The Indie Informer

The odd mix of genres may have tempted you to learn more about Death Howl — that’s what caught my attention initially. Its lively gameplay isn’t the only thing I walked away thinking about when I put the game down. Its narrative so far is, like its visuals, intensely stark and sharpened my interest into fascination. In fact, I might be more intrigued with the misty tale of grief, reanimation, and death than anything else I went hands-on with while traveling this month.

To bring you this preview, I set out on my own quest. Straight from PAX East, I caught a flight halfway around the globe to Poland, where 11 bit studios was holding its annual preview event. I’ve already spoken about my time playing The Alters on last week’s Indie Council — its second act reveals a story engineered to make the player question their own moral codes and wring their hearts at the same time.

It doesn’t take more than a few seconds for Death Howl to strike at my heart, however. Set in Scandinavia’s Mesolithic Age, my first view of the world is a confrontation with death. The protagonist’s child, a young boy, is gone — he died in our arms. However, in her grief, his shamanistically trained mother can’t let him go.

She follows him to the afterlife. This enchanting but disturbing stage is where the game’s action takes place. Wondering the shrouded trails, a boar — or an enraged spirit that takes its form — stands upon a field newly manifested with a checkerboard pattern. Having thoughtlessly stepped onto the red squares, I now have no choice but to fight my way out.

The combat has no tutorial currently, but fans of strategy deck builders should find it familiar. My cards fan out, showing actions I can take and costing a set amount from my pool of five action points. This first battle is rife with missteps and injuries. It’s the last time I can afford to be this careless.

Just beyond my first victory is a ring of stones called a Sacred Grove. It’s this game’s version of the bonfire, which restores not only my life, but the life of all those in the spirit world around me. The well-known mechanic is made fresher by the fact that the festering body of a once-magnificent moose springs to life to give me directions in this supernatural labyrinth. I can’t praise the vibes of the world enough.

Following this encounter, I’m free to roam the map, filled with marked enemies, Sacred Grove sites, and special objectives. Nothing is easy, and each battle, no matter how careful I am, chips away at my lifeforce. When I successfully bring down a foe, I receive its Death Howl and potentially unique resources. With these, I can craft increasingly powerful cards to make the journey less insurmountable.

Finding new sites to regain health and save takes me one step closer to finding and bringing back my son. Whether I triumph or end up among the dead with him remains to be seen. However, one thing I do know is I’m eagerly waiting for more news on Death Howl.