Howl — Crossbow-Toting Hood
Review
I fired up Howl for the first time after a hard day’s work. The main theme on acoustic guitar and cello soothed my mind. The folk tale atmosphere drew me in as the player character’s letter-writing voice-over narration set the tone for a dark adventure. It took me back to reading the original fairy tales as they used to be, before they were censored and infantilized by modern books.
Howl is a relaxing game with a minimalistic turn-based combat gameplay that rewards elegant solutions. The aesthetic and the setting work well together to carry the gameplay, and the soundtrack and narration keep you interested. This not an elaborate strategy game, but it is challenging in terms of finding the correct, intended solutions. If you go in with that in mind, Howl is fairly compelling.
Turn-Based Puzzler
The player character, a girl in a golden hood, goes through the woods in each level, sometimes trying to rescue people, but mostly shooting wolves with her crossbow. The gameplay consists in trying to either evade or kill wolves, rescue people if possible, and find the way out. And you will only get the full rewards if you complete each level in as few turns as possible: at least two turns, three or four at most.
It includes an assist mode that allows you to see where the wolves move in their turns, so you can either avoid them or pursue them. Since the levels are so compact, the game often becomes puzzle-like, and you have to unravel the quickest paths that will allow you to complete the level in fewer turns. And this is where the game suffers: it has to strong-arm the player into playing the intended way rather than creatively.
Skills for Skulls
The upgrades’ menu UI has some issues: at first, it’s not clear what you should prioritize when you upgrade skills with the “confidence” points you win by completing levels in fewer turns. You have to upgrade your skills so you can use them more effectively, but to be able to upgrade them you have to complete the levels as they were intended, otherwise you won’t have enough points.
In my first playthrough, for some reason, I decided to prioritize upgrading skills instead of movement slots. I got stuck because I needed movement more than the fully upgraded first skill. I tried to make it work, but found it was better to restart and make sure I upgrade the movement slots first. Without the six movement slots, some levels felt almost impossible to solve. I might be wrong, but it seems like a design flaw.
Howling Okay Time
Howl is a casual title that I enjoyed alongside some light reading, not as a game where I can immerse myself into for hours on end. The levels have some variety, but overall they feel very similar, with few different types of wolves and attack styles. Once you’ve completed the first two chapters, it begins to feel repetitive. If you prefer to figure things out more creatively, you might be put off trying to find the right solutions.
The first time I heard about Mi'pu'mi Games was when I had the chance to review their first game, The Lion’s Song, for TechRaptor. I loved their approach to the classic point-and-click adventure, and the memory of that game stayed with me over the years. While I love Howl’s unique visual style and its premise was compelling at first, the gameplay captivated me less than I expected.
Disclosure: Howl was reviewed on PC with a Steam key provided by the developer over the course of 12 hours of play time. All screenshots attached were captured during the review process.
Rating: 7.0 / Decent.
The Good
Unique visual flair;
Delightful soundtrack;
Strong voice acting.
The Bad
Few creative gameplay solutions;
Some design issues with upgrades;
Feels repetitive halfway through.
Gallery
Howl is available on Steam and Nintendo Switch. More information is available on the official website.