astragon Entertainment and Mi’pu’mi Games have released Howl on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S today. It was initially released in November 2023 on PC and Switch.
Howl is one that escaped me. When I think back to November, it’s mostly a blur to me, so that’s no surprise. However, it looks interesting from screenshots and the title of the press release reads “critically acclaimed.” That phrase gets stretched pretty far in the PR world, but, sure enough, Opencritic shows a warm reception from the publications that covered it.
The announcement also describes Howl as folklore turn-based strategy. A strange howling turns anyone who hears it into werewolves. You play as a deaf heroine who is searching to cure it. From the trailer, it looks to be more of a puzzle game than a turn-based strategy title. You plan your moves in six steps, changing positions on the tiled field and completing actions to try and evade or take down enemies. If you’ll forgive the somewhat obscure reference, it reminds me of Trogdor the Board Game.
There are 60 stages through 4 chapters, and you unlock new abilities and upgrades as you progress through the world map. Most striking, however, is the art style, which looks like it’s hand-drawn in a simple storybook style.
I’m bringing this up not just to warn PlayStation and Xbox players that it’s now available to their chosen platform but also for anyone else who, like me, might have missed it at first.
Howl is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PC.
