Blacktail is a First-Person Action-Adventure Focused on Archery, Fairytales, and Witchcraft
Nov. 8, 2022Blacktail is a First-Person Action-Adventure Focused on Archery, Fairytales, and Witchcraft
Blacktail is an upcoming action adventure that focuses on archery, fairytales, and witchcraft. It is also grounded in Slavic Mythology.
Sometimes, monsters are born. Other times, they are created. Products of their environments, and upbringing. It brings the question of whether nature or nurture truly brings out the best and worst in us. Coming from developer The Parasight is Blacktail, a new action adventure.
The game follows the story of a young girl named Baba Yaga. Yaga has always been different. An outcast. Some even claim she’s cursed. As such, she hides away from others, often behind her wooden mask. Her only ally is her sister, Zora.
This changed the moment she disappeared, and everyone blamed Yaga for the occurrence. Ousted and ostracized even more by the community, Yaga embarks on a quest to find out what became of her sibling. A voice in her head is her only companion this time around.
Blacktail is loosely based on Slavic mythology. In that mythos, Baba Yaga is often portrayed as a witch that lives in the forest. Players can choose to mold Yaga into a guardian of the forest or the dark entity that is used to scare children. Keeping with the theme of this, the entire game takes place in a fairytale-like forest and its immediate vicinity. Yaga in-game is shown to be an adept hunter that also has access to some magic.
Blacktail is played mostly in the first-person perspective. Although she is alone, Yaga is far from helpless. Combat will have archery as the main gameplay focus. Aside from regular arrow tricks like charged shots or multi-shots, Yaga can make use of short strafes in order to avoid enemy contact. She will also have access to special arrows that have a wide variety of effects. This will likely include elemental arrows that deal fire, lightning, and ice damage, or more.
The environment is also something that Yaga can use as a weapon. There are certain lanterns that the archer can shoot that will explode into magical energy, damaging everything nearby. Another example briefly shown was that shooting a faraway portal caused Yaga to literally jump toward its location. Should be handy to get out of very sticky situations.
Lastly, Yaga will have access to some Hexes in her arsenal as a hidden trick up her sleeve. There aren’t any examples yet, but since the locals have started considering the girl to be a witch, we can expect to see some debuffs and darker spells at play here instead of the usual elemental or healing magic.
Blacktail will also have some light survival elements in the sense that Yaga will need to forage for her needs. Since she has become quite attuned to the forest, Yaga will be able to identify various materials scattered through the wilderness. These can then be used to craft various arrows and potions that can aid in her journey. Also, the game has fishing!
Based on the Skill Tree, it looks like there will be at least 4 categories to choose from. There are icons of a Rabbit, Goat, Raven, and Snake. It isn’t clear yet what exactly these represent. However, these trees will dictate the passive and active abilities you have access to, as well as the things that you can craft.
The world of Blacktail is also quite morally ambiguous. It houses a wide variety of fantastical creatures, both friend and foe. We can even make friends with an Evil Ant that has a bunch of tiny swords embedded into her thorax. The player can choose which of these entities they want to assist, or even none at all.
Each choice will matter, eventually. There is a light morality system in play at Blacktail. Players can choose to be truly noble all the way through, outright rotten and evil, or anything in between. Yaga will even earn titles based on specific deeds that she embarks on, truly cementing her as a Heroine or Villain of the story.
Blacktail is a PC exclusive, at least for now. It will release in about 5 weeks from now, on December 15th. If you’re looking for magical games be sure to check our nextForspoken Revisits Colorful Schools Of MagicandHogwarts Legacy Gameplay Impressions.
Auberon
Writer at Fextralife. I really like vanilla ice cream.
