Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter

I’m disappointed with the choices made for the sequel. Adding spells was a fresh but welcome idea. Why did they include resistance mechanics, boss runbacks, and stuns? I finished the game in about nine hours, and more than half that time was spent just wandering the world or returning to base to pick up a mission, only to head somewhere else.

[h1]New Additions, Old Problems[/h1] This game deserved a mixed review. Tails Of Iron 2 shares a lot of similarities with Remanent 2 and Nioh 2, as in all three of them being sequels that simply add tons of new stuff and tweaks to the established core gameplay loop. However, Tails Of Iron 2 doesn't have the same quality as the other two do. The first game is a decent but deeply flawed game. The dev team tries to address some of the criticisms in the sequel while also exploring other possibilities, except the tweaks only fix the problems on a very superficial level and the new things only bring in more problems. To be fair, Tails Of Iron 2 is by no means a bad game. The grounded approach to combat is fun in its own way, and Geralt's voice actor still narrates the whole story to you. It's just that as a sequel it's rather disappointing to see not much has been changed. [h2]Things I Like About Tails Of Iron 2:[/h2] [list] [*][b]Refined Visuals Of The Dark Fairy Tale:[/b] Same deal as the first game, but it's more refined and detailed in this sequel. The color palettes are stronger. The layered 2D backgrounds are more vivid and beautiful. The new lighting effect layers the environments with a dim, misty blanket, strengthening both the winter settings and overall ambience. The new day/night cycle also brings a completely different look to each level. The forest may be gentle and soothing in daylight, but at night the darkness shrouds the same forest with uncertainty and dread. [*][b]Other Compliments:[/b] [olist] [*]Both the NPCs and enemies feature a variety of animals. [*]Tons of guest characters' armors and weapons to collect. [/olist] [/list] [h2]Things I Like And Dislike About Tails Of Iron 2:[/h2] [list] [*][b]Combat:[/b] The game still features the same gritty and grounded combat, with some new additions. The inclusion of i-frame dodging easily makes the combat more intuitive, and animation cancelling has never been more comfortable to use. The new elemental damage system allows you to further customize your build and take full advantage of the elemental weakness in battles. Spells are also added in the sequel in the form of rechargeable skills, and the invincible casting frame is an extremely valuable asset to help you get out of sticky situations. However, there are also some new downsides. The attack speed of the two-handed weapons is painfully slow, rendering them only good for breaking barricades or using a fully charged attack on stunned enemies. Mid-to-late-game enemies rely heavily on AOE spam and lingering elemental pools to hinder your movement. The hitboxes and the actual animations, especially those attacks that tend to "snap" into position, do not align with each other all the time. [*][b]Arsenals:[/b] Thanks to the new elemental system, your available arsenal has been expanded ten-fold. Weapons and armors have several crafting paths that feature different levels of elemental bonuses. With the new and more detailed bestiary, you can take full advantage of your enemies' elemental weakness and assemble a dedicated build to counter them. Sadly, this design also comes with the problem of bloated options. Besides their appearances, weapons and armors are only slightly different in stats. There are no move set differences or additional passive effects. It also doesn't help that navigating the inventory slots can be really awkward once you collect enough stuff. [*][b]Boss Hunts & Upgrading Castle:[/b] This is the new "Monster Hunter-like" feature. You can take on quests to hunt a specific boss to collect its unique crafting materials for your equipment. It's a good way to introduce some variety to the existing bosses, and some optional quests also have some very interesting boss fights. This design is also related to rebuilding your castle, upgrading the settlement bit by bit with the materials you gather. While the sense of progression is undeniable, the hunt itself is quite standardized. It always goes down the same "run away two times and then the final showdown" procedure. Even the sections of the fight remain unchanged no matter which boss you fight. The settlement upgrades feel lackluster as well. The bonuses they can offer are way too minuscule for the cost they demand, and the primary materials are often locked behind glorified fetch quests. [*][b]Level Design:[/b] The only good things I can confidently say about the level design are the generous fast travel points and save benches. These are often placed near general combat areas or beside scripted boss fights, significantly reducing the downtime of runback. Yet, the deeper problems remain unaddressed. Levels are still linear. There is no point in exploring on your own since you won't find anything substantial at the end of the road, and most of the areas are locked behind story progression. The new grappling hook is severely underutilized. It would have been a good opportunity to introduce some platforming potentials, but sadly all it does is just help you across longer gaps. [/list] [h2]Things I Dislike About Tails Of Iron 2:[/h2] [list] [*][b]Other Complaints:[/b] [olist] [*]The flask doesn't have an upgrade. It still takes a while to heal, and a flask is not enough to fully heal you once you have all the health upgrades. [*]Arlo takes full fall damage even if he is just a foot above ground, further discouraging platforming. [*]The story in the sequel is almost a one-to-one copy of that of the first game. [*]That ending is just wrong and forced. [/olist] [/list] [b]中文小簡評[/b] 這款遊戲應該評作褒貶不一才對。 《鐵尾傳奇2：凜冬之戰》是款保有一代核心基礎、另外添加許多新要素製成的續作，性質雷同於《遺跡2》和《仁王2》，可惜本作品質不如前兩者優秀，玩家在一代點出的缺點雖然在二代有稍微改進，但是這些改進只做到表面工夫，主要問題依舊沒有解決，再加上新機制也是弊大於利，讓這款續作的表現顯得非常平庸。《鐵尾傳奇2：凜冬之戰》絕對不是款糟糕的遊戲，獨有的穩扎穩打戰鬥有其樂趣所在，旁白也依舊是由傑洛特的配音員演出，但作為一款續作卻沒有將一代缺點好好改善，滿讓人失望的。 [b]喜歡的點[/b] [list] [*]黑暗童話般的美術風格比一代更強烈，用色鮮豔，層層多疊的2D場景也比一代來的細膩，新的光影效果為整個環境披上了一層朦朧的薄霧，不僅強化遊戲冬天的故事背景和冷冰冰的氛圍，全新的日夜周轉也為每個場景帶來截然不同的視覺變化。 [*]生物多樣性不在侷限於鼠類與蛙類，加入了許多哺乳類、兩棲類、和節肢動物等。 [*]遊戲也有很多客串角色的裝備可以蒐集。 [/list] [b]又愛又恨的點[/b] [list] [*]戰鬥依然硬核，但續作加入新要素讓戰鬥更加多元：翻滾終於有無敵禎，讓閃躲及翻滾取消攻擊動畫用起來更加直覺；新的屬性傷害讓你能更進一步客製主角的套裝；續作與加入了充能型法術，除了能輕鬆幫對手上減益外，施法的無敵禎也很適合用來迴避較棘手的攻擊。然而續作戰鬥的缺點也難以忽視：雙手武器變得莫名笨重，已經到了幾乎無法當主武用的地步，只能拿來破牆或續力攻擊；敵人過分仰賴大量地圖砲和製造屬性危害來限制你的活動範圍；敵人攻擊判定和實際動畫演繹也常常對不起來，特別是那種瞬間衝到你面前的招式，特別難判讀。 [*]得利於屬性傷害的到來，續作可用的裝備數量幾乎是一代的十倍，每個護甲與武器都有專門的屬性分支，搭配詳細的怪物圖鑑，你能輕鬆利用敵人屬性弱點打造出專門克制對手的裝備組合。但這種設計也是個雙面刃，許多裝備都只是在數值上作些微調整而已，沒有獨特的攻擊動畫或額外被動。道具欄也沒有自動整理的功能，一旦裝備多起來要找東西就會變得十分繁瑣。 [*]續作加入了類魔物獵人的狩獵任務讓你打Boss蒐集素材，算是個新增額外Boss的好方法，況且一些支線的Boss戰打起來也挺有趣的，素材除了作裝備外也能拿來重建主角的家園。一點一滴讓自己的城堡重新壯大的成就感固然可貴，但家園升級的幅度十分乏味，獲得的好處往往與其所需的大量素材不成正比，再加上關鍵道具常常鎖在主線劇情的跑腿任務，讓人覺得費時且不值得。狩獵任務本身也好不到哪去，過程千篇一律，不管打什麼王都是在固定幾個區域打跑兩次後在地圖的某兩個角落作最終決戰，關卡也不會因為打哪個王而稍微變換一下，打久了容易枯燥。 [*]至於關卡本身我只有一點覺得做的很棒，中繼點和傳送點放得非常勤，也都放王房或主要幹道附近，大幅降低死亡後折返所花的時間，非常親民。可惜更深層的問題依然沒解決，地圖過於線性沒啥分支，就算有你能撿到的道具也非常雞肋，再加上大部分區域都需要推進主線劇情才會解鎖，幾乎毫無自主探索的必要性，續作也沒有好好利用鉤爪的性能嘗試一些簡單的跳台挑戰，僅僅只是把它當作跨越鴻溝的工具用。 [/list] [b]不喜歡的點[/b] [list] [*]血瓶沒得升級，回血速度依舊慢得可以，主角升級完血量後要喝整整兩瓶(但你從頭到尾只能帶一瓶)才能回滿。 [*]即使離地只有30公分左右的距離主角也會跌傷全吃，讓原本為數不多跳台的更加窒礙難行。 [*]續作的故事架構基本上跟一代完全沒兩樣。 [*]結局根本是甩有玩過一代的人耳光... [/list] [quote=author]If you like what I write, please consider a follow to [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45738167/]my curator[/url] page, thanks! 如果你喜歡我寫的東西，可以追蹤[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45738167/]我的鑑賞家[/url]喔！[/quote]

This was a disappointing sequel! I would give it 2 out 5 stars. I enjoyed the first game,but this one wasn't nearly as good. I liked the writing, art style, simplicity, and progression in Tail of Iron, but the writing was bad in this sequel especial the woke garbage in the Merlin quest. The simplicity is gone with an overly complex armor and weapon system which encourages frequent swapping out gear. The progression now seems to based largely on grinding for crafting components. Finally, I found the difficulty to be all over the place in this game. I am not interested in a third game.

As someone who played the previous game to the fullest and played this game to the fullest too. I have to say. The original is better. I don't mean it in a bad way. The original is more fun because it didn't have the stun mechanic this game has. And I understand why they decided to make the mechanic. It's a sequel afterall. They had to make a new feature in order to intrigue the gameplay for returning players. They could have added a mode to disable that feature but then it wouldn't really feel awarding to win against the final ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of a boss. That's about all the complain I have for it. It's still a beautiful hand drawn game with clear love put into it. And it shows that from the music to the art designs and scenery. Everything is beautiful and clearly cared about. That's what make this special for me. It's a team of developers putting love into something that they genuinely care about. And I love it. I couldn't recommend it more

Unfinished game.

I would give this a sideways thumb, if I could. Art is still great, narration is great, and the world is fun. There are some fun fights and world exploration is still fun. I had a fun time, most of the time. The bosses feel much more BS than challenging. I feel like a lot of the systems are undercooked in this one. It feels like they wanted to be more ambitious but ran out of time and had to cobble it together in a working game. I feel like crafting took a way from the exploration and weapon discovery of the first game a little. Overall, it was still an enjoyable. I am excited for DLC, or if the ending is leading into a 3rd game. I hope to visit the Ratdom again.

horrible level design, enemies are all designed to stun lock you and since youre always fighting more than one you can get into situations where its impossible to not take damage. armor system makes no sense, you have to constantly switch out your equipment because every piece of gear has random negatives. every mission has you going back to the same 3 places over and over to do the same thing and fight the same enemies. the first one was way better, this whole elemental system in combat ruins the game

Do not buy this game. Don't even think about it. Don't let anyone else trick you into buing it. This game is the worst GAME (not just a soulslike) that i've ever played. The only reason I'm playing it is because a friend bought it for me (I did NOT ask for it). Don't let the above-average graphics and storytelling bait you into believing that this is a good game. It could've been a good film but films don't have to worry about mechanics, but this is a game and its mechanics are so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥-insane bad that you lose all sense of control. Things you THINK will hit you, won't - things you THINK won't hit you, will. The developers improved their non-existent combat mechanics with elemental damage and resistances, which only makes the game worse for both good and bad people - either having to search through your inventory tenths of times just to find something that maybe will work, or see yourself not doing any damage as the enemies one-hit KO you. The hitboxes might as well be ai-generated with how ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ most encounters look. More often than not a breeze of air near a bosses asscheek will do more damage than his teeth lodged into your skull. And the 'basic' combat system of dash/roll/block and parry, while slightly bit better, still mostly doesn't make sense. Things you shouldn't be able to dash past, you can! Things you should be able to dash past, you can't! If, while reading this, you think: "L skill issue", then i'm sorry to say that i played the first game and did manage to beat all its achievements and will do so for this one too, not because its a good game worthy of my time, but because I'm a masochist that just wants another difficult game on his steam profile. Speaking of this games difficulty, it doesn't even feel rewarding most of the time - either you killed a boss after tenths/hundreds of attempts and are already emotionally drained from the bullshittery you had to suffer through earlier, or you found a better combination of armors and weapons that made the bossfight so easy you don't feel like celebrating it. If a soulslike boss were like playing pool, other good games like hollow knight and nine sols would make the playing field different or make some pool cues heavier/lighter, harder to adapt. Too bad this game thinks that a good way to make it difficult is to give you a toothpick instead of a cue stick and take some of the cues out of the holes because apparenty "you didn't hit them". Honestly the developers should be paying you to play this, not vice versa. To sum up most of what i've said: Don't buy this game, you won't feel happy playing it, the difficulty is not even close to being satisfying, DON'T BUY THIS GAME.

《Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter》二代铁尾是在一代故事背景下雷唧成为国王后，北方部落遭到入侵，各个部族陷入潜在危险之中，玩家将扮演北方部落的守护者的继承人亚洛展开一场复仇捍卫领土的冒险。 首先俩代都以血须难度通关的体验下，二代的难度大幅度降低。其根源在于二代优化了大部分一代的诟病： 1优化堆怪，二代比起一代尽可能的优化了行进推图和复数boss战的怪物数量，大部分的堆怪都以boss开打前小兵先上的形式，以及推图行进中怪物以及boss的复用。 2优化了单一的攻击方式，二代比起一代多了魔法，因为元素的关系引入了克制系统，有了克制系统就能以数值规避难度，功夫再高也怕菜刀。对收录了怪物以及boss的图鉴中明细的阐述各个强弱属性以及克制关系，使玩家能够及时储备和装备火，冰，雷，毒元素的对应装备和武器，因怪制宜。 3优化了存档问题中的资源补给，二代的资源补给多了城堡百宝箱和睡眠床，比起一代中只能靠商店买和找资源补给设施多了最关键的俩个能补满，道具，血量，血瓶的方式。 4增加了旅行商人，在关键节点都会设置一个商人，最为关键的是商人必卖一个磨刀石，这个磨刀石是加伤的关键所在。 5增加了可传送的立牌，在很多关键的地点都增加了可以节约玩家跑图时间的传送点。 6最为关键的一点在于二代优化了一代怪物下砸攻击太过强势的问题。 除此之外，游戏增设了如怪物猎人狩猎途中怪物保存当前血量转点的设计，使得我们很多时候的战斗变成了消耗战，大幅度降低了游戏难度。 7击败最终boss成就也不再要求需要最高难度血须模式情况下才能获得。 当然游戏增设了很多有意思的设计如：花钱建立采矿场收集制作材料，将矿石冶炼成特定的锭，开放了商店可购买的关键物品如增加血量的菜单必被食材和各种顶级装备的制作材料以及各式各样的陷阱，游戏任务中以可重复的狩猎boss形式来获取装备材料和金钱，还有作为收集党所青睐的卡片收集任务和宝藏解谜这些就不再一一赘述，当然最好的一点是增设了跨越地形的快捷方式——钩爪的加入。 当然二代仍然存在着某些诟病： 1npc的ai行动性过低，二代还是跟一代一样npc协同行动攻击欲望过低，当然在二代开放数值的情况下，这一点反倒不是那么重要。 2大结局中因为血统问题继承王位把一代雷唧国王的兄长写的过于夸张，扬言复仇篡位的亚洛，很难想象的是前一秒还是并肩战斗的战友转眼变成了仇家。 3最关键也是最让我不解的一点，二代增加了属性机制下，敌人的属性攻击所给到的影响效果竟然全是让玩家罚站，罚站机制也是二代中难度增加的原因，我们都理解雷属性对应麻痹，冰属性对应冰冻，毒属性对应持续扣血，火属性对应持续烧血，但为什么敌人对我们的属性攻击效果影响却全是罚站？？这是最让人摸不着头脑也是最让人咂舌的问题，因为罚站而死亡的次数绝对是本作占据大部分的原因，你如果罚站只设计成积累到冰或雷俩属性我觉得还合理些。 对于玩过恶心人且粪的一代的玩家而言，我的看法是完全值得你玩下去二代，因为制作组确实在改进某些不合理的机制。 而对于没玩过一代的玩家而言，我的看法是看你能不能忍受一代的所有诟病，先去通关一代，因为二代的剧情和人物大部分是和一代挂钩的，当然我是秉承着能不玩一代就别玩一代的态度。 本作绝对值得上一个好评 好评是因为制作组明确的找到了前作的缺点并加以改正。 好评是因为二代是一个非常完整的王道故事。 好评是因为这是个值得下一个玩家去冒险，去奔赴的游戏。