Publisher Astrolabe Games released the visual novel adventure Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog on February 20. Developed by Space Colony Studios, the game is already racking up positive reviews on Steam, with users enjoying its nostalgic vibes. It is playable on PC, Nintendo Switch and PS4/PS5.
Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog wears its retro influences on its sleeve, with bold, eye-catching visuals that call to mind classic 80s sci-fi anime like Macross and Mobile Suit Gundam 0080. The pixel art is reminiscent of PC adventure games from the late 80s and early 90s, such as Hideo Kojima’s Snatcher. The game puts you on-board the space patrol ship Gun-Dog, sent out to investigate mysterious signals coming from the edge of Jovian Space. As the ship’s security officer, it is your job to save the ship from an unknown assailant, while dealing with the paranoia and vendettas breaking out amongst members of the motley crew.
The gameplay mimics that of a traditional point-and-click adventure game, with clickable commands like “move,” “look” and “use.” Figuring out what is going on with the ship and its inhabitants requires examining the facilities and interacting with your crew. In true, traditional adventure game-style, you may sometimes come across some new important detail by re-examining something later on, and the story has branching paths depending on your observations and choices.
Since its release, the game has garnered a lot of praise on Steam, gaining a 93% Positive Review Rating. The engaging story, strong characters and vibrant, retro-flavored visuals have all received much praise. Many enjoyed how the story managed to carve its own path and create its own distinctive flavor, whilst making various references. Most of the negative points were players wishing the experience and story had been longer, as what they played left them wanting more.
Interestingly, the developer has gone out of their way to respond to most of the 333 reviews – even those written in different languages. These suggest that the developers hope to expand on the game in the future: “We have more stories from Sol to tell that’s for sure!”
Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog is available now on PC (Steam), PS4/PS5 and Nintendo Switch.
