Twilight Tails Review (PC)

If I can be a goat, a fish, or a squirrel, then I might as well be a raccoon, too. Yet, from past experiences with filling the paws of random critters from the animal kingdom, I’ve never really had much to worry about other than how I’d source food, or how I’d educate the human population on the overpowered nature of a head-butting farmyard rebel. For raccoons, though, there’s a bit more to concern about, like figuring out where I might sleep at night, or how I’ll survive an ongoing battle against other species in a wooded environment that feels almost too dangerous for the everyday ball of fluff and bone. But for what’s it’s worth, Twilight Tails feels like a challenge that’s going to take me out of my comfort zone, and it’s something that I can’t help but feel mutually obliged to explore even if it kills me.

The moonlight period is a mentally deteriorating time to be alive in Twilight Tails. But that’s sort of the message that you’re working with here — that the worst things tend to happen during the night, and that, regardless of size, species, or position in the food chain, every action from an animal has a consequence once the sun sinks beyond the horizon. It just so happens that you, a raccoon, have one of the worst hands imaginable, with not only the world working tirelessly to thwart your plans for surviving the cold, but the elemental prowess of the woodland and its vast habitat, too. From blizzards to hail, snowfall to thunderous storms, the outdoors here serves only to drive a wedge between your comfort zone and the textbook instincts of a harmless animal. And it’s your job, in short, to learn how to live with it.

When Dusk Falls

Twilight Tails doesn’t pose too much of a threat. Well, it doesn’t, so long as you have some level of expertise in survival-crafting games, that is. As for the game, or the story, however,  there isn’t too much to onboard outside of the usual ‘survival of the fittest’ routine. If you can call it a story, then I wouldn’t say that it’s punching above the modern standards of a good old-fashioned RPG. For the sake of covering all bases, though, I will say this: it’s about a raccoon’s attempts to withstand the pressure of wild living. That’s about all you need to know here, and so, if you are looking for a narrative-rich title, then you might be in for a bit of a surprise with this one.

Of course, the story isn’t what drives this experience; it’s the scenarios that you yourself create within a world where almost everything bends to your limits and your own imagination. But therein lies the first major challenge: finding the means to continue when, quite frankly, there isn’t a whole lot for you to do other than forage for supplies and explore a world with little to no points of interest. There is a world for you to scoot around in — which is great. That said, there really isn’t much else going on here. And that’s a crying shame, as the developer could’ve quite easily incorporated certain progression-based obstacles or trials to help bulk out the journey and incentivize the experience. Sadly, that just isn’t the case here.

A Lull in the Dark

The good news is that there are a couple of tasks for you to take on just as soon as the first hurdle scoots out of the way. For instance, the opening passage of the game tasks you with—wait for it—finding a branch and then, if you can believe it, bringing it back to your small allotment. Sadly, most of the steps that follow on from that are also largely fetch-based, meaning, most of your time is devoted to mindlessly searching areas for items to tick off of a rather generic shopping list. After that, well — that’s entirely up to you. Well, sort of.

To make matters that much worse, Twilight Tails also suffers from some pretty bad camera issues and other technical problems. From the tediously frequent clippings through the trees to the floating set pieces that both hover and sink into the terrain, the majority of the game does, frustratingly, suffer from a lot of powerful hiccups that are almost too apparent to be easily glossed over. Don’t get me wrong, the world looks great, as do a lot of its season trimmings. But with one too many faults in the way it presents itself, it’s hard to give it the benefit of the doubt and call it for what it isn’t — which is a smooth, picture-perfect representation of a cutting edge animal simulation game with an iron heart.

Verdict

Twilight Tails gives just as much as it takes, which is a bit of a double-edged sword, really. On the one hand, it captures a stunning woodland locale for you to run around in. But on the other hand, it fails to ignite any sense of excitement in its gameplay, with the bulk of the experience mostly relying on your ability to forge custom stories to keep its world afloat. The problem here is that, if you don’t have the patience, much less the mental capacity to personally construct your own narrative, you won’t find much more to stick around for. The inclusion of a soon-to-be co-op mode is a smart move, I’ll admit, but without it, it just doesn’t have much going for it, unfortunately.

Of course, if Twilight Tails makes the conscious effort to undergo some well-needed fixes, then it could go on to become a much, much better game. As it stands, though, the jittery camera angles meshed with a lack of purpose in the gameplay itself both make for a rather grim and tiresome experience. Could it emerge from the twilight and strive for something brighter? Who knows. At the time of writing, though, I wouldn’t say that it’s worth staying up late for.