Review: Them’s Fightin’ Herds Has the Makings of a Masterpiece

I want you to do me a favor: look at my byline. Look at my last name. If anyone was qualified to write a review on Them’s Fightin’ Herds by Mane6 and Modus Games, it’s me. Them’s Fightin’ Herds is a twist on the classic 2D-fighter, with seven unique and intricately designed quadruped characters to choose from.

To add the cherry on top, the game features an episodic story mode that resembles pixel RPGs of old. But, the random, turn-based encounters you’d expect from games like Final Fantasy have been replaced with 2D, side-scrolling battles a la Street Fighter. However, it’s difficult to judge Them’s Fightin’ Herds based on its — currently unfinished — story, but what’s here? What’s here has the makings of a masterpiece.

Review Takeaways

• It has a unique, crisp visual aesthetic that’ll keep players engaged.
• There’s a cast of interesting, expressive, quadruped characters that will be expanded later.
• It’s not quite finished, as it’s opted for a staggered, episodic release.
• There are moments where the in-game tutorials could be a little refined, lest players get stuck.
• Final Score: 8/10

Four Legs of Fighting Fun

Upon booting up Them’s Fightin’ Herds, you’ll immediately notice that this is not your average fighting game. For starters, each of the characters are quadrupeds. In fact, it might help to first illustrate how, before it was called Them’s Fightin’ Herds, it was My Little Pony: Fighting is Magic. But, thanks to a cease and desist from Hasbro, they had no choice but to rebrand. So, while fans of the hit animated series won’t be able to play as their favorite characters, they will still find a lot to love about these new characters.

I started up Them’s Fightin’ Herds and almost immediately tried its practice mode, which allows you to play as any of the seven available characters. I couldn’t play online multiplayer because I have yet to summon the will to subscribe to PlayStation Plus, so I settled with practice mode. But, as you could predict, I wasn’t there for long, as there’s only so much you can do against a CPU that auto-regenerates.

It was then that I started the story mode, which puts you in the ‘shoes’ of Arizona, a small cow who lives with their parents, Texas and Minnesota. In this world, which is seemingly without predators of any kind, herbivores live in abject peace. But, the mysterious reappearance of predators has shaken this world to its core, and as per an ancient prophecy, one champion — or, champ’een — is fated to find a mystical key and drive the predators back, once and for all. Arizona is the chosen champion of the prairie, and they’ll have to go up against the champions from the other regions of their world if they hope to claim the key.

A Tail As Old As Time

I won’t sit here and tell you that Them’s Fightin’ Herds does anything new with its story, but despite that, I had a fun time with it. As mentioned above, you’re placed in an overworld where you can interact with the varied cast, including the citizens of a winter-themed village and the alpacas of the mountains. In select areas, you’ll run into wolves, leopards, snakes, and other predators, at which point the game will forego the traditional turn-based random encounters for 2D, side-scrolling battles. There are times where you’re able to strategically avoid battles if you so choose. Though you’ll miss out on collectibles if you do.

In speaking of the battles, I adore how sleek and fluid they can be. I am also incredibly impressed by how friendly the combos are to non-fighting game aficionados. Don’t get me wrong, I still button-mashed, but it felt different than button-mashing in other fighting games. It felt like things were actually happening as I mashed buttons. And strangely enough, I felt encouraged to learn how to use specials as a result.

I will admit — there was one moment in particular that had me convinced that the game was broken. As I made it to the third section of this first chapter, which pits you against a bird flying just out of reach, there didn’t seem to be any way to jump up, nor to defeat the bird. If by some chance you did defeat the bird, it would just lie there motionless; it wouldn’t disappear, and despite my best efforts, I couldn’t proceed.

But, it was then that I reached out to my contact for the game, who then reached out to the developers, who informed me that nothing was broken. In fact, you could jump high enough, it was just not explained very well in-game. I hope that is corrected soon, even if it makes this anecdote a moot point.

A Stag-gered Release

I mentioned this earlier, but as of writing, there is only one chapter available. In this chapter, you play as Arizona as they depart the prairie and eventually find themselves deep in the mountains. It would seem that each chapter will let you play as other fighters in the cast. Based on the chapter select menu, the next one looks to be from the perspective of Velvet, the overconfident heiress.

I am unsure how I feel about this episodic release. On one hand, this first chapter had just enough story to keep me interested without overstaying its welcome. But, on the other, it’s currently unclear when Mane6 and Modus Games intends on releasing these future updates. I think it’s a rather unorthodox decision to stagger these releases. But as long as we’re not waiting for months (or years) for each chapter, that could be acceptable. It also seems like they’ll be upping the total number of characters, as well. According to Modus Games, we’ll soon be able to play as Arizona’s stubborn father, Texas!

The Makings of a Masterpiece

I adore Them’s Fightin’ Herds overarching aesthetic. It’s clear the developers put a lot of love into the character designs, and that alone makes me want more. I found more than one reference to obscure pop culture that was deserving of screenshots. That, in my opinion, is just neat. I am extremely excited to see more of what Mane6 has in store for the future of Them’s Fightin’ Herds.

Related: All New Super Moves & Characters in Them’s Fightin’ Herds

It might not be fully completed as of writing, but if the rest of the game is anything like what we have so far … we’re in for a wild ride.

Them’s Fightin’ Herds is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.