PC-88 by no means died on this retro-future.
The primary time I noticed the trailer for House Colony Studios’ Tales from Sol: The Gun-Canine I felt micro-targeted.
Styled to match the journey video games of NEC’s venerable PC-8800 collection of Japanese private computer systems, I used to be pulled again to being a child on-line within the late Nineteen Nineties, transfixed by beautiful pixel artwork from video games I now know to be Valis, Ys, and Snatcher, splashed with textual content I couldn’t learn and on methods I’d by no means heard of.
Likewise, I may see homages to anime collection I had simply began to fall in love with in that very same timeframe, most mainly amongst them Gundam but in addition different house operas like Macross. After finishing the roughly six hour story, I really feel largely the identical manner – individuals like me are squarely this sport’s goal, however I do have a pair reservations.
Tales from Sol: The Gun-Canine is an journey sport/visible novel, patterned on the style because it existed in 80s and 90s Japanese consoles and residential computer systems. A central “view” exhibits characters or settings, often accompanied by some animation. The view is framed by a textual content field on the backside and menu choices on the left-hand facet. Individuals who performed video games like Nintendo’s Famicom Detective Membership video games will really feel at house right here.
The menu enables you to: “Transfer” to a related room, “Look” at or “Use” the gadgets within the room, “Speak” to individuals current, or use an “Merchandise” from the stock. Gun-Canine avoids the hunt-and-peck unfriendliness that’s typically a difficulty on this style by letting you press Left and Proper on the D-Pad to iterate by each interactable merchandise within the room. It additionally actively prompts merchandise use solely when interacting with one thing that wants an merchandise. It’s mainly unattainable to get caught. Most rooms have not more than 4 gadgets, so it isn’t an enormous deal to attempt utilizing all of them. Likewise, your character’s data-pad at all times lists what the present targets are and allows you to quick journey to wherever on the ship.
At instances, the sport asks you to choose. An instance could be what crew member you resolve to associate with to confront a problem, or the way you react to a fellow crew member’s provocations. A few of these are timed, however there’s at all times sufficient time to grasp what’s being requested and briefly take into account it.
It will be comprehensible if some gamers discover this type of gameplay restrictive, nevertheless it works nicely at letting the story unfold whereas nonetheless giving the participant some company. Selections do create branches within the plot, although they in the end all resolve on the similar place. As an off-the-cuff fan of those sorts of video games, I discovered the execution to incorporate simply sufficient creature comforts to keep up the vibe of an previous sport however with out the frustrations which might be often included.
For an journey sport or visible novel, the standard comes all the way down to the plot. Tales from Sol: The Gun-Canine places you within the footwear of a former mech pilot-turned safety officer who finds themselves abruptly reassigned to the Swift class JFS Gun-Canine, a small assist ship stationed past Jupiter as a part of the Jovian Colony Fleet. The Gun-Canine’s tiny crew is made up of rejects posted to this backwater project on a seemingly unimportant vessel. Tasked with aiding the investigation into some unusual alerts, issues shortly degrade as a consequence of a mixture of this crew’s eccentricities and the thriller the Gun-Canine was despatched to unravel.
The story has a number of moments of excessive stress, that every crest waves of rising and falling motion. At instances, issues can really feel languid – as you’d anticipate on an earthly project on a spaceship, and at others tense and even annoying, even approaching some horror parts. Having a number of cycles of conflict-denouement gave the plot an episodic really feel. It makes it potential to play for a brief interval and really feel such as you received a whole story arc.
Nonetheless, this sport is supposed to function a part of an anthology, and is clearly establishing a bigger narrative. The decision, probably as a tease for what’s subsequent, feels a bit hole.
With out entering into spoilers, a thriller is about up within the back-half of the sport and goes largely unresolved. This isn’t a foul factor, and the actual fact I care speaks nicely of the plot, however it will be good to know when that decision is coming. There are enjoyable concepts right here, and plenty of methods to doubtlessly go from this level, nevertheless it does imply the ending feels prefer it lacks a bit payoff.
The forged of oddities on-board JFS Gun-Canine creates an identical mixture of emotions. Broadly, all of them match into archetypes widespread within the house opera anime style. Having such a slim forged may also help in giving every of them extra substance, however lots of them – together with among the chief instigators – really feel a bit one dimensional. It’s not true for each member of the crew. Cassandra, the ship’s quantity two, is each immature and irresponsible whereas additionally being genuinely humorous and likeable. It’s not that the forged doesn’t work, they’re high quality and their visible design is great, I might have simply appreciated a bit extra time to get to know them in the beginning hit the fan.
Have a look at the trailer; this sport is a trendy magnificence. Like I mentioned, the character design is great, everybody’s look conveys precisely who they’re. The background artwork nails the PC-88 period, however leverages expertise unimaginable to artists of that point. It’s immediately paying homage to these titles – however with extra readability and element than these methods may ever hope to supply. However, for purists, there are three “modes,” together with a inexperienced display model, in case you want a bit extra grime in your retro sport. The handful of animated sequences successfully leverage restricted movement to match the period however nonetheless have impression. It received’t enchantment to everybody, however to me the sport simply appears to be like chic.
On seeing the primary trailer for Tales from Sol: The Gun-Canine, I used to be immediately captivated. It has fashion, and hit all the suitable spots in my mind. After enjoying it, I’m pleased with the ultimate product.
House Colony Studios did a high quality job with their first effort within the Tales from Sol collection. It positively isn’t going to enchantment to everybody – gamers who haven’t loved journey video games received’t probably be received over right here, however in case you’re like me and felt some actual nostalgia trying on the sport’s screenshots and trailer, I’m fairly certain you’ll have time. Now I suppose I’ll have to attend for the following entry within the collection.
