, but I relished the challenge and loved every second.

Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is an excellent squeakquel that does everything the first game did but better. Combat is brutal as ever, but the controls are much tighter, and the whetstone is a cool new feature that allows for extra damage to be done. There’re a wealth of weapons, traps, and extra powerful abilities that aid you along the way, and the upgrades give you plenty of options for how you deal with the different types of enemies, monsters, and bosses. With a deep story and some gorgeous environments, this is a wonderful title to play.