The End of the Sun is a story-driven mystery adventure game with some puzzles thrown into the mix from The End of the Sun Team, a small independent studio from Poland. The setting of this game is a Slavic fantasy world which is beautifully captured by graphics I wouldn’t have expected from an indie game. If the goal of this game was to captivate you with a story, I say well done.

The Beginning of The End of the Sun

Let’s dive into the game itself. At the beginning of the game, I was curious about what I was getting myself into as I knew nothing about The End of the Sun, aside from the trailer and little bits in the description on Steam. It took me a while to fully understand what I was doing as the player. The gist of the game is time-traveling through multiple bonfires to change the current story. There are four time periods: Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall, all of which are years apart in time (Spring being the earliest period). You’ll see a short clip of some interaction between the main characters when clicking on a fire. After that, something is missing that you need to do to induce a change in the story.

Once you’ve determined all the changes a bonfire requires and stabilized it, a short clip will reveal how your actions have influenced the unfolding story. You will also be able to collect a fire feather (I’m assuming from ‘Rarog’ a firebird that represents a Slavic god you’ll see occasionally throughout the story), and you will also be able to meditate at the completed bonfire.

The Gateway

As you meditate at a bonfire, it becomes a gateway to time and will transport you to a new area. In this area, there are four different bonfires, all of which have different foliage paths leading to them. This is where you’ll be able to switch to different seasons/periods in the game (Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter) depending on what you’re trying to do in the game. I didn’t figure this out until my second completed bonfire. With that said, it probably would have been handy to know earlier on. Certain actions you need to complete for a bonfire can only be done within certain times/seasons.

Every bonfire you complete gives you more and more pieces to the past. Additionally, it adds to the story that you are now creating by intervening. I found it fascinating because the main adult characters at the beginning of the game can be seen as children and elderly adults, depending on which season you are currently in. Basically, it’s watching the whole life span of these poor NPCs while changing their lives through actions you do within the game.

WTF Moments in The End of the Sun

There were definitely a few “What the heck is going on moments.” These include a mushroom tea party that affected your screen and zombie-like baby creatures that would attack you (Water children). Perhaps that’s due to me not being super familiar with Slavic mythology, who knows? There’s a map that will help you navigate over the decently sized playable area. There is no instant GPS on this map though. It’s as if we’re back to the old-school MapQuest days when you need to recognize landmarks to figure out where you are.

Final Reaction

Overall, I enjoyed the game, graphics, story and puzzles. If you’re looking for an action-packed game, this is not what you’re looking for. However, it’s a great story-driven indie game with an interesting story and great music that led me to play it from start to finish just to find out how it ended.

The End of the Sun is now available on Steam, GOG and other platforms.

The End of the Sun was provided by the publisher for review purposes.