Baba Yaga is one of the enduring beings of Slavic folklore. One of the most famous witches in worldwide mythology, the enigmatic, chicken-legged woman has long been emulated in other works, including a somewhat odd reference in action movie series John WickBlacktail, from developer The Parasight, looks like it might be a slightly more deep take on the eastern European legend.

Blacktail is the story of Yaga, a young woman thrown out of her village after being accused of witchcraft. Now left in a dangerous world full of strange, violent creatures, Yaga must find a way to survive while trying to understand and resolve her own troubled past. Taking the form of a first-person action adventure game with survival elements, Blacktail blends bow-based combat with magical, fairy tale elements.

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Based on an early preview build, it's these fairy tale influences that really help Blacktail stand out from other games. The Parasight, made up of former Bloober Team developers, looks to be utilizing myth and legend well here, with the first ninety minutes introducing a variety of dark fantasy elements. Whether it's the talking mushrooms, glowing giant bees, or the cartoonish sun in the sky, it feels like a mystical world akin to other dark fantasy settings.

Blacktail Mushrooms

From a gameplay perspective, Blacktail appears to be slightly more straightforward. The player controls Yaga from a first person perspective, using a bow to fight enemies alongside a handful of powers to try and give her the upper hand. It's all easy enough to grasp, and this is also true of a simplistic crafting system to do things like make arrows and potions, which operates in a slowdown model during gameplay similar to Horizon: Zero Dawn.

The expansiveness of this crafting and magic system is hinted at during this preview build, showcasing a little of what players can expect from Yaga's abilities over the course of the game. Yaga will be able to gain plenty of different items to craft from materials found in the wilderness or by defeating enemies, and there are also various magic skills that she will unlock. However, given that this magic comes from a dark place, there are hints that the use of these powers has the potential to corrupt Yaga over time.

Blacktail also has a clear morality system that will be of some importance over the course of the game. Random events will show up during Yaga's exploration, whether helping a bird escape from a carnivorous plant, leaving flowers for bees, or helping other creatures looking more directly for support. The player's actions decide whether Yaga is going down a good or bad path, something highlighted by a dialogue between the young Yaga and another, unsettling voice.

Blacktail Eye Spider

This central friction could create a good gameplay loop for players should The Parasight build it appropriately over the course of the game. Players relying on good crafting for items and for magical updates, but being restricted by how far they can reach depending on their own morality, has plenty of potential, and hopefully the end product will work well. After all, a similar morality-based constraint worked well for Dishonored and a similar template could be effective here.

That said, there are some elements of Blacktail that currently do feel a little awkward. The dialogue in particular feels a bit stilted, but not in a way that charms the player alongside its dark fantasy location, but instead jarring against the overall tone. This is particularly true of some of Yara's internal monologue, although this does grow as the preview goes on, and will ideally grow into a back-and-forth akin to the likes of Chorus.

Nonetheless Blacktail is certainly an interesting prospect. The core gameplay is entertaining enough and services the real pull of the project so far: its fantastic and atmospheric game world. Should this setting continue to play centre stage in the final release, then Blacktail could be a very intriguing game indeed.

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Blacktail will be released for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Screen Rant was provided with a PC download code for the purposes of this review.