Tails of Iron is good, but...

[Fry McFly]

This post contains slight spoilers.

First of all, I'd like to say that ToI is finally a game that I really liked after a long time. I like the art style, the scenario, the setting, etc. It's almost like an animated series you can play yourself. Well, an animated series that is not suitable for children. And thanks to the selectable difficulty level, I was even able to play through it as a GamePad and Souls-like noob. Nevertheless, I stumbled across a few things during my playthrough, or a few unanswered questions arose.

As someone who used to play a lot of Stronghold, I couldn't help but wonder how the castle's mighty ramparts, surrounded by moats, could fall so quickly. Were the ramparts so understaffed or the troops so poorly equipped / commanded / trained that they could not fend off an army that was physically superior but without siege weapons?

And why were the celebrations held at the beginning of the game at all if it was known that toads were marauding across the country and there was therefore a risk that they could invade the seat of government?

And where was the personal guard that was supposed to protect the ruling noble family?

So much for the preliminary narrative banter. Let's move on to the point in the story when our protagonist is crowned:

What kind of crowned leader is this, who has no aristocratic powers of action or authority? Who has no Small Council, as we know it from GoT, for example, with whom he consults and can determine the fate of his realm? Which cannot delegate its subordinates, such as its militant brother? Who cannot decide which path he chooses to protect or save his realm? Who can't even decide between several "conversation options" in "dialogs"?

Are you really playing the rodent version of a Robb Stark or not rather a Jorah Mormont or Davos Seaworth? So do you set out to save, avenge and protect your kingdom and your family, while at the same time ruling and disposing of your kingdom and your subjects, or are you not in fact more of a "recipient of orders" who can only act on a very narrow predetermined path?

And what kind of kingdom is it anyway that only consists of a fortress, a village and an outpost in the forest? With these possessions, you are certainly above the rank of mayor, but is that even enough for a kingdom?

And has anyone noticed that female characters not only play no role in the aristocratic ruling family, but are non-existent? Our protagonist has neither a mother nor other female relatives or a love interest.

So much for the (ludo)narrative stumbling blocks, let's move on to the gameplay ones:

Why can't you sell useless equipment, convert it into crafting materials or upgrade it? So that you can "admire" these mostly useless pieces of equipment in a designated room?
Why can't you buy equipment from merchants?
Why can't you buy the crafting blueprints you want instead of buying a pig in a poke?
Why can't you freely decide which weapon you want to carry as a one-handed or two-handed weapon? Or at least have the weapons "reforged" accordingly?
Why is it that you can't even see what loot you get when you select a side quest?
Why do you always have to go out or descend into the same areas again and again to get gold in the form of side quests / fetch quests in order to progress at all? Have the frogs plundered the royal treasury and killed all the tax collectors?
Why can't I strike / stab under the protection of my raised shield?
Why is there no NG+? This reduces the replay value enormously, doesn't it?
Why does the crowned rat not even have royal mounts at its disposal? That's part of the typical image of a medieval monarch that we have. And since the game is primarily concerned with pretending that our alter ego is a monarch instead of underpinning this with game mechanics, at least this should have been possible.

So not only does our protagonist have no influence on his kingdom and his own story, he doesn't even have much influence on his equipment or much leeway in terms of his fighting style.

All in all, I have to say that while I enjoyed ToI very much, I can only hope that a sequel has more to offer than just "more of the same".

Thank you for your attention.

[Serpiko82]

A) You're overthinking it.
B) There IS an armours room in the castle where you can see all equipment mounted on stands. Upstairs near Redgi's room, iirc.
C) You're aware that anytime you get a new piece of equipment you can choose to either equip it immediately, or store it away for later, right? And that at every chest around the world, you can switch your gear at will?

[Fry McFly]

Originally posted by Serpiko82:

...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZaB3JBOtAA