Tails of Iron 2's Free Blood and Brine Expansion Goes Live With Indie Crossover Armor From Blasphemous, Cult of the Lamb and More

Blood and Brine, the first major expansion for the hand-drawn rat adventure Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter, is out today as a free update on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. Developer Odd Bug Studio and publisher HandyGames announced the release simultaneously on the PlayStation Blog and Xbox Wire, and the expansion is already live on storefronts.

The expansion picks up after the end of Arlo's main campaign and sends the battered rat hero south to Hardshell Brook, a coastal region where two shipwrecked sailors are trying to rebuild an aquarium and earn enough money to repair their vessel. Arlo's job is to do the fishing, with a new aquatic collection system that lets him hunt down 32 sea creatures across multiple fishing spots. The quieter pacing of the new region is balanced by 11 new quests, 10 new boss fights, nine new armor sets, fresh music, and ship arena battles that take combat out onto the open water.

The crossover armor sets are the most eye-catching addition. Odd Bug Studio worked with the teams behind Blasphemous, Cult of the Lamb, Dave the Diver, Death's Door, Moonlighter and Beyond Galaxyland to bring recognizable character designs into the Ratdom, with the studio's artists redrawing each set so it fits the world. The Penitent One, The Lamb, Dave, The Crow, Will and Boom Boom are all reimagined as armor for Arlo, as confirmed in the PlayStation Blog post by Odd Bug Studio CEO Jack Bennett and in independent coverage from The Xbox Hub.

To celebrate the launch, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is also 60 percent off on the PlayStation Store through August 26 as part of Sony's Ready, Set, Play promotion, with matching discounts being run on other storefronts.

Blood and Brine requires players to have finished the main campaign before they can set sail, so anyone who has not yet completed Arlo's original journey has an extra reason to pick up the controller before diving into Hardshell Brook. The full announcement is available on the PlayStation Blog and on Xbox Wire.