Following the huge success of Dark Souls, a slew of the so-called Souls-like titles started to pop up on the radar of many players, with some like Bloodborne and Hollow Knight considered among the best. Tails of Iron is a new RPG adventure game developed by UK-based Odd Bug Studio, and even if it falls within the Souls-like genre, it was inspired by a plethora of additional games and media. There isn't a single specific source of inspiration that helped the devs come up with Tails of Iron, but rather it come from a healthy mix of different games, books, and movies.
Game Rant spoke with Jack Bennett from Odd Bug Studio about what Tails of Iron has to offer, and also what it meant to develop a game with so many converging influences. Despite Tails of Iron being a Souls-like, The Witcher is among those game franchises that had a big impact on Odd Bug Studio because of its combat and dark fantasy setting, to the point that the indie developer hired Doug Cockle to narrate events unfolding during the conflict between Rats and Frogs. Cockle is arguably best known for being the voice of Geralt of Rivia in CD Projekt Red's games, and his deep tone helped the devs understand how he could set the mood for Tails of Iron to be a dark epic adventure, according to Bennett.
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The Witcher is not the only source of inspiration for Tails of Iron; another is Hollow Knight, which Bennett defined as "the pinnacle of indie Souls-like games." One main difference from that game is Odd Bug Studio's new title doesn't rely on the classic fragmented storytelling of Souls-likes, and instead adopts a story-driven style that is more straightforward similar to The Witcher saga. Fans have also pointed out that the Rats look lot like the Skaven of the Warhammer universe, whereas the Frogs look like the Lizardmen. That's something Bennett feels is high praise for their efforts.
"We’re big fans of the Warhammer universe, so it’s really cool to see that comparison. I’ve seen the Frogs being compared to the Lizardmen too. I do think our Rats are slightly different – the Rats in Tails of Iron are much more 'civilized,' and much less naturally brutal."
Bennett said among the other media that inspired Tails of Iron is the Redwall series, with its first novel published back in 1986. What makes Tails of Iron and Redwall share similarities is the fact that the former is full of humanlike creatures, with both Rats and Frogs having a fair amount in common with the characters from the acclaimed novel series. Another major source of inspiration for Odd Bug Studio's indie title comes from the Mouse Guard series of comic books by David Petersen, which also delves into a world where anthropomorphic rats go on adventures and fight other creatures.
Other influences include different movies, with the animated film Wind in the Willows being a great example. Another animated movie that Bennett mentioned as a source of inspiration is The Secret of NIMH, as it too showcases anthropomorphic characters and has a mouse protagonist.
"Souls-likes were definitely an inspiration for us. We liked that difficulty curve and we enjoyed the slow, deliberate combat that many of them offer. However – we did have other influences."
Even if there is plenty of media that Odd Bug Studio tapped into to make Tails of Iron the cute, yet macabre game it is, the indie title still establishes itself as a unique experience. Tails of Iron found its own identity in the work of others, but the beauty of the video game industry is that great work can proudly stand on the shoulders of giants.
Tails of Iron will launch on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on September 17, 2021.