“A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo, and when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first.”
Let’s just say it’s a good thing there are no real predators in Herdling or your whole herd would be buggered with the speed they move at.
Herdling, the latest game from the team behind the FAR games, is part Herdy Gerdy (if you can remember that far back) and part Journey. It doesn’t reach the heights of the latter, unfortunately, but it has some interesting ideas that make it worth playing.
You start the game asleep under an underpass. Taking control of a young homeless boy, you investigate a nearby ruckus and happen upon a strange creature in need of help. Upon providing that help you’re given the opportunity to name the creature and they become the first of your soon-to-grow herd. Gather a few more throughout the city and you’ll leave the urban sprawl and head out into the meadows of the countryside, on a mission to deliver your herd to pastures new.
The creatures, called Calicorns, are interesting beasts, I’m not really sure what real-life counterpart to compare them with. I’d guess you could say they’re like hairy cows but with longer necks and large horns. You’ll meet these throughout the game, often needing to complete a small puzzle or provide them with berries to heal them before they’ll allow you to tame them, name them and claim them. You don’t control them directly, you herd them using a stick and you’ll need to ensure your positioning behind them is going to lead them forward in the right direction. It’s a bit cumbersome at first but the game does a good job of clearly communicating the direction the herd will be moving in, so you just need to focus on your own position.
Herding is essentially the main mechanic of the game, and it’s a shame that it can also be the main source of frustration. Pathfinding for your herd is generally good, but there can be moments, particularly when funnelling them down a tight path, that you lose a few members which can then throw off direction of the others. More annoyingly though, your herd moves at a glacial pace. Crossing large plains with them can be incredibly irritating when they’re moving slower than you can jog, and if you use the sprint button then you’ll leave them eating your dust within seconds.
You do have the ability to order them to stampede, which ups their speed significantly (while making steering a bit harder), but it relies on consumable charges. You only have as many of these as you have Calicorns in your herd, and you need your herd to graze on blue flowers to recharge them. You’ll find some parts of the game are full of them as you’re encouraged to stampede across fields and meadows, while others are barren and once you’ve used your stored charges you’re back to moving like a herd of arthritic cows.
As you traverse the world you’ll be met by plenty of puzzles. They’re relatively simple: move this platform so you can reach a switch, that sort of thing, but they work well and are complex enough considering you’ll be wrangling your herd to complete them. Other areas have you avoiding obstacles or traps, and again these bring your progress to a crawl as you have to manoeuvre your herd around them. It’s a frustrating process as you command them forward and then quickly shout at them to stop so you can reorient yourself before pushing forward again, and I think the game is at its worst during these sections despite them being narratively some of the most interesting.
Speaking of the narrative, it never quite landed for me. My tolerance for a story told through visual and environmental cues was quite low throughout most of the game as I’d been so wound up by the behaviour of the herd, and it’s a shame that they undermined what could potentially have been a great story.
Environmental storytelling would likely be stronger if the visuals were better too. Murals on the wall aren’t as easy to discern when the game is as blurry as it is on Nintendo Switch. I tested the game on PC too, where it looked much nicer, but unfortunately on Switch it’s a bit of a mess. Environments are blocky and grey and it takes away from the atmosphere the game is trying to create. The music is strangely absent from large chunks of the game too, with it seemingly fading into the background and becoming easy to miss. It’s only during the larger, stampede-focused sections where it really kicks in, and the swelling music combined with the herd charging as one across a field actually makes for a great experience.
Despite frustrations with the herd, Herdling is still worth trying. There are some fun, if simple, puzzles and the Calicorns themselves are charming creatures. Naming each one is a nice touch, and you can decorate them with trinkets you find throughout the world to help connect with them more. I’d recommend playing on another platform rather than Switch if you can, but if you enjoy visual story-telling and atmospheric games then pick up your shepherd’s staff and give Herdling a go.