When retro-inspired visual novels like Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog pop up on my radar, I jump at the chance to play them. These games remind me of my childhood when the outside world never felt “safe.” Like many others in the same position, I found my place in other worlds created in books and video games. Put those together with the ’80s to ’90s timeframe and bam, I’m in nostalgia overload. Visual novels are also great because they generally don’t require quick movements (which I am increasingly struggling with). Generally, Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog meets or exceeds my expectations from this category of game, but there are some flaws that are hopefully fixed in the future so the game can really shine.
Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog is the first in what will become an anthology series. The story could be straight out of some form of ’80s sci-fi media, be it games, books, or films. When it begins, you’re asked for your first name (which I gave) and last name (which I took from a username). And that is the story of how I became Lieutenant Lindsay Sparkles! I chuckle whenever someone addresses me as Lieutenant Sparkles because it’s ridiculous. But back to the story. Four years have passed since the end of the Solar War when you’re assigned to the JFS Gun-Dog as its security officer. The instant you step aboard, the Jovian patrol ship sets off to aid a ship transmitting strange signals from the edge of Jovian space. But what should be routine turns into the opposite as the Gun-Dog’s crew battle for their lives against an unknown threat.
Everyone on the ship seems to be a squeaky wheel in one way or another. For example, the Lieutenant Commander (Cassandra, or Cassie) sees rules as rough guidelines and often breaks them, but it is never bad enough to be discharged. Said Lieutenant Commander is also your girlfriend. She broke the rules to bring you aboard the ship’s crew to be with her. How sweet!? Basically, the ship is full of misfits who have been placed there because it’s where they can do the least harm.
Your experiences in the war have left you traumatised, a misfit in your own right. As the pilot of an Armoured Frame (giant mechanised human-shaped weapons of war requiring only one pilot), a mechanical failure held you back at the ship while your fellow pilots deployed for what was supposed to be an easy mission, you were stuck listening to several of them die in battle. Only one returned, scarred in his own way; he’s also been placed aboard the Gun-Dog. And he blames you for the past incident. But then again, so do you. The narrative leans on this background: your character grapples with guilt and fear, and you work through those while trying to think logically as a security officer.
The relationships in Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog are complicated due to many strong personalities in one space. From a bitter liar to a scientist working on his own thing rather than his job, there is a right and wrong way to navigate each conversation depending on their personality. I’ve learned that being yelled at in visual novel form can cause a surprising amount of anxiety! I’m erratic with my words/choices in real life, but in this game, I tried my hardest to be the level-headed individual that the Gun-Dog needs. This still resulted in some angry crew-mates, but hey, I tried! It also led to some wonderful bonds formed with misunderstood individuals, so it’s all worth it.
The developers lean heavily into gaming history for Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog. The genre, gameplay, and graphics are all inspired by classic PC-9800 titles. Despite leaning into the retro feel, there are also graphic and text options to update the visuals. I really appreciate these options, as the “original” look of the game caused a headache. This is common when I play games mimicking certain retro looks, so I’m not upset. Instead, I am grateful!
There are options for Doukin, Studio, and Vivid modes. Doukin is the most retro, Vivid is the most contemporary — and in colour! You can also turn the scan lines on or off, and choose between a retro and a modern font. For anyone facing similar headache issues, the best options for me are Vivid graphics, scan lines off, and modern font.
You can expect a pretty standard visual novel look here. The interface surrounds the screen where things appear. The backgrounds are static, the characters are static (but have different expressions). It’s a lot of clicking through text, but I find something about that so satisfying. There are some animated action sequences, which seem out of place because there are so few. They were fun to watch, though. And I liked that they had a comic-book framing style.
The game mostly occurs on the JFS Gun-Dog, with brief trips to outer space. The ship’s layout is well-organized and logical, so it is easy to figure out how to move around with either the move button or the map. (But more on those later.) There is a lot of care put into descriptions of what surrounds you and it begins to feel like a living, breathing character. Though I suppose a spaceship can be described as alive: the sounds of footsteps echo as the crew move about, the constant vibrating humming of the engine, all of the crew and mechanical elements work together to keep it afloat.
The setup in Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog is mostly what one would expect from a game marketed as an ’80s-inspired visual novel and adventure game. There is no free movement; instead, you move around one space at a time through the physical space or instantly travel there through the map. You can look at or interact with select items in the environment, or speak to people in the same room. The on-screen commands are move, look, use, talk, item, and function.
Move, look, and talk are pretty obvious. Use is how you do things like search for important documents. In certain situations, the item button is where you can choose what objects in your inventory are needed. The tutorial cards at the beginning of the game state you push a button to begin that activity and press it again to stop, but the B button is required to back out of the screen. I wonder if this is a PC versus console function that was never ported properly. In addition, when you use the move, look, or use option, the joystick is super sensitive and I often end up frustrated after clicking the same useless thing five times.
The function button is pretty useful. It includes a map for reference/quick travel, a task list, and important information. Travelling with the map is great, but the text is illegible except for the highlighted place’s name. When it comes to headaches, this was not helpful.
The controls are generally obvious… but not when the entire screen appears frozen. There is no prompt — you’re expected to know to hit the A button. I got used to it after a few times, but it remains an annoyance hours into the game.
Remember back at the beginning of this review, when I stated that visual novels are great because they’re chill and don’t usually make you rush? Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog does not do that. There are life-or-death timed choices that are hard enough to make quickly, but impossible to choose accurately because of the joystick sensitivity issue.
Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog has made a great impression on me because of the characters, the narrative, and how everything is so detailed. The gameplay and text create a frantic experience, contrasting with the laid-back visual novel style. It sure had my heart pounding and my brain in overdrive! Yes, I have some gripes about the controls and timed events, but those things haven’t stopped me from enjoying the other, more prominent aspects of the game. The series has promise, and I’m very curious about where Space Colony Studios goes with this anthology series.
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