BLACKTAIL is a story-driven single-player video game released on December 15, 2022. Developed by THE PARASIGHT and published by Focus Entertainment, this game has received positive reviews from critics.
The story of BLACKTAIL is influenced by Slavic folklore and mythology, specifically Baba Yaga. The player takes on the role of Yaga, a 16-year-old girl who is banished from her village after her older sister, Zora, disappears. Yaga embarks on a journey through the haunted forest, encountering memories from her past along the way. Guided by a lost spirit, Yaga discovers a dream-like translucent hut where she hears a voice. To unravel the mystery of the lost spirits and find Zora, players must explore the semi-open world of Blacktail and navigate different biomes.
Choosing good or bad
In BLACKTAIL, the storyline unfolds mysteriously as NPCs often talk in riddles. There are also many side quests and hidden locations to discover in the game. Aside from that, your actions can lead you to multiple endings via a morality system that’s similar to Cyberpunk 2077 or The Witcher. Your actions as Yaga can shift your morality to evil or good. However, the game’s morality system affects not only the ending but also the entire gameplay. Based on your morality, NPCs may interact differently and your character skills can change.
Yaga has a bow and a force field-like attack from the gauntlet to fight the hoard of monsters and enemies. However, BLACKTAIL‘s lack of a melee combat system might feel unnatural for some. Apart from that, Yaga can jump small distances and climb highlighted edges. She can teleport to the Hut — which works like a basecamp where you can upgrade your skills — with the help of a black cat positioned around the world.
Exploring a stylistic world
BLACKTAIL has semi-stylized graphics that make use of vivid colors and different art styles to build its environment. While most of the landscape seems realistic, the sky has a more simplistic design with just icons of the sun and the clouds. This approach perfectly matches the theme and narrative of the game.
Accompanying the visuals is BLACKTAIL‘s in-game soundtrack, with each location having its own ambient music to match the mood of the scenery. An example is the soundtrack of the Hut which gives off an eerie and surreal feel.
Blacktail is pretty decently optimized. It runs on PC of even lower specs than minimum requirements without any glitches. Exploring and surviving the fantasy world of Blacktail as a young witch is a fun experience overall. You can try it out if you like a good story-driven adventure game. It is available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows, and can be found on Steam, Epic Games, and GoG.
YouTube: BLACKTAIL – Launch Trailer
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Photo credit: The featured image is owned by Focus Entertainment and was provided as part of a press kit. The images used in the body are owned by The Parasight and were provided as part of a press kit.
