Nine Sols, a game for Parry and Furry lovers ⭐9.0

Red Candle Games' new title 'Nine Sols' has been attracting attention since its announcement. As the new game from the developer who previously created horror games such as Detention and Devotion, the crowdfunding campaign garnered much interest and support from fans. After its initial reveal in 2022, development progressed smoothly, leading to its official release on Steam on May 29th.

'Nine Sols' is a Metroidvania-style 2D action game, and the developers have stated that they were inspired by various works in the same genre, such as 'Sekiro', 'Hollow Knight', and 'Katana ZERO'. It features unique and smooth hand-drawn visuals and control-oriented combat, delivering intense action-focused gameplay that was not seen in their previous titles.

There were doubts and concerns about whether a developer that had mainly created works with little action could properly create a combat-focused action game. However, it didn't take long to realize that all the previous thoughts were unfounded after playing the game. 'Nine Sols' is a clear alternative that will quench the thirst of many 2D action genre fans who are still eagerly awaiting the release date of Silksong, or perhaps even a powerful new title that surpasses it.

게임명: Nine Sols
장르명: 2D 플랫포머 액션
출시일: 2024.05.29
리뷰판: 출시 빌드

개발사: 레드 캔들 게임즈
서비스: 레드 캔들 게임즈
플랫폼: PC
플레이: PC

전작들과는 완전히 달라진 작품의 방향성, '고난도 2D 액션'에 집중

Unlike my usual reviews where I introduce the good aspects of a game first, this time I'll start by discussing the things I thought could be drawbacks while enjoying 'Nine Sols'. When you start Nine Sols, the only options available to the player are 'Normal' and 'Story'. You can see this as a configuration where you choose Normal to fully enjoy the combat and exploration intended by the developer, or Story if you want to focus on the story more than the action.

All combat in Nine Sols is based on 'parrying', and if you can't get the hang of the parrying action, which involves watching the enemy's motions and timing your blocks, it can feel difficult to progress through the game even in Story mode. Especially for fans who have come to love Red Candle Games through their previous works 'Detention' and 'Devotion', those who are not familiar with action games may find the lack of an easier difficulty option somewhat disappointing.

What is clear is that Nine Sols is a game that falls into the same category as many difficult action games commonly referred to as 'Soulslike'. In addition to the powerful bosses that you must face in the process of progressing through the story, there are also fearsome enemies that can kill your character with just a few basic attacks on the way to the boss. Before following the phrase that this is the latest work from Red Candle Games, it is necessary to clearly recognize that this is a difficult action game inspired by 'Sekiro' before playing.

▲ 장르 특성상, 정말 빠른 템포의 패링+회피 액션이 반복적으로 요구된다

The second disappointing aspect is the awkward localization and scattered script errors, which can only be seen as incomplete. As expected of a new title from Red Candle Games, which has always been praised for its game scenarios, 'Nine Sols' unfolds a profound story that alternates between the protagonist's hidden past and present. At this time, the constantly noticeable translation errors are hindering the immersion in the story.

For example, a character who always spoke informally to the protagonist suddenly uses honorifics with awkward grammar, or a younger sister character who always called him '오라버니' suddenly uses the title '형', the script of the dialogue is displayed as blank, and sometimes English descriptions are printed as is instead of Korean. The developer is also aware that these errors are frequently exposed, and has been patching four times since the release to fix small and large problems, including script errors, but most of the problems that appeared in the Korean build remain as of about a week after the release.

If you are a gamer who started the game in Story mode, giving up some of the fun of action in order to immerse yourself in the story, the degree of disappointment you will feel when you encounter these errors is expected to be even greater. Therefore, for those who want to play Nine Sols to enjoy the story following Detention or Devotion, I would like to advise them to wait a little longer for the developer's patches to unfold.

Other than that, the fact that the '신유' function, which quickly moves to other warp points, can only be used at the base, the Four Seasons Node, and that the screen switches every time you enter a small building or room, causing a loading time of about 3-4 seconds, felt somewhat cumbersome, but not to the extent that it affected the overall playing experience.

▲ 스토리에 몰입하고 있을 때 발생하는 오류들이 몰입감을 헤치는데, 이런 상황이 꽤 빈번하다

A Great Choice for Soulslike, Metroidvania, and 'Furry' Genre Fans

The reason I listed the disappointing aspects of Nine Sols in the previous paragraph is because I had a satisfying experience in all other aspects except for the few elements mentioned earlier. At the current time, there may be some obstacles to delving deeply into the game's story, but it can be said that it is a game with a charm that gamers who are focused on 'action' will inevitably fall into without even realizing it.

Nine Sols is a game with a definite 'fun of control'. In addition to 'parrying', which is the basis of combat, there are various operations such as normal attacks and charge attacks, amulets that deal powerful damage by targeting the enemy's weaknesses, jumping and dodging that ignore damage by creating distance from the enemy, and bows that intercept enemies from a distance, and these are all assigned to different buttons. In boss battles that use complex gimmicks in succession, all of these operations must be used appropriately for the situation, and since there is no invincibility time after being knocked down, even a slight delay in reaction can lead to being hit by the enemy's attacks in succession, and all the health that was full will disappear in an instant.

You have to carefully watch the motions of the enemy character and use more than three operations instantaneously in response to the ever-changing situation, and the rewards for risk are clear, such as being able to attack the enemy without losing any health if you react successfully. Because the sense of accomplishment at this time is certain, I was able to continue playing the game without losing interest even in the dozens of retries in difficult sections.

▲ 초보자들을 가로 막는 첫 번째 통곡의 벽 '절전', 무한반격 활용법을 숙지하면 쉽게 공략할 수 있다

In order to clear the story, you must go through a total of about 9 scenario boss battles, excluding the regional boss battles in each area, and at this time, there will be a hurdle that you will never be able to overcome no matter how hard you try. In general, the only way is to familiarize yourself with all the boss's gimmicks one by one and learn the clear timing, but Nine Sols has prepared several breakthroughs to overcome this difficulty. You can level up by catching enemies in the field, or strengthen your equipment by collecting falling gold.

Of course, even if you level up, the attack power or health stats do not change, but just by using the skill points acquired at this time to equip one more skill, the aspect of the battle can change greatly. At the same time, various spec enhancement methods are provided, such as '옥석' that players can combine and equip to their liking, equipment upgrades that increase health recovery stats and ranged attack counts, and procuring poison that increases maximum HP, so even those who found the general roguelike genre too difficult can have room to challenge it relatively easily.

The Metroidvania element of exploring the densely constructed wide world map by utilizing the additional abilities that are unlocked one by one according to the game's progress is also one of the charm points that cannot be missed in Nine Sols' gameplay. There are many sections that cannot be moved in the early stages, but in the later stages, you will be impressed by the way several areas are organically connected after having several movement skills and special moves. After acquiring map information, you can also check the number of items remaining in each area directly through the world map, so you can thoroughly enjoy all the areas prepared in the game even in the first playthrough.

One thing I want to ask is that during the first playthrough, just follow the story one by one, and postpone the 'World Map 100% Achievement' until the later part of the story. It doesn't matter if you haven't made any other sub-stories at all until just before entering the last story, and after unlocking all of '신유', which allows you to quickly move to a node you've visited, and '종운보', which is a double jump, it's easier to look around the map because you don't have to worry about getting lost because the road is blocked.

▲ 맵에는 다양한 퍼즐이 존재하고, 이것들을 하나씩 찾아 해결하는 탐험의 재미가 가득하다

I said earlier that it is difficult to immerse yourself in the story due to several script errors, but basically, Nine Sols shows a particularly outstanding appearance in story development and directing. In the process of developing the story, it uses directing that utilizes comic book cut divisions or shows animations, and at the same time, it utilizes beautiful map visuals and cutscene directing like a landscape painting to allow you to enjoy the story without getting bored.

Except for a few dialogue script errors that are output along with the standing illustrations, the story and directing are actually close to being one of the advantages of Nine Sols. Various horror directing that seems to have made full use of the power of the horror game developer is also one of the viewing points that cannot be missed.

What I was most satisfied with while playing the game was the rich volume of the first playthrough. In Nine Sols, just exploring every corner of the map, finding hidden elements, and following the story guarantees a basic play volume of about 20 hours or more. There are two endings that vary depending on the collection of collectibles, the achievement of content, and the choices, and it is also fun to compare how the story changes with each ending. If you add up all the time you spend repeating dozens of times to attack bosses or strong enemies, the total playtime for the first playthrough in normal mode is approximately 30 hours.

While the claim of a game industry official that a game title should be priced at more than '90,000 won' in order for a AAA-class game with sufficient play volume and quality to be produced and distributed is attracting attention, the fact that a well-made action game with a play volume of more than 30 hours is sold at a regular price of 30,000 won is surprising and welcome to gamers at the same time. In this way, Nine Sols has become a game that is packed with action, volume, and attractive characters and visuals that 'furry' genre enthusiasts will like.

After playing Nine Sols, I became even more curious about how far the power of the Taiwanese indie game developer Red Candle Games would go. It is by no means easy for an indie developer to challenge a new genre that is different from what they have been making so far, but they have shown a result with a higher level of perfection than expected. If they were to make a rhythm game or an RPG with a different character from what they have made so far as their next title, I would have faith that I could wait with anticipation.

Some may criticize it as merely following the excellent precedents that are already on the market, but I think it was a worthwhile challenge just to create a new worldview that could not be seen in other existing games by mixing Taoist beliefs and cyberpunk colors. Nine Sols is not just a challenge, but also a work with artistry that can properly target the tastes of fans who like 'Soulslike action' and 'Metroidvania' genre games, so if you are a gamer who prefers fast action that you can feel the fun of controlling, I hope you will play it yourself.