Review: Death Howl

The Soulslike genre has been around for so long that it's managed to gain its own subgenres. If you were there at the beginning of the Soulslike craze, you've seen quite a few unique games come out by now.

While a lot of talented AAA developers have made quite a few fabulous Soulslikes over the years, the genre has really shined in the indie scene. Many an indie dev, be it solo or a small team, have made some absolutely outstanding Soulslike games.

One of the most recent entries into that fold is Death Howl. Described as a Soulslike deck builder, Death Howl is a brutal, highly addictive experience from The Outer Zone, a small team out of Copenhagen, Denmark.

This dark combination of Soulslike difficulty and sinister, graphic novel-like pixel art is oozing with style. When this is paired up with the game's punishing, yet overwhelmingly rewarding, card-based combat, you've got something pretty special here.

Of all the games I've played this year, Death Howl is one that clicked with me immediately. A lot of great titles have come out this year, but I firmly believe Death Howl is one of the best games of 2025.

Enter The Spirit World

Death Howl takes place in a metaphysical realm known as the Spirit World, where the journey to find Ro's son Olvi unfolds across multiple areas. What starts in a small, isolated area of the Spirit World expands out into larger, more intricate areas.

I spent plenty of time exploring every single area outside the battle zones as much as possible, and was rewarded with upgrades, totems, and special cards. Death Howl's confidence in its own world is obvious, as its one built to engage the player at every turn.

The way the game shuffles you through each one is rather engrossing. Each area is dotted with Sacred Groves, which act as this game's version of the bonfire from Dark Souls or lamps from Bloodborne.

Each Sacred Grove is surrounded by battle areas, but the world outside those zones is open to exploration. This is where the game really starts to shine.

Battle zones are very defined, so staying clear of them in order to explore is easy. And thanks to just how fun and compelling exploration is, the game really allows you to take it at your own pace.

The world itself is simply gorgeous, as the deep, dark blacks and crunchy pixel art has a sort of Mike Mignola energy to it. It feels like a dark graphic novel come to life.

Death Howl deals with some pretty heavy themes. Grief, motherhood, and the frailty of life are certainly at the forefront in some lovely ways.

The writing has a delightful mix of playful banter, dark musings on life, and how far a mother will go to protect her child. A lot of times, story in these types of games feels a bit underbaked, but Death Howl does an excellent job at avoiding that.

Pick A Card, Any Card

Engaging enemies in Death Howl revolves around entering battle zones. As stated, they are easily identifiable and show the enemies before entering, allowing you to strategize.

Its enemy philosophy is similar to something like Doom. Enemies need to be fully and completely understood, as all their quirks and idiosyncrasies can be exploited.

Each combat encounter is almost like a puzzle in itself. Enemies adhere to the same grid structure as Ro, but different traversal cards can give her or the enemy an advantage in that regard.

Ranged and up-close cards present different strengths and weaknesses, as well. Some will land a knockback, which can deal double damage if the enemy hits an obstruction.

On the other hand, that puts Ro at risk of being hit back by an enemy if they have a counter or a long-range move, some of which can be deadly. You are constantly evaluating whether the risk is worth the reward.

And in Death Howl's defense, it often is. Being aggressive, taking initiative, and being in enemies' faces can be supremely beneficial.

The combat in Death Howl has a succinct, extremely satisfying edge to it. Exploring the world is incredibly fun, but this is one of my favorite card-based combat systems of the past decade.

Defeat lands you right outside the battle window with the HP you entered with, now hopefully a bit smarter. And as this game relies on a healthy bit of RNG, you can even abandon combat mid-battle if the game just isn't giving you the cards you need.

I've played quite a few deck builders in my time, many of them with excellent battle systems. Death Howl's intense, life-or-death struggles for survival are often taxing in ways many deck builders aren't.

Once you find a groove, however, the confidence with which you start to roll into battles with feels incredible. A lot of games are built around you feeling more powerful, and Death Howl certainly lives up to that.

Life, Death, And Taxes

As is the case with most deck builders, the stack of cards you start the game with will only get you so far. You'll need to find or craft more, and doing so comes with its own unique challenges.

Defeated enemies grant Ro a Death Howl, which is the game's currency of sorts. It acts in a few different ways, a multi-functional object that ties deeper into the game's risk vs. reward element.

You can certainly use a Death Howl at a Sacred Grove, which will build up a meter to grant you a Teadrop. These are crucial, as they allow you to upgrade Ro's skills.

More importantly, Death Howls can be used in conjunction with the game's crafting system. When combined with ingredients found around the world, you can craft new, more powerful cards.

Each enemy defeated, each Death Howl gained, presents a challenging question. Deciding what to spend your new materials on can be tricky, but as enemies respawn following resting in a Sacred Grove, there's certainly room to grind out cards.

Grinding out cards also comes with its own frustrations, however. As does the rest of the game.

The RNG has a tendency to be incredibly punishing at times. Entering a battle window guarantees nothing, as each draw of cards is completely random.

If you're trying to get a particular sequence of cards to show up, you will often find yourself on the losing end of that dice roll. Of course, that also just encourages you to improvise.

You can always abandon the battle, hoping for a better roll of the dice next time. That's hardly as satisfying, of course.

A lot of games in this genre tend to ease into the difficulty, but Death Howl has zero interest in difficulty curves. The game is hard from the jump, and doesn't get much easier as time goes on.

That's perfectly fine if you enjoy the challenge, or if that's the main appeal of the Soulslike genre, but Death Howl seems like the type of game an easily frustrated person will quit pretty quickly. That's not entirely a bad thing, but it's worth noting that Death Howl is sometimes quite punishing.

Even so, like all great Soulslike games, that frustration is worth the effort. If you approach Death Howl with the patience that it needs, you'll come away with a video game experience that is infinitely rewarding in every possible way.

Death Howl is a complex, yet easy-to-get-into deck builder that utilizes a slick, stylish mix of Soulslike gameplay systems and card-based combat. The world and story are breathtaking, with outstanding pixel art and ominous, subtle sound design. Combat feels excellent, but if RNG and dying a lot in games isn't your idea of a good time, it may not win you over in that regard.