Today’s livestream of Gamescom Opening Night Live had two hours’ worth of new content for gamers who tuned in from around the world. From new gameplay trailers to short behind-the-scenes interviews with team members behind the games, there was a little something for everyone. Though The Parasight’s Blacktail had been announced before today’s event, the Gamescom ONL gave us a longer look at the game about good, evil, and witchcraft.
Blacktail is a story-rich tale of the origins of the infamous witch, Baba Yaga. Sixteen-year-old Yaga is accused of being a witch and shunned from her home. In a magical forest, her memories come back as dark creatures that she must destroy with her magic-enhanced archery. The game explores good and evil as your choices are measured with a morality meter. Make too many dark decisions, and you may just turn out to be the evil Baba Yaga after all.
In the Gamescom ONL trailer, we see Yaga’s duality made literal. The pink-haired witch and her “twin” hold masks over their faces as Yaga begins to tell the tale of two sisters and is interrupted by a voice that frightens her. The voice tells her that she “got it all wrong” and continues with, “Once upon a time there was a freak with no face.” This argument between the two voices matched with the appearing and disappearing red eyes on the screen suggests that the struggle is a psychological and moral one. Yaga wants to find the Red Oak while the voice wants her to find The Hut.
The trailer continues with glimpses of a magical forest that our narrator wonders about. From lush greenery, it flashes to a charred wasteland in the first-person perspective of the game. Using only a bow and her magic, Yaga will have to defeat all manor of enemies in a variety of environments all while wrestling with the voice inside her head. The trailer then invites you to ponder what kind witch you will end up being: good or evil? Will you help your village with your magic? Or will you haunt them?
The creatures range from a shadowy cat with glowing white orbs for eyes to large talking mushrooms that look like something out of a terrifying version of Alice in Wonderland. The cat looks cute though, so hopefully, he will be more of a familiar than an enemy. This is a tale about witches after all. The switch back and forth between twinkling and magical to dark and scary appears to be the main theme of the game and will make an interesting adventure. Check out the trailer below.
Blacktail is set to come out this winter, though it is available for pre-sale on Steam now. Though the release date is not specifically listed, the pre-sale ends on December 15, so we can assume it will be sometime after. The game will be available to play on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
