Red Candle Games is one of the most interesting indie developers working right now. Made up of just 12 employees, the Chinese studio has been responsible for three great games that range a number of distinct genres and themes.
Detention is a harrowing homage to Silent Hill that pulls from its own culture to take us on a chilling after-school adventure, while Devotion is a first-person horror effort set in a spacious apartment in 1980s Taiwan where a family is pulled into a nightmare of their own making. At first, I thought Red Candle was making a name for itself as an indie horror developer, but now we have Nine Sols – a metroidvania soulslike where you play as a cat hellbent on revenge.
Nine Sols Isn’t Like Other Metroidvania Games
One of the first things that struck me about Nine Sols is how competent it feels, given that its developer had previously only worked in meditative survival horror. Detention and Devotion encourage you to hide instead of fight, while Nine Sols protagonist Yi is an ancient being with a sharp sword and even sharper reflexes who sets out on an adventure to defeat nine sols that have awakened and hope to wreak havoc upon the mortal realm. He once worked with them while supporting their evil ways, but after befriending humanity, he understands how abusing the flesh and blood of innocent people for their own gain is sickening. He’s also a little kitty cat.
The opening hours have you meeting your end at the hands of the evil Sols before you are raised back to health by a helpful little girl. She takes you to her village, where you find out that each year a trio of villagers is sacrificed to a higher being. They think they are chosen for a higher purpose and will spend eternity in valhalla, but in reality a machine is tearing off their heads and killing them in seconds. Men, women, and children are subjected to this and when his saviour is put on the chopping block, Yi has to step in. But in doing so, he will free each Sol for captivity and set himself on a collision course with destruction.
It would be a compelling premise for any video game, but Nine Sols does a great job at pulling you into a world defined by Chinese mythology and folklore before revealing that much of it is actually governed by ancient technological overlords designed to rule over primitive humans who know no better. You’re one of the few beings with powers to fight against this corrupt system, even if it means dying in the process.
Cue exploring a huge world to take on a cavalcade of vicious enemies. I’m going to go out on a limb here and claim there will be nine major bosses to fight, even if right now I’ve only beaten one.
Eat, Sleep, Parry Repeat
Nine Sols sells itself on being very similar to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a comparison it received ample praise for when the PC version launched earlier this year. Combat is very precise, relying on fast reflexes and accurate dodges to avoid taking damage, while using your parry in battle is essential to emerge victorious. Successfully block an enemy attack, and you will have a precious second or two to dash past and place a talisman on them.
Press a shoulder button swiftly afterward, and it will explode, dealing huge damage, while it also fills the energy bars with a purple hue that guarantees a certain amount of damage during your next attack. How exactly this mechanic works can be altered by equipping talismans or customising your abilities with skill points, allowing the parry system to be simple or nuanced depending on how you want to play. Those with enough patience can leave it unchanged to make it through the entire game, or go hard on turning Yi into an unstoppable warrior.
Animations are precise, attacks feel satisfying, and Yi moves with a surprising amount of grace when dodging enemies or platforming across obstacles. From what I’ve played, it delivers on all fronts while showcasing a world which is defined by both loving natural arenas and claustrophobic labyrinths where machine life has begun to take over. At times, you will have a hard time believing this was the same team behind games like Detention, only to forget after a few hours because the adventure does such a good job pulling you in.
I can’t wait to explore more of its world and delve further into its stylised mythology, and if you’re after a deep yet challenging indie to spend the festive season playing, you could do much worse than this.
With its striking hand-drawn art style, Nine Sols is an action platformer from RedCandleGames that follows Yi, who must become one with the way of Tao to defeat the fearsome 9 Sols.