Black Tail Review

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to play an early version of Parasight's Blacktail shooter, and since then I've been looking forward to the full release. So, a first-person shooter with elements of survival fell into my hands, and the main highlight was that instead of a muscular and “steel” marine, hung with firearms, I had to play as a young witch, armed only with a bow and a magic glove.

Blacktail is something like the origin story of Baba Yaga, the same witch from Slavic folklore. You play as Yaga, a young girl who is trying to find her twin sister who has disappeared in a dark fantasy world. The game world is literally filled with everything witches are associated with in Slavic mythology: missing children, a magic broom, potions, and even a black cat.

This is an open world adventure full of possibilities; hidden secrets, intriguing mysteries and deadly dangers await you everywhere, but everything you find is guaranteed to bring you closer to unraveling the mysterious and nightmarish legend. The concept of who Baba is.

The study is diluted with light elements of survival - you need to hunt deer to get meat, fish, collect resources (flowers, branches, feathers or even eyes that fall out of spiders), increase the level, unlock new skills, prepare an antidote, and so on. Everything you can get in the game will be useful to Yaga. Collected items are used to craft or, for example, unlock new Yagi abilities. To unlock or improve skills, Yaga needs to mix different amounts of ingredients in a cauldron - from honey and flowers to parts of poisonous spiders that you find literally everywhere. What does it say? Yes, that every collision, every extra second spent exploring the open world will be beneficial. Everything you collect in the open world is either stored in Yaga's pockets or moved to a magic bag. You will find such bags everywhere, that is, any extra items will not be wasted!

Campfires with loot bags next to them are also used to cook meat. Nearby there is almost always a black cat, when interacting with which you can move to the Izba and back. Unfortunately, the fast travel system has exhausted itself on this. The game world is quite huge, and you have to overcome long distances several times just to complete some basic tasks. It would be nice to have an additional option to quickly move between fires. Unfortunately, it is not. On the other hand, the game world of Blacktail is full of variety: sparkling rivers, decorated with giant water lilies, and even ominous swamps, gone into the shadow of huge statues resembling the skeletons of giant hares. The level of detail is high enough. The world of Blacktail is just as deadly in broad daylight as it is under the night sky.

A special role in the development of the main character is played by the meter of morality. You will receive completely different effects, helping or hindering the various inhabitants of the forest. The ant queen and her minion appear frequently and ask for your help. Depending on how you act (and they want to harm people), morality will be strengthened or weakened. Other things also affect this parameter: by knocking an apple off a tree branch with an accurate bow shot, you will feed the hedgehog, and thereby earn another "plus" in the Yagi karma. But if you shoot the hive to get even more honey (one of the resources needed to upgrade Yagi), then worsen the morale. Throughout the game, Yaga is accompanied by a mysterious disembodied voice that only pretends to try to comfort or support the main character, and instead leaves stinging comments or alludes to outright violent actions. Yagi's voice actress is top notch!

The biggest problem I have with Blacktail is the combat. No, she's not bad. In fact, it is much more functional than the same system of moving around the game world. The fights in Blacktail are a little awkward. Opponents act straightforwardly, trying to attack Yaga in the forehead. And when you run out of arrows, you have to retreat, simultaneously creating new projectiles, which often ends in the loss of health points. However, over time, your arsenal will be improved with new combat skills, a broom will appear.

I hasten to upset you. Surely you thought that with the advent of the broom, Yaga will be able to fly around the game world. Far from it. This toolkit has other uses: the broom acts as a decoy and deals area damage, first pulling monsters towards it and then exploding. Like the bow, the broomstick has several upgrades that will unlock as you progress through the game's story.

The history of Blacktail is simply magnificent, and not a bit hackneyed. I especially want to note the presentation of the story, which turned out to be both fabulous and gloomy, funny and serious. The world is rich in detail, filled with various items and lore that enriches the story. There are many colorful and varied characters: talking mushrooms, cunning ants trying to enslave people, trolls, overgrown gnomes, imps, and even one dragon (... sort of).

At some points, Blacktail does not understand what. I mean those segments when the game completely changes its genre, and it drags on a bit, it starts to get boring. This is used for narration, but there is actually too much extraneous action going on on the screen that detracts from the picture itself.

Verdict

Blacktail is a great game that intertwines the narrative with both majestic and creepy, fabulous and dangerous world. The main character immediately falls in love with herself (and I'm not talking about appearance). Yaga is armed with a fairly diverse number of magic spells and arrows for a bow, which makes her a worthy opponent for any enemy. The excellent storytelling and varied environments of the game locations kept me interested in exploration from the beginning to the very end of the story. A story full of secrets, dangers and unexpected twists. Of course, the game did not turn out perfect, there are some moments that gamers will complain about, but, most likely, 8 out of 10 players will definitely enjoy it, plunging them into an exciting fairy-tale journey through a dark and beautiful world.