REVIEW: ‘Howl’ Crafts A Gorgeous Folk Tale (PC)

A turn-based tactics folktale set in medieval times is a great start to the year. Developed by Mi’pu’mi Games and published by Astrafon Entertainment, Howl‘s “living ink” design and turn-based tactics gameplay make it a standout for indies. First released in November of 2023, Howl is now on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S, allowing players to enter the storybook world of the game.

You play a deaf heroine attempting to find a cure for the plague devastating her hamlet that claimed her brother’s life. Known as the “howling plague,” once you’ve heard the howl, you are turned into a dangerous feral beast. Left to repeat the howling, this makes the contagion almost inescapable. Almost. However, you were born deaf, and this has allowed you to stay safe and become the hamlet’s last hope. Following a prophecy foretold, you work your way through the land, looking for a cure, defeating beasts, and learning new magical skills.

In search of a cure, you plan each move up to six steps in advance, moving through each area, defeating beasts, and traversing different environments. From thorny forests to farms and dungeons, learning how to interact with the land’s obstacles proves to be just as important as handling the variety of beasts.

Each level is graded based on how many beasts you kill and how many turns you take to fulfill your goal. In order to complete each of the 60 levels across the four chapters, you need to ensure that you finish the level in the right number of turns (the number set by the prophecy) and kill all beasts in the plan, trading their skulls for valuable upgrades. While this is easy at first, the more items that are laid on the map, the harder it becomes. While you can plan up to six moves at a time, each movement is its own turn.

This means that if you are three spaces away from a beast but move two spaces forward without using one of your attack cards to dispatch the beast before your move to the third space, they will take one of your hearts by attacking you and removing any moves you have left. This dynamic tactics style pushes the player to think about every single move, not just every turn.

Thankfully, if you do wind up making the wrong choice, you can use your Undo Round Points to rewind and remake your last move. Starting with one Undo Round Point and unlocking more over time. While this doesn’t undo the entire level, it can make a large difference in clearing an area and starting from the beginning. While restarting an area isn’t too difficult early on, given the ample amount of simple levels to ease into, later on in the chapters, it can become a large time sink.

Howl is a simple 2D tactics game, but it still manages to offer an impressive amount of enemy variation. While the wolves mostly look similar, they each have differences that cause you to rethink your strategy against them. Some will move forward one square at a time, while others can lunge across three, and others still have ranged attacks requiring no movement at all. When multiple wolves are introduced, including the large boss pack leaders, maneuvering the level becomes interesting to say the least.

While completionists will be looking to fulfill the prophecy’s number of turns, some levels do require more than one playthrough. For example, you can kill all the enemies in one playthrough while going over the turn limit. Then, replay the level at the proper turn limit and get the satisfying checkmark without completing both simultaneously.

This balances the need for planning routes, killing beasts, and satisfying the completion itch. However, this method is only advisable for the really difficult levels. As playing through the levels does eventually wear thin when you begin to wear thin from time to time.

Howl doesn’t only put enemies in front of you as you move through the levels of the game. It also includes friendly villagers who offer assistance and actions to your hand. Moving up, down, left, and right is just a mouse click. That said, you’re also equipped with a deck of cards. These cards allow you to choose your actions, including attacks and a wait action.

You level up these cards, which include Vault, Smoke Bomb, Piercing Shot, and specialty moves as well. Upgrading your skills and action slots requires you to defeat monsters. This means you can’t just ignore them and clear each level based on turns. You do have to engage enemies.

One of the more intriguing elements of Howl’s narrative is how your movements are interpreted as writing new scripture. As the story unfolds and you move through the levels, an immersive element embraces its folktale inspiration. By conjuring fairytales’ language patterns and details, Howl embraces its inspiration as more than just an aesthetic.

As a game, the strongest part of Howl isn’t its mechanics. The reason to pick up Howl is because of the unique beauty of the game. As if you’re playing through a painting, the game’s aesthetic feels whimsical in the ways that Grimm’s Fairytales do. It’s gorgeous, with just a hint of darkness moving within the presentation. Coupled with an immersive score that perfectly sets the game’s atmosphere, the game’s creative direction is absolutely stunning.

Mi’pu’mi Games describes the art style as “living ink,” artistically illustrating each move you make. It’s a style that pays off fantastically, especially when you’re injured or you attack a wolf. The red stains left on the parchment level are aesthetically pleasing. Still, they also act as a way to see where you’ve succeeded and where you’ve failed.

The only real miss for Howl as a game is that some levels don’t beg you to return. While a completion stat should warrant replay, there are a few that feel okay to leave empty. With 60 levels across just four chapters, the division of levels is one way that this could have been solved. The way that the levels are sectioned isn’t nearly as dynamic as it could be, with some stretches getting repetitive when you’re between new enemy introductions or skill upgrades. A minor lack of replayability isn’t enough to knock down this game too far.

Gorgeous and inventive in its creative direction and narrative, Howl doesn’t just use its inspiration as a visual but embodies it throughout. Howl captures a dark fairytale in its sound, mechanics, visuals, and narrative. It creates a gorgeous folktale without losing its way.

Howl is available now on PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.