Tails of Fate PAX East Preview

PAX East had a lot of interesting-looking games, but one that really caught my attention was Tails of Fate, mostly thanks to its interesting pixel art. This Metroidvania has a lot of intriguing ideas behind it that I got a chance to see in the trailer and discuss with the developers. Metroidvania games have been really popular lately, with games like MIO: Memories in Orbit making a sizable impact in 2026 after Silksong took over 2025.

Tails of Fate seeks to do the same thing, and with its art style and animations, I have no doubt they'll make something that grabs people. I got to play a bit of this at PAX East and chat with the developers about some upcoming features for the game. It gave me a lot of hope for the game's future and really got me excited about its potential.

It only took about 15 minutes to play through the demo, but I ended up chatting with the devs multiple times whenever I passed by their booth because I just wanted to know so much more about it. I'll cover what I played and enjoyed, then discuss some of the little bits the devs gave me in this preview.

What is Tails of Fate?

This one is fairly easy to answer, as for the most part, it's a standard Metroidvania game. You'll move through areas, conquering bosses and unlocking new gear and abilities to take on even greater challenges. With lots of gear to collect and skills to unlock, you can build your character however you like, but Tails of Fate comes with a twist: you have three playable characters.

You'd imagine it's a sort of choose your character/class vibe, but according to the devs, you'll be able to swap at any point during the game. This makes for some interesting game design choices, especially considering exploration and boss fights. While I couldn't get much out of them, the devs assured me the feature was well-used in their game.

During the demo, I got a chance to play as Varken, a pig warrior wielding a large greatsword. He's a pretty standard warrior for these kinds of games. He's got a three-hit combo that can keep him airborne and can deflect projectiles, which is super helpful a lot of the time. It wouldn't be a Metroidvania if he didn't get an unlocked ability, and that ability allows him to charge, which can be used for both traversal and damage.

Beyond that, I can't comment much on things I didn't play myself, but the game will work a little differently than traditionally. Instead of having you move back through each area, there's an Overworld map you can use to quickly get back to an area you visited previously. This seems pretty great since it will cut down on travel time, but it's also entirely optional to use, so players can play how they like.

Making Things Look Just Right

Again, I can't really overstate how much I liked seeing the artwork and watching it in motion. It was cute, and while everything fit cohesively together, I still liked how they got certain colors to pop. What constantly grabbed my attention was seeing the animations in action. They were all smooth and purposeful without feeling like they might be over the top.

One animation sequence really stuck out. When you're getting your upgrade to be able to dash, you'll go through a little training montage, very Kung Fu Panda-style, mostly thanks to Varken being a pig. He does everything the old guy makes him do, jumping jacks where his stomach jiggles, and push-ups with the old guy on a boulder on him.

It isn't some crazy new idea, but I thought it was well executed and pretty funny in a genre that's typically more downtrodden than lighthearted. That could change later on in the story, but I'm always happy when a game can mix in some fun, unexpected comedy bits despite the overall seriousness of a situation.

It's clear they found their style early on and evolved it from there. Just watching the trailer was pretty enjoyable as it moved through various colorful environments and utilized some later-game moves that I hadn't seen yet. All in all, the artwork, animations, and game design really left me wanting more.

What's to Come for Tails of Fate

At some point in the near future, there's going to be a demo that should incorporate all of our animal heroes and give players a chance to test out some of the more interesting features that weren't available during PAX. Beyond that, the game hasn't announced a release date yet, but according to the devs I spoke to right now, it's mostly ironing out the leftover issues.

One issue that I laughed a bit at with the devs was Varken's jump attack. Apparently, if you're on the way down and approaching the ground, Varken is supposed to slice downward, sending out a projectile. They couldn't get it working fully, but they did find a neat solution. Varken would only do this attack if you were a few inches from the ground, so it became a game of timing, which added some difficulty.

This game really stood out to me because of the visuals and the idea behind playing with multiple characters at the same time rather than simply choosing one. It means more work in a lot of cases, but the devs seemed happy to do that work if it led to a better game overall. There's a lot of love behind the game, and you can see it in almost every aspect.

I'm excited to see more of this game in the future, and I couldn't be happier that I got an opportunity to play it. It's already been backed fully on Kickstarter, and it's pretty obvious exactly why that is. No matter where Tails of Fate ends up, it'll be a great game with some fun and intriguing gameplay that brings some new ideas to the world of Metroidvanias.