It’s rats versus bats in Odd Bug’s chilly sequel
Developer Odd Bug Studio
Publisher United Label
Format PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Origin UK
Release TBA 2024
Things might be a bit parky in the aptly named Winter’s Edge, but young rat Arlo is looking on the bright side. After all, his father is about to take him out on his first hunt – a rite of passage for which he’s been preparing for some time. Within this fortified settlement, the rodent townsfolk seem rather satisfied with their lot, if the hubbub around the castle is anything to go by. And they don’t have to worry about the amphibious aggressors their kind in the south are constantly having to fend off. “Why,” narrator Doug Cockle asks, his bassy growl ladling on thick helpings of portent, “should he want for more?” Well, we’re about to find out.
A sequel to Odd Bug Studio’s sidescrolling Soulslike – think Wind In The Willows meets Game Of Thrones with splashes of Hollow Knight, Unto The End and Salt And Sanctuary – was always on the cards, producer and designer Jack Bennett tells us. “Even when we first signed with United Label, we were saying we want to take this game further,” he says, citing Westeros as a major inspiration for expanding the ‘Ratdom’ and the potential for “loads of stories and races and characters” within that world.
Indeed, Tails Of Iron’s Bloody Whisker expansion hinted at where the series might go next, the conclusion of its tournament introducing protagonist Redgi to King Avor –Arlo’s father. “If you go into the king’s room after finishing that DLC, there’s a map on the wall which is almost identical to the map of Tails Of Iron 2,” Bennett grins. “So we definitely knew this is where we were going.” Warming to his theme, he can’t help but tease a third game. “I’ve got plans for the future already, so I’m pretty excited. I already know what’s gonna happen in the next game after this and I’ve already got a side character that I’d like to do a game on as well.”
It’s a bold claim given that the opening of Whiskers Of Winter (an unfortunate subtitle, evoking thoughts of a seasonal cat food) is essentially a warning against getting too comfortable. Soon after Arlo beds down for the night after a successful hunt – an efficient way to both narrativise the sequel’s new hunting mechanics and tutorialise its familiar combat systems, without having those who saw Redgi’s revenge mission to its grisly conclusion twiddling their thumbs – he’s awoken by a terrible racket and a startling introduction to a deadly new scourge: undead bats. As narrative threads go, we’re tempted to call this the Reverse McCartney: from the frog chorus to wings. Naturally, this chiropteral carnage ends in tragedy, with a wounded Arlo, like Redgi, setting out for revenge.
