Blacktail embraces Slavic mythology and its various creatures, to tell the story of Baba Yaga. Set in a fairy tale medieval setting, you take on the role of Yaga, a 16-year-old girl accused of witchcraft who is expelled from her settlement. Following the mysterious disappearance of her twin sister, Yaga’s goal is to find her twin while surviving the harsh forest she is in. But when mysterious, malevolent spirits begin to appear, Yaga must track them down to find out what happened to her sister and to solve the mystery of her own past, both old and recent.
Developed by The Parasight, Blacktail is the perfect example of a game whose visual aesthetic and narrative storytelling change a now familiar gaming genre and all of its tropes for the better. At its core, Blacktail is an open-world FPS that embraces the tropes of the genre but uses its distinct narrative voice and mythology to throw it all into a new light, creating an almost fresh and addictively pleasant experience.
Yaga’s world is one large, mostly free-roaming experience. There are some sections gated behind new abilities, specifically after a major boss fight and memory revelation, but for the most part, you can go in any direction after the game’s opening tutorial section. Enemies, along with helpful NPC litter the landscape but, despite its cheery visuals, Blacktail’s world is a harsh one. Trouble is around every corner and combat is almost always at the forefront of your gaming experience along with exploration.
Most of the enemies in the world will drop crafting or upgrade materials and Yaga can harvest a fair amount of them herself from the environment. Despite having a few too many different items for upgrades, the list of what you can get and where you can get it from is rather small and abundant. Unless you’re careless, you won’t ever run out of crafting or upgrade materials as the world’s spawning ratio is quick.
When you’re not shooting one of the world’s many hostile creatures, you’re also talking to its odd and charming NPCs for side quests and world-building. Whether you’re dealing with a larvae that deals with the dead, a sadistic ant queen looking to obliterate other life forms or the strange mushrooms that provide you with the knowledge or want a favour, Blacktail’s fantastic writing makes each quest worth doing, even if mechanically you’re just going from point A to B. Sentient rocks that move when you don’t look at them, Gnolls pretending to be Gnomes and gigantic killer trees, Blacktail’s world is wonderfully bizarre and surreal.
Blacktail also limits your offensive arsenal, making for a tighter, refined experience. Yaga’s primary weapon is her bow and arrows. She has different arrow types, one of which is magical, a broom that attracts enemies to it thus letting you unload on them while they’re busy trying to kill it, a dash attack that acts as a shoulder barge and a magical melee attack. There’s a use for each of these in combat and since Yaga is no action hero, you have to fight tactically in most encounters, especially those that chuck a ton of enemies at you at once.
Yaga’s arsenal, along with her health and mana pool, can be upgraded. This is where all those collectable materials come into play as you’ll need specific amounts to craft new arrows and unlock a new ability or increase the power of an existing one. Scattered across the world are chests which usually contain a crafting component or the recipe for a new ability.
The game has a morality system at play as you’ll be asked to make decisions along the way that affect the world and those you help. Initially, it may seem simple, with a light and dark side mechanic and point system, but you’ll find that many of the things you do tend to fall into the grey side of life. Mechanically, how you choose to approach the world and its characters does affect your abilities, specifically two major ones that you can only access depending on your path, while also affecting your current abilities, such as the broom, to a degree.
Blacktail has some fantastic character writing going on for it. The story is intriguing and becomes more addictive the further in you get. Very early on, there’s a hint that Yaga may not be the most reliable of narrators, and it casts your journey in a cloud of doubt, one that grows further in you get. It also gets you questioning the nature of what you’re seeing and just what exactly is real.
Yaga’s journey isn’t a lonely one though, she’s accompanied by The Voice, a presence that she can only hear, making the journey one that is full of conversations that aid in progressing the story rather than providing filler for the quiet moments. And if you’re finding Yaga’s journey too challenging, which it may be in Adventure mode, you can choose Story mode when starting a new game. The only difference, as far as I could tell, was the difficulty.
Visually Blacktail is absolutely gorgeous. The sense that you’re playing through a fairy tale world is heightened by the stunning use of colour and landscape design, replete with massive statues and towering windmills. Most of the world is wild though and the game’s use of water and puddles across the various locales is absolutely breathtaking. As is the use of the game’s reflection system. Blacktail utilises tons of high-quality Screen Space Reflections (SSR) that are impressive to behold, making most areas screenshot-worthy.
Blacktail may take some time to get into, but once you do, you’ll find yourself entranced with this magical world that Parasight has developed. The fantastic story and dive into Slavic mythology is heightened by some truly gorgeous visuals and world design. The great character writing and tight combat system help to round out an addictive package that ensures Blacktail’s magical journey is one worth taking.
Developer: The Parasight S.A.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
Publisher: Focus Entertainment
Grab your copy from the main site https://www.focus-entmt.com/en/games/blacktail
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