An open-world soul-like deck builder sounds like a mishmash of genres that just shouldn’t work. But somehow the creator of The Outer Zone has masterfully combined them into something remarkably cohesive – a harrowing, punishing, and visually striking game about grief and survival titled The Howl of Death.
The game hit digital shelves on December 9, and its premise is plain: you play as Ro, a woman who enters the spirit realm to save her son Olvi from the clutches of death. But the other side of the veil is no longer so genial to aliens, and Ro must fight her way through perilous spirits who want to interrupt her search and send her back to the world of the living empty-handed.
Using mana and a deck of cards, you fight these spirits by moving Ro around the battlefield with a grid. Each battlefield looks slightly different, consisting of a set of tiles arranged in unique patterns with various environmental objects that can lend a hand or hinder the fight. The enemies you’ll encounter vary greatly in appearance and fighting style: floating raven heads that attack from a distance, infected molars that cause cracks at your feet (yes, you read that right), and jellyfish that can kill you with a single touch. Yes, did I mention how perilous the spirit world is?
During your journey through the spirit world, you will visit five different “realms”. In each kingdom, you create cards with items and Death Howls (or spirits) left from defeated creatures. Each land has its own set of cards with different effects, giving you the chance to rebuild your deck with a completely novel playstyle for each region you visit. For example, the Realm of Hostile Plains has a movement-based archetype. Some cards in this realm enhance the number of tiles you can move at once, while other cards decrease their cost the more tiles you move this turn.
There are over 160 cards in total in the game, and thanks to the different play styles they offer, the gameplay never feels stale. While you are not restricted to only playing cards from the region you are in, playing cards from other regions costs more mana. And since you only have five or six mana per turn and most cards cost between one and three mana, you’ll probably end up swapping out cards every time you switch lands. This isn’t a gigantic problem if you choose to focus on one area at a time. But he plays Is open world, and the lands can become more complex as you progress through them, so you may find you have to swift travel from one to another to train. This leads to you having to change your deck every time you do it, which can be quite time-consuming.
At the heart of each land lies a powerful boss, the Great Spirit. Boss fights feature fun and unique mechanics that challenge everything you’ve learned in the land so far, but getting there won’t be simple. Don’t forget-The Howl of Death is a true soulslike experience, and every good Soulslike boasts a difficulty level that is not for the subdued of heart. Limited health, habitual enemy encounters, and close-quarters combat mean the gameplay can be unforgiving and you’ll have to consider your every move. But whenever I lost a fight, I felt like victory was within reach, and I always wanted to go back and try again.
Like other souls, The Howl of Death it has a checkpoint system that allows you to restore health, but respawns every enemy you’ve defeated up to that point. As we mentioned earlier, enemies drop Death Howls, which can create cards or be placed into Tears that unlock novel abilities. However, if you die in combat, all of your hard-earned Death Howls will be dropped at the point of your death, and you will have to return to the scene of the crime to collect them. If you find a fight too complex or can’t get through some encounters, you can opt for easier encounters, stock up on Death Howls, and then apply them to unlock better cards and more abilities to lend a hand you in your next fight.
These skills can be unlocked in each region’s skill tree. Although they are all separate from each other, the spheres overlap to some extent. Some skills allow you to charge an ultimate skill, the effect of which varies depending on the land. For example, in one kingdom your ultimate increases your damage dealt per turn, while in another it damages all enemies in a row.
Between combat encounters, you’ll navigate through various spirit realms and their harrowing landscapes. The Howl of DeathThe environmental design is both terrifying and breathtaking, with giant forests full of poisonous mushrooms, crevices filled with corpses, and Ro’s Grief Ghouls. Visually, the spirit world may seem plain at first glance, but don’t be fooled: it is full of secrets, and those who pay close attention to their surroundings will be rewarded with hidden maps and additional resources. You’ll also meet non-hostile characters who will lend a hand you on your journey if you solve their problems first. These side quests add a layer of intrigue to the world-building and make the spirit realm truly come alive.
I played The Howl of Death both on my gaming laptop and on my Steam Deck, and it worked perfectly on both – although, admittedly, there were times when I couldn’t select tabs correctly or the menu navigation was choppy and I had to revert to the mouse or touchscreen to get around this problem. These issues were few and far between and in no way detracted from my overall positive experience with the game.
in fact, The Howl of Death is a fantastic representation of both the deckbuilding and soulslike genres. The gameplay will teach you a few lessons, but the experience will be worth your patience.
