This game is insanely WACK, nothing really works as you would imagine. Inconsistent dodge roll, poor hit detection, weird world geometry lead to irritating fights and platforming. Many basic jumps require the absolute apex of your jump, which has you just barley missing the lip of a platform and falling. Grappling hooks disconnecting, letting go of nets randomly, and jump sponges having predetermined directional velocity regardless of your momentum which will fling you in the opposite way that you may want. Tons of enemies placed on small ass platforms with large knockback attacks. Enemies have an orbit that push you back when they move forward leading to some weird fights or just slipping off cliffs. Also Enemies will just hog the tops of ladders like their life depends on it leading to annoying deaths. Most levels/areas last way to long sometimes and hinge on mechanics that don't make the area cool or fun. Furthermore severe stuttering and lagging occurs when moving to new areas. The hammer attachment for your fork weapon is almost always worth having on but it is nearly impossible to simply attach a new piece of junk to your fork mid combat. Not being able to do multiple heavy attacks back to back and having a lack of combos or flow between light and heavy attacks dulls combat. Lock on is almost useless when there are several enemies as you will always attack the closest dude rather than the one you are lock on too even if that are behind you. Bosses are really easy, expect for when the spam one shot attacks.

overall this game is a huge pain in the ass in all the wrong ways but some how I still liked and appreciated it enough to 100% it. The world was detailed and imaginative with silly cute humor (even tho it was mostly all references). It's clear the devs really cared, I hope for the best in their next project. it's overall a very soft recommendation for souls like fans.

This is an okay short narrative game where the player finds out the disappearance of an AI that ushered a utopian era. The narrative is centered around this mystery and I think it was not intellectually or mechanically engaging. While the ending choice is a bit of a cliche, I did not feel it was explored well. Rather, the quirky interactions between the AI personalities is the strongest aspect of this game.

The gameplay suffers a bit with several context-based interactions that require waiting for audio to finish and most of them are not interesting to do. No strong puzzles or mechanics either to add variety and the inclusion of puzzle skips makes me sad. Since the narrative is not as strong, the lack of other supporting mechanics or systems makes this a weaker experience.

On a side note, I am disappointed that it uses Catholic concepts and centered around humanity given its cosmic scale feels lacking in a bit of narrative creativity. AI being somewhat gendered is okay but I was really disappointed it did not have non-binary representation. It ruined my immersion a bit where an AI controlling the masses is based on a heteronormative structure. This section is my preference so take this with a grain of salt.

This is an okay title but I do not have any strong reason to recommend it either.

While the graphics, artistry and atmosphere is all on point and great, this game feels like it focused so much on all those things that it forgot to be an actually fun game, either that or it felt like it needed to pad out its run time for some reason

i say that because 90% of this game is just tedious puzzles that feel like busy work, and just parts that feel pointlessly redundant for the sake of wasting the players time, i honestly dont understand how this game was critically acclaimmed when it launched, do game critics just look at a pretty artsy game and think they have to immediatly throw a 10 at it without thinking about if it was an enjoyable or thought provoking experience? i wanna like this game and at times i do but that felt like 1/4 of my playthrough, very dissapointing

Tails of Iron is a surprisingly messy affair, both in terms of the amount of frog blood our heroic rodent Redgi spills over the course of his journey and in terms of flow and polish. With a well-executed first act focused on simple tasks and easy enemies, the game puts a strong foot forward and allows you to experience its best aspects: the art style, music and overall world feel. Make no mistake though: Tails of Iron, even as it opens up, is not a Metroidvania. Curiosity-driven exploration takes a backseat as you accept side quests that put a marker on your map. You will then head to what was most likely a formerly empty dead end, fight a few enemies and return to reap the quest's rewards. Yes, there are a few optional bosses to find and conquer, but apart from the occasional weapon or armor piece hidden in plain sight, freeform spelunking is somewhat discouraged. Main quests are more elaborate, but fundamentally work the same way.

One of the two big problems Tails of Iron has is its map. While things certainly ramp up towards the end, with one surprisingly funny area being a standout (you'll know it when you get there), most of ToI's second act is spent in less than exciting tunnels, caves and other kinds of below-ground locales. While most games released in the last few years almost cheekily dance around the dreaded sewer level, this ratventure really takes the plunge and serves up not one, but two (technically three) major underground areas back to back. Weirdly brave, yes, but also surpremely unexciting to traverse.

The second issue lies with the way enemies react to you, and vice versa. Some reviews praise Tails of Iron for its combat, one even going so far as to suggest it as an ideal entry point for people who are entirely new to the Souls-adjecant school of methodical action combat. I absolutely do not share this sentiment. While early encounters and most regular enemies are fun enough to handle and don't pose much of a threat once you get to grips with the controls, pretty much every boss battle is an exercise in frustration thanks to extremely fast, barely telegraphed gotcha-type attacks that deal huge amounts of damage. I tweeted earlier that bosses in ToI feel like "playing Hollow Knight as a heavy-rolling Dark Souls 1 tank build", which is probably a dumb comparison, but it's also the most accurate mental picture I can think of. The complete (?) absence of dodge roll iframes on your character and enemies aggressively auto-dodging your attacks if they aren't in a vulnerable state transform combat scenarios into an almost turn-based affair. Sneaking in extra hits to speed up fights, something we all love to do if we feel cocky, is either way too dangerous or straight up not possible. Your secondary weapons and tools will certainly help to alleviate some of the challenge – and to be fair, every boss can be beaten after a few tries – but the later ones in particular still feel designed to catch you off guard on your first attempt.

If you happen to thoroughly enjoy the game's combat, there is a great 10-hour package waiting here, despite the environmental shortcomings. Personally, I found ToI's battles to be both undercooked and overtuned, which makes it hard for me to recommend this game to action fans. The story and overall presentation are pretty strong, especially for a smaller team, but the lack of assist options means I also cannot recommend it as a purely story-driven experience.

Part of me wants to love this game, but unfortunately, its big flaws are almost always present on the screen in some shape or form.