games / Reviews
Howl (Switch) Review
Image Credit: Mi’pu’mi Games
Loading...In mid-November, Mi’pu’mi Games quietly released Howl, a beautiful title with tactical puzzle elements.
Howl focuses on the Prophet, a deaf heroine trying to find her lost brother while fighting the beasts that have taken over the land. The beasts are actually former survivors that have turned after hearing the howl, hence why the Prophet is immune.
The game itself is a tactical puzzler, tasking you with getting through each level in several chapters. Levels are replayable, which you’ll need to do in order to get as much Confidence and Skulls as possible.
Confidence is used for upgrading skills, while Skulls can unlock skills and alternate paths. The way you earn them in levels are different though. Confidence is earned through completing the level in the least amount of moves as possible, while Skulls are earned by taking out enemies. It often is not possible to earn the maximum amount of each in a single playthrough. Often, you’ll have to get all the Skulls in a play through, then replay to run a level as quick as possible.
It’s also worth noting that you may have to wait until later in the game to fully clear some levels just to get some of the additional abilities later on. Abilities can be used to shoot arrows initially, but later you can push things, use an exploding arrow and more. Actions can also include movement or waiting, and you can eventually upgrade how many actions you can take during a turn as well. Some abilities will also require you to wait a certain number of actions before using as well, meaning you can’t use some of your strongest ones right out of the gate each puzzle.
The tactics continue when you actually get into a level. You don’t plan a move at a time. Instead, you plan the entire set of actions, whether it’s movement, shooting one of your arrows or another ability. However, you don’t know immediately what enemies will do, as they move the same time that you do. Meaning a shot you plan early on might miss entirely based on a prior move you made that threw an enemy onto a different path. The game does offer an Undo Round feature to redo a turn, but I often just found it better to restart a level entirely and start anew.
The biggest highlight of Howl may be its art style. It uses a living ink style, looking like hand-drawn graphics. The game looks beautiful and simplistic, hiding the depth of some of the planning and tactics that will be needed throughout the game.
