Herdling Review (Switch eShop)

The last time I tried shepherding an unruly beast, I wasn’t exactly a fan. It was midnight, I was exhausted, and my dog simply refused to come back inside. Typical. Thankfully, Herdling offers a much cosier alternative, replacing a stubborn pup with fantastical beasties that actually listen to me.

Developed by Okomotive, the studio behind the wonderful FAR series, Herdling carries the same blend of quiet melancholy and atmosphere as the studio’s other games. Though fleeting in length, Herdling is a breath of fresh air - a journey sure to stick with you, even if its core gameplay feels a tad clunky.

The game begins beneath a quiet city overpass at dawn, as your silent protagonist shakes off a rough night in their makeshift shelter. Leaves swirl in the wind as car alarms echo and flickering streetlights guide you toward a meet-cute with your first calicorn - a lovable, smooth-brained lump of horn and fur, like an oversized ram. As the sun rises over distant mountains, your new life as a shepherd begins. Armed with nothing more than a leafy stick and some seriously impressive cardiovascular fitness, your goal is clear: guide a growing herd of beasts toward a better life. Oh, and yes, of course you can pet the calicorns.

The plot takes a comfortable backseat. Without a single line of dialogue, Herdling clearly wants you to feel its story - a choice I appreciate. Games like Jusant and Journey have perfected this approach, telling deeply emotional stories through world and atmosphere, and Herdling follows suit.

The lack of dialogue allows for composer Joel Schoch’s wondrous melodies to do all the talking. Out the gate, Herdling’s soundtrack solidified itself as the primary plucker of my heart strings. An ensemble of cheeky flourishes, soothing ambience, and powerful compositions match the tone and pace of each storybeat. Crashing percussion and soaring woodwinds turn a rush through open fields into something truly epic; gentle keys, on the other hand, speak to the fear of a lonely calicorn. It’s all beautiful.

Your journey is broken into cosy chapters where you clean, feed, and decorate your herd, leading them through foggy forests, abandoned trainyards, and treacherous mountain passes. Call of the wild stuff, really. Along the way, you’ll stop at campsites where you tend to a warm fire, curl up with your herd to rest, and ponder the shepherd’s cryptic dreams. It’s clear Okomotive wants you to bond with your beasts, asking you to name each calicorn you rescue which builds a bond between you (the player) and your herd. And y’know, nothing stings quite like watching the newly christened “Jim” stumble off a cliff. Poor, lemming-like Jim.

Gameplay is fairly straightforward, relying on light environmental puzzles and manageable challenges. It’s mostly an easy ride: the odd spike trap, a tricky crevice or two but it’s otherwise a steady trot to the top for your fluffy convoy. Early on, I chuckled when the herding control scheme was disguised as a driver’s ed course: cones, cars, and cardboard boxes - a cute way to introduce Herdling’s quirky control scheme.

The game does throw in a few environmental variations to spice things up - bushes that slow you down, slippery slopes, and gusty winds. On the flip side, clusters of colourful flowers boost your herd’s abilities. Blue blooms refill the stampede meter, yellow ones pop up for the odd environmental puzzle, and red… Well, I’ll be honest, I never really figured out their purpose beyond looking cool when you plough through them. I’ll admit, as much as I’m a fan of these silent, music-driven games, I would’ve liked an odd huff or grunt each time I burned through a stampede boost.

Now, controlling your herd is intuitive in theory, but in practice? Less so. To guide your pack forward, you stand behind them and hold ZR, nudging left or right like a sheepdog flanking its herd: step to their left, they swing right; step to their right, they swing left. In addition you can tap buttons to slow, stop, and even stampede. However, when a single calicorn is twice your size and moves like a forklift, keeping track of your cursor – or predicting the chaos – becomes a challenge. No surprise then that my fluffy wrecking ball bulldozed that driver’s ed setup first go.

While I eventually felt like a herd lord, the janky herding mechanics began to wear thin fairly quickly. Early puzzles are basic and hazards never evolve much. Occasionally, you’ll break off from the herd to pull a lever, open a gate, or hop across a chasm or two, but that’s about as deep as it goes.

Despite the calicorns’ big, red harrowing eyes, they don’t feel especially alive. They’re tagged with personality types such as brave, affectionate, even ‘rascal’, but these don’t seem to impact how they behave. They mostly just fall in line. Shame, really, because as your herd grows and the game introduces its horrid, gangly bird-like baddies, you get a real sense of what Okomotive is aiming for.

At one point, I even purposely guided one of my troops (of course, it was Jim again) into a spike trap. For science, of course. Sure enough, they took damage, which obviously made me feel bad (I’m not a monster), but a quick snack from some nearby shrubbery patched up the unlucky test subject. Still, it’s clear challenge isn’t the point here. Like the FAR games, Herdling is about the mood - the phenomenal soundtrack, the thoughtful world, and the lovable cast of furry characters.

That said, performance on the Switch 1 is disappointing. It’s playable, sure, but frame rate drops and muddy textures really detract from the experience - especially in a game that thrives on immersion. There’s also a camera bug near the start of the game which can be frustrating. Fortunately, the Switch 2 handles Herdling better with a smoother framerate, but textures and lighting still look a bit flat.