Blacktail eluded me when its reveal trailer was featured during the Summer of Gaming 2021. And I missed it again when the “Witch’s Fate” trailer was shown at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live 2022 presentation.
Considering my affinity for video games with bows and arrows in them, I actually can’t believe this one slipped past me. I can only assume — now that I’ve given the 2021 trailer a once over — that I probably looked past this due to the fact that the first two thirds of the trailer comes across as just another indie game with a storybook art style.
What a fool I’ve been, because Blacktail actually looks pretty freakin’ cool.
You play as a 16-year-old girl named Yaga, who was banished on account of being pinged as a witch back when that sort of thing could do more than just ruin your career. And if the name Yaga rings any bells, that’s because you will be playing through an origin story of the fabled Baba Yaga — though I would venture to guess not the Lara Croft DLC or John Wick versions.
You will be tasked with dispatching living embodiments of your memories in the form of nefarious spirits, using your trusty bow and a little magic, and all this takes place in a fairytale-like world. The twist is, you will apparently be able to decide whether your Baba Yaga will be the savior of your land or just a total jerk, depending on your various choices in a — you guessed it — video-game morality system. And although those words strung together pretty much just come off as marketing buzzwords, it seems like these choices will not only impact the world around you, but will also weigh on which skills you will be able to access and unlock, which could be cool.
Perhaps the best part about not discovering Blacktail until now, however, is that the game is set to release December 15, 2022, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. That’s barely a month away, in a month when there are currently not a ton of games I am otherwise looking forward to.
You can check out a trailer for Blacktail below, and if you should be so inclined, you can save 20% on your pre-order on GOG and also on Steam at the time of writing.
