Death Howl’s Gameplay and Narrative Help It Fit on Switch

What’s Happening

Alright so Death Howl is one of those unique strategic roguelikes that someone could play for 15 minutes for five hours straight, and it means the Switch version couldn’t come soon enough.

I thoroughly enjoyed this brutal game when I played it on the PC. But there’s something about the nature of it that makes the gameplay loop and narrative beats feel highlighted so well here. (we’re not making this up)

As a quick refresher, Death Howl is a strategic roguelike with a nearly monochromatic kinds of color palettes and melancholy st Featured Nintendo Switch Death Howl’s Gameplay and Narrative Help It Fit on Switch By Jenni Lada Image via The Outer Zone Death Howl is one of those unique strategic roguelikes that someone could play for 15 minutes for five hours straight, and it means the Switch version couldn’t come soon enough.

The Details

Recommended Videos As a quick refresher, Death Howl is a strategic roguelike with a nearly monochromatic kinds of color palettes and melancholy story. Based on Scandinavian folklore, we follow a grieving mother named Ro searching the other side for her dead son Olvi who was stolen away from her.

This means traversing different areas, facing all sorts of entities and beasts with abilities she gathers. There are so many themes running through it.

Why This Matters

Revenge is a critical one, since there’s a central stag figure associated with her son’s death and apparent abduction. Not to mention she’s angry with Death itself over the loss. Coming to terms with the situation is another, since this is a journey about grief and clearly she’s going through the bargaining and depression stages while also being angry about everything and denying that this is a situation that can’t be undone.

The gaming community has been watching developments like this closely.

Key Takeaways

• But there’s also this veil of uncertainty over everything.
• Because of the use of symbolism and design choices, Ro is an unreliable narrator and there are gaps in our knowledge as players.
• Which means part of the motivation that keeps us going is to finally know the truth of it all.

The Bottom Line

Having the game on the Switch makes it easy to keep going so we can absorb the information and take in what possible truths could be hinted at as we play. The Switch also makes for a good way to appreciate the art direction in Death Howl in the same way that the Steam Deck and other handheld gaming PCs do.

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