Nine Sols Review: A Fur-midable Metroidvania With Purr-cise Gameplay

Summary

Nine Sols infuses East Asian influences into Metroidvania gameplay with slick parry combat and excellent platforming.
The visual style stands out with beautifully drawn sprites, though writing falls short in some areas.
Red Candle Games showcases creative range, delivering a well-made game that nails the fundamentals of the genre.

When I think of indie games, I think of all the cool, inventive, highly original titles released over the last decade - everything from rhythmic arcade games like Sayonara Wild Hearts to evocative genre mashups like Undertale. Well, I think of those, and I think of the Metroidvanias. Because holy hell, there are a lot of them. It’s getting to the point where it’s hard for a new indie Metroidvania to stand out unless it shakes things up dramatically (a la168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Animal Well). Enter Nine Sols, another Metroidvania with Souls-🌼like elements.

But don't write this Metroidvania off too hastily. It does have a little something that helps it stand out: it’s the new title coming out of Red Candle Games, the creators of the Taiwanese horror gems Devotion and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Detention - both known for their sinister ambiance and grim atmosphere. Nine Sols may tread well-trodden ground, but its 𓄧unique pedigree manages to bleed through. The end result is something fans of the genre will want to check out.

The Ch꧂inese 💛Mythology Behind Red Candle Games’ Upcoming Game, Nine Sols

Looks like a metroidvania infused with East ܫAsian influences.

Posts 168澳洲幸运5开奖网: 🐷

Nine Sols sees you take on the role of a grumpy bipedal cat named Yi🦋 who is on a quest for revenge. Why? Well, that’s part of the fun. Most of the story is pieced together through Yi’s recollec🅠tions, which are scattered throughout the game. The premise isn’t fresh, but the way it’s implemented is.

Red Candle Staying True To Their Roots

As an example, at one point, Yi stows away in a cargo container being ferried across a chasm. As he rests his eyes, the world around him begins to dissolve, reshaping itself into a memory of Yi hi🍸ding in a giant wine cask alongside his sister, before seamlessly transitioning back to the present day as he snaps back to reality. Other times, you will wander through empty voids, witnessing fractured memories broadcast on massive, floating, crystalline shards. Mixed with these artful implementations are motion comics and good old-fashioned dialog exchanges. This all makes for one of the best stories I’ve seen implemented in a 2D platformer. Well, visually, at least.

There are also 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Metal Gear Solid-esque codec-style exchanges. Given a notable scene that feels like it directly references Metal Gear Solid, odds are that this is an intentional homage of sort💮s.

While the story is woven into the game brilliantly, the dialogue falls short of that same level of excellence. For the most part, Yi is unlikable. Despite his cuddly appearance, he’s a pretty typical snarky anti-hero. There isn’t anything wrong with having an abrasive anti-hero, it just doesn’t ꧟feel like it serves much of a purpo꧋se here outside of making Yi unpleasant. If the comedic exchanges had landed more squarely, that would have been less of a problem, but the comedy felt pretty boilerplate and, at times, dated (one character is frequently mocked for their weight).

The saving grace here is Yi’s relationship with Shuanshuan, a precocious child he tওakes under his wing who brings out his nurturing side. As you get deeper into the game, Yi rounds out as a character, and the world around you becomes more defined and interesting. But it does take a while to get going. This is an e🌸xample of Nine Sols not necessarily putting its best paw forward.

Tried, Tested, And True

Gameplay-wise, Nine Sols has a variety of satisfying mechanics that feel plucked out of some of our favorite games, and they are all implemented masterfully. Yi’s Charged Strike is reminiscent of Mega Man’s Buster Cannon, and the Tai-Chi Kick lets you bಞounce off certain objects, allowing for🎀 platforming reminiscent of Duck Tales’.

And then there’s the parry, which Red Candle itself has referenced as being inspired by Sekiro’s. It is suitably responsive and satisfying to use, which is a point in its favor, as it’s central to the gameplay. Red Candle even added a unique wrinkle by including a second parry used to deflect otherwise unblockable red attacks. It’s a nice itera𒁃tion on Sekiro’s approach, and spices things up nice♛ly when it unlocks halfway through the game. These basic combat mechanics barely scratch the surface of what Nine Sols has to offer.

Nine Sols doesn’t just use these abilities as glorified keys to bypass blockades either. As they unlock, you’ll encounter many unique platforming challenges that gradual🐈ly increase in complexity as your bag of tricks grows. This all leads to the platforming sections in Nine Sols being a cut above the average Metroidvania.

The Sins Of The Father

The Souls DNA is immediately apparent in Nine Sols. Enemies telegraph their attacks in obvious ways, and you are encouraged to parry to build chi, which you can use to perform a powerful dash attack. This attack will do more damage depending on how much grey health you have (which you accumulate while blocking), encouraging you to live on the edge. And yes, you die very quickly.

While the difficulty feels fair, Nine Sols can be🍰 a touch sadistic. The game likes to ambush you, and unlike the typical FromSoftware game, these ambushes aren’t usually well-signposted. It also inherits one of the worst things about certain Souls games: the respawn points can be frustratingly far apart. In Soulsian fashion, you will unlock shortcuts, but you will also sometimes have to engage in prolonged backtracking. It’s frustrating when you’re trying to get a feel for a boss’s patterns and you have to work your way through half a stage every time you die.

That said, every main boss battle is great. They’re suitably different from each other, and all present an enjoyable challenge. While parrying attacks is a big part of these encounters, you will also be shimmying around the arena while performing acrobatic maneuvers in a bid to avoid a wide variety of attacks. It is all great fun. Unfortunately, I have to emphasize that the main bosses are great. Some of the mid-bosses live up to their name in the worst possible way. For some reason, Red Candle Games decided to make the mid-bosses massive versions of standard enemies. It&rsq🍸uo;s a strange choice that leaves many of these encounters feeling underwhelming, especially in the early game. Thankfully, they get more engaging as the game progresses. By the time you hit the midpoint, the mini-bosses become pretty entertaining.

If Looks Could Kill

Graphically, Nine Sols stands out among its peers. It has buttery smooth animations and beautifully drawn sprites. The introductory stage, set in the quaint Peach Village, starts off strong with an opulent, vibrant color scheme. Once you transition into the heart of the game, though, the backgrounds become notably less colorful. The Four Seasons (your home base) is a lush oasis that contrasts strikingly with the drab, gloomy, industrial settings, so while I don’t prefer the muted art style, it’s at least justified narratively and thematically. Eithe𒅌r way, Nine Sols is a looker, and as you progress through the game you will get to explore some less drab locals to dispatch your foes in.

Nine Sols is a well-made game with great platforming, excellent combat, and a strong visual style. While I have quibbles about some elements, it 🐎nails the fundamentals. The moment-to-moment gameplay is simply fantastic, it looks great, and weaves its cutscenes into the gameplay deftly. Red Candle Games has really shown its creative range here, as itܫs first foray into the Metroidvania genre is a triumph. There is no question that Nine Sols is entering a crowded market, but even with so much competition, I have no doubt that it will find an audience and take its place among the titans of the genre. Quality bears out.