Nine Sols Steam Charts & Stats

(The actual amount of time spent on the game is 64h by the time I am writing this review. I have done a total of 2 playthroughs so far!) My interest with this game came really out of nowhere. I casually saw this on steam and it was wishlisted by a lot of friends that have yet to play it [strike] so i thought of beating the game before the others >:)[/strike]. From a quick look, I saw aesthetics I really enjoyed, akin to Spiritfarer. When looking at the genre, Taopunk, I saw that it is a mix of fantasy and sci-fi. Fantasy itself is not really my kind of genre I divulge much though, because it is something I do not find engaging, as it has a trope I genuinely do not prefer, the one where the main character is the chosen one and they are the ultimate saviour (of course there are fantasy games that i like that do not have this trope; Roadwarden comes to mind.) The addition of Sci-Fi really intrigued me much more than the fantasy element. Adding the fact that also the whole story feels very down to earth. No chosen one tropes. The only other game I saw which blends fantasy and sci-fi together in similar vibes, is Rain World, which also helped me orientate more with the vibes of this game. This is the first soulslike/sekirolike that I have ever completed. The ones I tried in the past have failed to connect much with me, despite liking the art direction, and probably I could think the reason was that their stories felt convoluted to the point it just gets ignored. The experience was hard to handle, but phenomenal. The gameplay starts really rough, in a way that it forces you to learn that parrying is the core of the combat, hence the comparison to Sekiro. I initally started the game with the Story Mode, wondering that if I was going to give up on the game or not. After getting past the first boss, I was happy to learn that you could toggle settings to make the game as hard as the standard mode, so I completed the rest of the game without changing back the difficulty. The learning curve of the game is extremely high at the beginning but falls flat pretty fast when you got the gist of the mechanics later on, as those are not overwhelming, just the right amount. Everything will become easier afterwards, keeping in mind what is the correct moveset of each enemy you encounter. It really reminds me of the rhythm game genre, where you have to nail down each note perfectly, with the exception that here the notes are the enemy attacks, and for me it feels like more practical to understand when to "hit the note" at the perfect time compared with rythm games. Therefore, if you get easily frustrated with the game, even if you are playing with customized toggles to make the game more bearable, this game might not and won't be your cup of tea. Due to my experience with much harsher games that get you frustrated, I was mentally prepared for this game, and if it wasnt for that, I most likely would have stood away from this game. The character progression is also not invasive, simple to understand, but could look a bit limiting depending what do you want to expect with these kind of games. There are mechanics which allow you to focus on your prefered gameplay style by enhancing your skills and furthermore encouraging you to play as such. A gripe I encountered while I was playing for the first time was the lack of indication of the location of the objectives. I am not sure how it occured, but on the second playthrough, I could have seen the locations I missed the first time. I am unsure if it is a bug or not. Nothing to note down on the input used on the game, I used a controller, and I felt it was good enough for the game, and definitely do not see myself playing it on keyboard. In regards of the story, it is top notch. Beautiful graphics, underlying themes that make you question what other living beings encounter in their path and how do they approach it. Each character was memorable differently from each other, in there it lacked of filler characters that just could be easily forgotten, and I like that quite a lot. The themes presented by the story are things I have not seen anywhere in any game that I have played, and it feels very refreshing. I really recommend looking at retrospectives, as it is very philosophical to think about what feels right or wrong in the game. Albeit a bit confusing at first, depending on how you fastly perceive the information you get from the lore, reading through the collected info helped me little, and only by progressing through the story I understood more about the presented elements. It was a very small gripe I had with this game, as I did not understand at first things that I should have understood earlier, and I am a bit unsure if it is intentional. I would have loved if the available glossary was more expanded, because it lacked a bit in that regard, for example, an entry for each enemy encountered. Replaying the game a 2nd time definitely helped me understand more the dynamics of the story and even get more content that I initially missed. Endgames spoilers [spoiler] When I finished the game for the first time, I found the ending to be very sad, kind of hopeless, making a decision which wouldve eventually delayed the inevitable. It almost felt useless trying to pursue all of that road trying to diverge, just to end up converging back with the same outcome. But the true ending. The true ending is absolutely fucking sad. It definitely injected a profound emotion with the game's story. For what it is worth, in my knowledge of games, this is one of the few that had such emotional impact on me. It is very clear that this is the better out of the two endings. In the end really nobody was at fault, they just made different choices from each other.[/spoiler] This game will make you cry. Both by pain endured by the enemies, and the pain from the story. Strongly recommend it. I have no further words.

9/10 - One of the great metroidvanias. Combat is very satisfying and rewarding, interesting boss fights, definitely reminded me of Sekiro. Game itself is as interesting as beautiful.

If you enjoy Metroidvania games with a strong focus on combat, this one’s for you. The music and story are pretty good, but the combat is where it really shines. Beating the true Eigong makes you feel like an absolute gamer.

This review is purely here to support the developers of this wonderful game. This game came onto my radar when I felt like I was in a drought for games I'd actually enjoyed, and I just bought this on a whim after watching about 10 seconds of the trailer. After playing through the game, this is undoubtedly my favorite metroidvania I've played, and probably reaches my top three games of all time. The combat is fluid and interesting, constantly being a challenge even at the end of the game. The aesthetic and graphics are both phenomenal, the story is heartfelt and concise, and the pacing feels pretty stable throughout the entire game. I never felt bored or discouraged after losing to the same boss for the 79th time. Almost every boss feels fair, like it's your fault that you lost. It's clear that the team had to work with what they had with some aspects of the story and gameplay, but I think it's a massive accomplishment for what is practically this team's first game. I want more games like this. I'm sure many people would consider this game a success already, but I won't until we get a new game just as polished and fun as this one. Buy it.

fluid gameplay, really good story telling and really cool themes for each boss, recommended for anyone who likes metroidvania

The fighting system was extremely enjoyable, especially the parrying and talisman mechanics. The world and character design are great, I liked pretty much everything about the setting. The music is also excellent and complemets the mood of the story very well. I never felt bored as the game constantly introduces new mechanics and abilities with each new location and rewards you with some wholesome character interactions and lore bits for literally every item you find. 10/10, would gladly play again

Furry 2D sekiro .......But Seriously this game got me hooked immediately of course because of the parry but most importantly the parry sound which is so satisfying ,combat with bosses almost never felt cheap but there a few exceptions overall fun experience , only thing maybe lacking was the talisman system

Just finished this masterpiece on true ending. Beating eigong took a week. The game is awesome: the music, design, background, characters, narrative, I loved everything about it

Genuinely the best game I have played within the last couple of years. Combat is tough. It has a steep learning curve, but once it flattens out, it practically becomes second nature. Saying that the combat is 'satisfying' after mastering it, would be an understatement (you'll understand what I mean when you beat the final boss). Rarely did I ever get frustrated with the game, knowing full well I had died 5 times within the last 10 seconds. The artstyle, music, world design, platforming and movement is amazing. The boss design is phenomenal. But personally, the story and lore is what takes Nine Sols to the next level. Genuinely surprised that an indie developer could produce something of this quality. I have never finished a souls like game in my life (I have played a few), but I did 100% this game. And I think that means something. 10/10 would play again.

If perfection exists in the world it's this game, genuinely a MASTERPIECE! Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a game as much as I did with Nine Sols. Also Yi is a cutie-patootie