A true 2D Souls-like, Salt & Sanctuary obviously had an impact on Tails of Iron. For example, heavy armors soak up more damage, but they also greatly hinder your dodge roll. You also have plenty of attractive presets at your disposal if you don’t feel like messing around with the Razer Chroma software. The characters all communicate (to you) through pictographs and wordless noises.
Tails of Iron’s sound also impressed me. In this Tails of Iron review, I’ll break down this game, in which you must reclaim your crown and throne, and push back the frogs that have invaded and pillaged your home. Whether I was issuing orders to colonial armies or exploring huge high-fantasy cities, the Huntsman V2 responded to my commands quickly and accurately. Jordan tends to lurk on social media, but you can best reach him on Twitter. There’s an interesting (if blunt) meta-narrative in Tails of Iron that adds to its grisly charm.
Beyond that, the Huntsman V2 Tenkeyless has identical switches, functionality and performance. On a Typing.com test, I scored 123 words per minute with 98% accuracy, compared to 117 wpm with 98% accuracy on a standard membrane laptop keyboard. Tails of Iron is a beautiful and brutal game with a lot to offer. Against.
But if you like the idea of sending signals through light waves rather than metal springs, this mild upgrade is probably worth a look. I didn’t find the Purple Clicky keys especially distracting, for what it’s worth, and the Red Linears should be quieter. The Razer Huntsman V2 is an excellent example of how the company knows not to mess with a good thing. Still, if you play at a highly competitive level, where every split-second counts, the Huntsman V2 is unlikely to do any harm, at least.
The Razer Huntsman V2 holds few surprises for anyone who’s checked out a Razer keyboard over the past few years. Tails of Iron review: Story and setting. In fact, there’s no written dialogue at all. In terms of typing, at least, the Huntsman V2 is speedy. You might find some deaths to be cheap.
Tails of Iron review: Gameplay. But it’s a slight upgrade of an excellent peripheral, eschewing a few needless features while keeping what worked well the first time around. Keeping the enemies’ different tells — and which attacks require a dodge, parry or block — straight in your mind takes some getting used to.
Tails of Iron is a beautiful and charming side-scroller with brutal combat and a grim story. The brutality of the combat can be simultaneously frustrating and rewarding. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. When the original Razer Huntsman Elite debuted in 2018, I complimented the gaming keyboard’s sleek design, novel switches, and excellent performance. To illustrate this point, a representative typed on both keyboards back-to-back.
At $200 or thereabouts, the Huntsman V2 is considerably more expensive than the $140 BlackWidow V3, which has a similar design with purely mechanical switches. Healing is a slow process, meaning that you’ll have to judge when it’s the best time to recover your health. Like most modern Razer peripherals, the Razer Huntsman V2 runs on the Razer Synapse software. Everything simply looks and feels good – although I’ll grant that everything also simply looked and felt very good in the previous model.
But the game never feels unfair. Some you can buy, some you can find and some require crafting. Read on for our full Razer Huntsman V2 review. – Few significant upgrades – Still pretty expensive. The keyboard also comes with a detachable magnetic wrist rest.
Still, the keys are the Huntsman V2’s unique selling point. Unlocking new armors and weapons is the key to success, since some gear is more effective against certain enemy types. Just be prepared for intense combat that will really push your limits. This is truly a game that lives by its aesthetic, and I love it.
You don’t have stats to invest in, but you do get a wide array of armors, shields and weapons to suit your playstyle. As the name suggests, the purple switches are loud and tactile; the red switches are quiet and linear. The game is simply stunning, with hand-drawn visuals that contrast heavily with the darker themes of the story. The game starts with an end to the rats’ fragile peace.
Tom’s Guide Verdict. I don’t think it’s any great loss, especially since the keyboard is a little cheaper as a result, but RGB aficionados should probably stick with the older model. Razer Huntsman V2 review: Design. Beautiful art design Brutal and rewarding combat Plenty of content Excellent narration. Tails of Iron review: Visuals and sound.
Our Verdict. He’s written about phones for over five years and plans to continue for a long while to come. For those who aren’t familiar with the Huntsman line, it employs optical switches rather than mechanical ones. Your shield can take a lot of damage, your dodge can get you to safety, and your parry is an extremely effective counter.
On the one hand, Tails of Iron features a drop-dead beautiful hand-drawn art design, an endearing silent protagonist and veteran voice actor Doug Cockle as the narrator. Combining these skills can be a true challenge, however. Tails of Iron review.
I tested the peripheral with Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, Deathloop, Baldur’s Gate III and Final Fantasy XIV, and found that it excelled across the board. The Razer Huntsman V2 is an excellent gaming keyboard, and a modest upgrade over its predecessor. However, while the Huntsman V2 had a “gentler” sound to it, I’m not sure whether it was actually quieter, or simply less distracting. This is just what it sounds like: a Huntsman V2, sans number pad. There’s a discreet Razer logo on the detachable wrist rest; otherwise, this would look right at home in either a gaming nook or on an office desk.
On the other hand, the USB-C-to-USB-A power cable is detachable, which makes the Huntsman V2 Tenkeyless easy to transport. You’ll explore a wide variety of environments with their own enemies, residents, quests and treasures to find. This is a game that gives no quarter, demanding that you learn its intricacies right off the bat. The sounds of battle that accompany you throughout the game also tell their own story, even down to the different noises the enemies make.
If you want to game at the speed of light (or as close as your fingers can get), then the Huntsman V2 is worth a look. Jordan is the Phones Editor for Tom’s Guide, covering all things phone-related. Fight as the rat king Redgi and reclaim your kingdom. Like the other Huntsman or more recent BlackWidow models, the Huntsman V2 features an all-black plastic chassis with a brushed, matte appearance.
Razer Huntsman V2 review: Features. On a gameplay front, Tails of Iron has smooth animations, vibrant attack telegraphs and satisfying effects that show your combat prowess. He loves nothing more than relaxing in his home with a book, game, or his latest personal writing project.
This isn’t a Metroidvania, but rather an RPG-lite. Key Type: Optical Switch Type: Razer Clicky Purple or Razer Linear Red Illumination: Full RGB Size: 17.5 x 5.5 x 1.0 inches. It’s well worth the time and reasonable price. This time around, the keycaps are slightly different, the wraparound LED strip is gone and the whole device is a little quieter. This game is tough, brutal and grisly, but it all creates a certain charm that’s hard to describe.
By Marshall Honorof 01 October 2021. The arrow keys and control keys are still present, however. Tails of Iron is a beautiful and charming side-scroller with brutal combat and a grim story. They don’t feel as good as Cherry MX Blues, but then again, what does?
Few significant upgrades Still pretty expensive. Fight as the rat king Redgi and reclaim your kingdom. But you’re not defenseless. This is pretty much in line with other full-size gaming keyboards, but be sure you have the requisite desk space before you drop $200 on this peripheral.
Tails of Iron truly captures the main appeal of Souls-likes: the intense sense of satisfaction from overcoming something that initially feels insurmountable. The Huntsman V2 still has all of those things, but now it’s a little cheaper than before ($190 to $200, depending on switch type), and features a slightly quieter typing experience. The Razer Huntsman V2 combines innovative optical switches with quieter keycaps and gorgeous RGB lighting for a mild upgrade over its predecessor. Razer Huntsman V2 review: Keys.
Against. This is not only a beautiful game, but also one that plays well. I didn’t encounter any graphical glitches or frame rate drops, just a seamless visual experience.
Redgi’s goal is to reclaim his kingdom and push the frogs back into their swamp. You’ll fight harrowing battles, dodging and parrying your way to victory. Razer provided me with all sorts of statistics as to why the Huntsman V2 parses commands faster than its competitors, and I don’t doubt this is true.
While it can be a little convoluted, especially if you want to program your own customized RGB patterns, it’s simple enough to get around for everyday tasks. Tails of Iron challenges you to reclaim your fallen kingdom from the clutches of a horrible frog clan. This won’t be to everyone’s liking, but it’s pretty minor.
Razer Huntsman V2 Tenkeyless differences. But if you like challenging games, then I heartily recommend Tails of Iron. I’ve mentioned Hollow Knight, but another game that I thought of while playing was Salt & Sanctuary. There’s no denying that the Razer Huntsman V2 is a slight upgrade. At the same time, I still wonder how much of a difference it makes during everyday play.
Combat can be frustrating. It’s like a bloody and war-torn version of Redwall. Our review model came with Purple Clicky switches, and I can verify that they are both purple and clicky.
Tails of Iron is no walk in the park. + Comfortable, effective keys and switches + Beautiful RGB lighting + Sleek design + Cheaper than before. This is a game of give and take. – Combat Toasters can be frustrating. You play as Redgi, a diminutive rat who is heir to the throne. Doug Cockle, best known as the voice actor for The Witcher’s Geralt of Rivia, narrates the game in his signature gruff, raspy voice. If you’re unable to accommodate a full-size keyboard at your desk, there’s also the $150 (or $160) Razer Huntsman V2 Tenkeyless model.
Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom’s Guide, overseeing the site’s coverage of gaming hardware and software. Combat is brutal, there’s no way around it. The Razer Huntsman V2 combines innovative optical switches with quieter keycaps and gorgeous RGB lighting for a mild upgrade over its predecessor. If you buy the Razer Huntsman V2, you’ll have a choice of Razer Purple Clicky or Razer Linear Red switches.
There are no discrete media keys, which puts this model at a significant disadvantage, compared to the regular Huntsman V2. While the frogs are certainly cruel and needlessly violent, they have a deeper motivation than just wanting to kill the rats. As for the RGB lighting itself, it’s bright and colorful. Like the original Huntsman, the Huntsman V2 has big, discrete media keys in the upper-right, including a volume wheel that just barely overhangs the edge of the keyboard. Razer took a good thing, gave it a slight upgrade and ran with it.
The keyboard also has per-key RGB lighting, although it no longer possesses the wraparound LED strip that made the original Huntsman so distinctive. Razer also claims that the Huntsman V2 is quieter than its predecessor. Other than Cockle’s narration, there is no voice acting in the game. The developers have outright said they were inspired by the Souls-like genre, as well as other side-scrollers like Hollow Knight.
Our Verdict. You attack, dodge, block and parry. Some even help you with certain quests, adding a sense of companionship in an otherwise-lonely game.
At the top, I said Tails of Iron is like a grimdark Redwall. In fact, some attacks require parrying. Tails of Iron severely punishes your mistakes, as even the most basic of enemies can take you down quickly and efficiently.
This means that rather than depressing a switch, the keyboard sends signals through manipulating light. Razer Huntsman V2 review: Performance. You will have to fight multiple enemies at once and it can be pretty stressful. Each enemy type and boss has its own moveset and quirks, forcing you to adapt, lest you die repeatedly. Tails of Iron review: Verdict.
After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi. That’s about it, though. Every scene was a treat to behold, and even the different equipment sets look great. Jordan likes finding new things to dive into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets.
Price: $24.99 (digital), $39.99 (physical) Release date: September 17, 2021 Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC Genre: Adventure RPG Developer: Odd Bug Studio Publisher: United Label. The speed of light and the speed of a mechanical switch are objectively quite different, but both of them still start with the player deciding when to depress a key. As you get further into the game, you find that not all is as it seems. By Jordan Palmer 17 September 2021. Some weapons hit harder, but others attack faster.
In practice, of course, it’s still dependent on how efficiently you hit the keys in the first place, so it’s probably not a concern for the average gamer. If you think "Redwall meets Hollow Knight and Salt & Sanctuary," you’ll have a pretty good idea of what Tails of Iron is. On the other, you’re left to deal with a dark and grim story, which pits you against many a merciless and murderous enemy. + Beautiful art design + Brutal and rewarding combat + Plenty of content + Excellent narration.
Ranged combat has its place, but it can also get you into trouble if you’re not careful. One improvement over the previous Huntsman is that now the keyboard connects with a single USB cable, rather than a dual-pronged USB cable for basic functionality and RGB features. And, since the final product is still an excellent gaming keyboard, I can’t complain too much. Compared to its competitors, the Huntsman V2 is still quite expensive, and doesn’t offer many concrete benefits over a more traditional mechanical keyboard. The keyboard was at its best, of course, when I found myself pounding the same keys over and over for split-second commands in Deathloop.
I also appreciated how the USB-C port slides into a notch in the keyboard, so there’s no risk of disconnection during gameplay. This comprehensive application lets you reprogram keys, set up profiles for individual games, manipulate the RGB lighting, assign alternate functions to the volume wheel and more. You don’t really lose out on any story beats; the narrator fills in the gaps for you. The rat kingdom is plagued by war with the Frog Clan. I searched long and hard for significant differences between the two devices, but didn’t find many.
Tails of Iron should appeal to fans of brutal side-scrolling action games. Over time, the program has become much more navigable and stable. It’s difficult to find anything to criticize in the Huntsman V2’s design.
The world you’ll explore is fraught with danger, but you’ll also meet some friendly NPCs along the way. If you’ve played Hollow Knight, Tails of Iron does a pretty good job of capturing the same atmosphere, albeit in a different setting. In theory, this means that the Huntsman V2 sends and receives signals much, much faster than a purely mechanical model.
Razer Huntsman V2 review. If I had to choose, I’d go with the BlackWidow and use the $60 on a new game, but I also don’t play in the upper echelons of competitive multiplayer. Tom’s Guide Verdict.
The company did not have decibel data available. The Huntsman V2 is a large keyboard, measuring 17.5 x 5.5 x 1.0 inches. Just be ready to fail over and over again as you get better, and prepare yourself for many “You Died” screens. Razer Huntsman V2 review: Verdict.
No matter what you like to play, the Razer Huntsman V2 can handle it. By far, the best thing about Tails of Iron is its art design. Comfortable, effective keys and switches Beautiful RGB lighting Sleek design Cheaper than before.
At its core, Tails of Iron has very simple gameplay.