Stories from Sol: The Gun Dog

Set during Planetary Calendar 214, four years after the loss of your crew in the Earth/Mars war, your character has been re-assigned to the patrol ship JFS Gun-Dog and sent on a mission to investigate strange signals coming from the Jovian system.

Stories from Sol is a pitch-perfect love-letter to classic visual novels that you'd find on Japanese computers like the PC-98, which reigned from 1982 to 1995. The game has three graphical modes; Doujin, which has simplified art and green-screen display, Studio which has enhanced artwork in the same green and black aesthetic, and Vivid, which is a coloured version of studio. All of them look great, especially on an OLED screen, evoking the feel of classic games of the era while taking advantage of modern widescreen technology.

The graphical options provide the game with a unique identity

Once you have your chosen style locked in, you're ready to go to war. The game starts with your experience in the war, watching helplessly from the cockpit of your mecha as your squadron are taken out one by one in an Earth-forces ambush. Once you've relived this nightmare, presented as text in the central column, time moves on to your Gun-Dog posting, where you're given access to the game's principle menu.

Options are simple as you would expect - selecting Look will allow you to highlight items/areas in the main story window, clicking on them to reveal a description or information about said object.  The Use function allows you to activate an item, such as a light switch, computer or object in the room. Move allows you to traverse areas of the ship by selecting from from a list and Talk will show you who's available for a chat. It's all nice and simple.

The music and sound effects all have that midi-chip crunchiness of the time, and while you might not want to relax to it, the music isn't too repetitive or annoying. The graphics, regardless of the style you pick, are equally authentic and of their time. This is a joy for anyone who loves pixel-art, as the game is full of great character designs, expressions and large sprites. The period details of the game's time are also evident, with the technology of the Gun-Dog being pleasingly analogue - from CRT screens to cassette tapes, it's so retro-futuristic I just want to give it a hug!

As with any visual novel, the game lives and dies on the story, happily Stories from Sol excels here. As the mysterious threat begins to invade, you'll need keen observational skills to survive - there may be hidden subtext in your conversations with the crew, misdirects or outright lies. You'll need to keep your eyes peeled for useful items or anomalies in each area, which given the limited field of view doesn't tend to be too hard most of the time. You're kept on track by characters suggesting locations to visit (or even prompted by your own character) so progress is never frustrating - you'll always have an idea about what needs to be done and how to do it, the hook is how your choices affect the story and the fate of the characters you're interacting with.

The characters are key to the appeal of the game too; the Gun-Dog isn't exactly the pride of the fleet, it's staffed by officers who aren't at the top of anyone's promotion lists, though nobody is outright incompetent either. Take your girlfriend Cassandra - kicked off her old posting for lazily changing all the passwords to a single digit in a simulation because she couldn't be bothered to sit for hours doing it properly, she used her connections to assign you to the same ship she was dumped on as she was sick of being in a long distance relationship. She reminded me of Nene from Bubble Gum Crisis, so I instantly took a liking to her. From the distant captain to the doctor with zero tact, it's a fun cast of misfits that you'll decide to work with or against to complete your mission and stay alive.

To say more about the story would ruin the game, suffice to say that the cast are distinctive, entertaining and worth getting to know thanks to some fantastic writing by the developers. There's a clear love of the genre they're paying homage to and passion in the world that they've created. It's infectious too, which makes me pleased to hear that this is just part one of an ongoing story.

A physical edition is available with an artbook and sleeve for £35, so that's what I've plumped for. This is a game I want in my collection.