Writing this review after finishing the game, my thoughts are all over the place, but bear with me: BLACKTAIL is a game I would absolutely recommend to certain people who I know would have the taste to rightly appreciate it: the game does not shine in the traditional way other games do and while its gameplay is good, it is neither very innovative or amazingly realized.
It's a game with plenty of ideas but either not enough time and/or budget to fully explore them all, be it the somewhat unimpactful morality system, the traversal mechnics where given some appreciable thought but could have been so much more and the combat which is unfortunately a bit repetitive and offer little room for player expression.
From a pure writing standpoint, the story is there and could even qualify as serviceable but it will not take your breath away.

No, where BLACKTAIL stands out is not in what it does, but how it does it. From the first seconds to the very end, it exudes a charm, vibes that can only be found in games crafted with love and passion.
As you boot the game for the first time, the main theme welcomes you with traditional slavic white-voice singing. I personally adore this genre of music and I thought the vocal range and timbre sounded close to one of my favorite performing ensemble in the genre, the Zazula Vocal Group, only to find out later that they actually performed for the game. It was such a delightful surprise, and a proof of great taste!
The good casting choices did not stop there either: the voice acting was absolutely on point and well acted-out throughout the game, especially for the two characters with the most lines: Yaga and Voice (the latter who is voiced by the unmistakeable Avalon Penrose (Megaera from Hades) and her sultry voice fry)

To finish talking about the game's audio, it has a pretty good OST with certain tracks making the daring but successful bet to mix white-voice singing and more modern or non-traditional instruments (synth, piano) into wonderful pieces. "Raven's Calling" has to be my favorite one, and as one of the game's leitmotif, it breathes emotion into the game.

But beyond the soundscape? Well, visually BLACKTAIL takes place in a colorful, vibrant fantasy world resembling one of a storybook with the sky being hand drawn above the land, an aesthetic that brings to mind the famed tales of the Grimm brothers, or a softer, much gentler version of American McGee's Alice's dream-like world design. Each zone of the map is themed after a season of the year and as a whole it is teeming with charming details, captivating yet bizarre landscapes and all manners of nooks and crannies.

As for the story, it feels purposefully vague and unclear, leaving quite a bit to interpretation but it is oddly touching in spite of all that, the emotional moments being beautifully delivered by the top-notch voice acting and music.
Narratively, little occurs during the game per se as it is mostly based around reminiscing the protagonist's past to reconstruct the story's happenings but the more personal, more relatable and believable stakes make it easier to stay engaged to the end.

To summarize, I think one goes looking at BLACKTAIL under the typical lens of "is it fun to play?" is doing both themselves and the game a disservice. BLACKTAIL is not boring, but it's clearly not focused on being fun in the traditional gameplay sense.
If you are the type of person who wants to have fun shooting enemies with a bow, which is absolutely fine, you will find the game to be lackluster.
However, if you enjoy games that are beautiful, touching, that have a soul, games that don't necesarily make sense to your brain but make sense to your heart, then BLACKTAIL is absolutely, undeniably a game for you.

So I was gonna hold off on making a review until I finished the game, but after dealing with what I believe was the first real boss in the game, I just didn't really have much strive to continue playing.
What originally drew me to the game was an FPS game where your main weapon is a bow and an arrow. I think that is a rad concept. But I felt like this game didn't hit the beats that I personally was looking for.
The resource system for creating arrows and such, while a good way to balance things, just felt very clunky. It slowed the pace down on content, and I sometimes feel like it was made to extend boss fights or to make up for really simple boss fights that don't have a lot of substance.
I think the biggest thing that was confusing to me was the morality system. At the first boss fight you are given 2 choices for morality, but it was confusing on which option was the good or bad option. I accidentally chose the bad option as i was trying to go for more of a good playthrough.
I kind of got lost with where the story was going, but I did think the overall setting was unique and interesting enough, kind of like an alice in wonderland vibes.
I don't think this was a game for me, and I don't think i'd be in a position to recommend or not recommend the game. I hope this review helps in your decision if you plan to purchase this game.

7.5/10. A bit samey after a while, but there is a ton of quality content for a game that shoehorns you into being an archer. The lore is awesome and there are a decent number of different approaches to most problems.