Family Grief
In the Scandinavian Mesolithic society, in 6000 BC, the balance between the material world and the world of spirits was maintained by a shaman. The shaman's wife died, and he went mad with grief. His abilities passed to his daughter named Ro, who learned to read the signs of nature. She never became a full-fledged shaman, remaining at a crossroads in her life.
The game begins with Death taking Ro's son, Olvi. The grieving mother sets off to the spirit world to bring her son back. But something went wrong on that side - the spirits went mad, and the balance was broken. Although Ro did not become a shaman, she will have to restore order in order to achieve her goal.
During her journey, Ro will meet various spirits who will need her help:
- A tree burning itself because it could not protect the bird's eggs;
- A strange horned creature jumps off a cliff for fun;
- A friendly whale is in love, gets confused, and is now slowly fading away;
- An old tree selfishly sucks the juices out of young plants. Other trees say it is evil, but Ro remains deaf to the warnings.
The game allows you to move between locations using a convenient teleport system. If you accept a task from a spirit, this function will be disabled. You will have to fight your way through crowds of enemies before you can complete the task. In some cases, you need to fulfill special conditions, such as sacrificing health to a certain level or hitting the drums.
In hidden caves are the first words and emotions of Olvi, which have turned into spirits. If you defeat the evil spirits guarding them, you will be able to summon particles of your son on the battlefield. The artificial intelligence of the allies works incorrectly, but they do a good job of distracting enemies.
The main challenge will be meeting the great spirits. Ro needs their help to get to Olvi, but the great spirits have been blinded by masks. Under the influence of the masks, they experience the stages of accepting grief: denial, aggression, bargaining, depression. And they will not part with their burden willingly!
An Adventure Full of Suffering
The spirit world is divided into realms that are filled with evil spirits. Ro has a limited supply of health, which is very difficult to replenish. You can fully recover in sacred groves, but then all the killed spirits will come back to life. You need to make plans to move between the groves so that you have enough health for all the skirmishes!
Battles with spirits are very brutal - the last time I felt this much pain was when playing Fear & Hunger. Each opponent has a set of abilities that make life as difficult as possible:
- Goat heads resurrect killed allies every turn and hide in hard-to-reach places;
- Snakes heal allies and poison in close combat;
- Raven, pike, and walrus heads punish during a counterattack;
- Owls add unpleasant cards to the main character's deck.
The enemy compositions are disheartening. One bunch can be a set of goats, snakes, and hardy ghouls guarding them. Often there are also enhanced versions of standard enemies, which make life even worse.
For killing enemies, the game rewards you with mortal groans. In the groves, groans are exchanged for tears, which are needed to unlock passive skills. Over time, you will unlock all the skills, but the game will continue to spend groans every time you decide to heal. The problem is that this resource is needed to unlock new cards.
Cards are Ro's weapon against evil spirits. By activating them, the heroine attacks enemies with Stone Age weapons or unleashes the forces of nature on them. Cards also strengthen, restore strength, and heal from ailments.
The spirit world is divided into four realms. Each realm is associated with a unique set of cards:
- In the icy realm, cards are associated with echoes. If you stand still, many abilities can be used multiple times;
- In the desert realm, cards are associated with movement. Abilities are designed to go behind the enemy and deal massive damage;
- In the forest realm, cards are balanced;
- In the swamp realm, cards are tied to cruelty. If you грамотно sacrifice your health, you can deal massive damage and end the fight relatively healthy.
Cards from one realm require a higher price to activate in another. Visiting a new realm comes down to suffering until you can gather resources and create cards associated with it. After that, the chances of losing become minimal. Further exploration of the area turns into a slow and methodical extermination of enemies encountered along the way.
The final challenge is the battle with the bosses. The bosses have a set of interesting skills, but they test not the skills, but the patience of the players. You will have to wait a long time for the right moment to bring the impressive health of another strongman to zero.
There were also some flaws. Under certain conditions, the battle can become impassable, which means you will have to start it again. The description of some cards and opponents lacks some of their features, which leads to unpleasant surprises in battles. Ideally, the game can be completed in about 10 hours. But due to all the shortcomings, it took me 30 hours to complete all the tasks and find all the secrets.
Summary
In terms of atmosphere, Death Howl has few equals. Exploring the spirit world, you constantly encounter primeval wonders. The game makes you feel like you are in a time when writing was just beginning, and the older generation shared centuries of wisdom with the younger generation.
The well-written main character also contributes to the immersion. Ro is a very pleasant character - a kind, albeit slightly naive woman. You don't have time to notice how you become sympathetic to the grieving mother!
But in order to witness this magnificent story to the end, you will have to suffer a lot. The game itself is brutal and skillfully tests your skills. And because of the shortcomings, you become exhausted by the end, like the main character.
Pros:
- Magnificent world
- Excellent atmosphere
- Wonderful characters
Cons:
- Excessively tenacious bosses
- Shortcomings that stretch the gameplay