Hi Guys!
Earlier in the year I stumbled across a demo for a game called Herdling. It was relatively short but gave enough of an insight for me to save it to my Wishlist on Steam, check that it would be a day 1 release game on the Xbox Game Pass and eagerly await its arrival!
Herdling was created by Okomotive who some of you may already recognise for the FAR games, one of which I have recorded previously for my YouTube channel. Described as an adventure game, the task in hand is to guide a group of shaggy creatures called Calicorn from the city landscapes where we begin, through the countryside and mountain passes until you reach their journey end. It is an incredible expedition and one that should be enjoyed, in my opinion, at a leisurely pace. It is not about a race or trying to achieve things in the quickest time, it is not seemingly designed for someone to speedrun with stampeding creatures up a snowy hillside – it is about really walking the path with them.
The suggestion of a leisurely pace in no way means to say that the journey is not fraught with perils and risks. There are numerous moments where Calicorns could be lost in a crevasse, fall victim to ground giving way beneath them or facing attack from ominous taloned birds who periodically circle above. Sometimes harm is inevitable but thankfully health can be restored by feeding berries which are found consistently throughout the game. As you come to gather your herd you will do anything to keep them safe. They are not an annoyance in the game or a hindrance, they have been carefully created to enable connections to be formed with them whilst giving the player an experience akin to a traditional shepherd. Each Calicorn has a different appearance, once tamed they can be given their own name and some will have personality traits assigned to them. They are not really needed though as a true herder will naturally bond to those he guards.
As you journey there are campfires where you can gather your herd and rest. I have watched some videos of gamers rushing through these steps to get the herd moving onwards again and yet for me these were cherished times. Some of the herd will settle itself around the fire as if waiting for it to be lit. Those who need cleaning stand some way off, trying to groom themselves but really in need of assistance to remove the branches and twigs caught in their long coats. All too often there will be one who follows you with small bouncy movements, tail wagging almost puppy-like as it longs to be petted. On the walk around the area to gather firewood there is often a ball and a Calicorn stood alongside it, hoping someone may throw it for him to fetch. These times make you want to complete the journey for them and not simply for gamer points!
The game has collectables, the most important of this naturally being the herd themselves with 12 Calicorns needed for the ‘The Herd is Gathered’ achievement. This takes until Chapter 6 of 7 but given how long it takes to master steering an evergrowing herd, the pace of finding them is amply quick enough! The second collectable of value are harnesses. There are 6 to find and not all are accessible with your herd so be prepared to run around a little bit without them at your heels. Finally there are decorations. I am not sure how many of these there are in the game but it is impossible to resist hooking them onto the horns of the Calicorns as you go by, enhanced by their seeming pleasure at being given them!
The scenery itself provides a stunning backdrop and the beasts instantly look far more at home in the snowy mountains than the city where we first meet them. I read that the team took hikes in the Swiss mountains whilst developing Herdling which no doubt provided some of the inspiration. Whilst not so extreme I walk a lot in the Lake District and have been fortunate enough to be there as the snows have melted, so it brought back happy memories. Flora is also key within the game with yellow flowers needing to be collected to reveal wall murals, blue flowers to enable you to deliver short bursts of charges or stampedes and red flowers which trigger them automatically. The change in pace at times is lovely – especially when there is a big stretch of space in front of you and after walking a tight and twisty path you yearn to let them run.
As beautiful and wondrous as the game is, there were moments where I wondered if I would finish it. I recorded using the Xbox Series S and found that the game crashed multiple times, sometimes restarting me at the very beginning of the chapter which was frustrating. I abandoned recording on a couple of days simply because it was impossible to get a clean run without that happening. As it stands one of my released videos has this in and whilst I could not get a seamless merge it was better to just push on. Perhaps it is not an issue on other platforms but I’m not in a position to say. What I can say though is do not be put off by this. When the world gets a bit much, sometimes what we all need is a walk with a Calicorn.
Herdling is available on Steam as well as other platforms.
My Herdling YouTube playlist can be found here.