Astrolabe Games has announced that the sci-fi visual novel “Martian Successor Gundog Solar System Story” will be released globally in 2023. The platform is PC (Steam), and the development is British indie studio Space Colony Studios. From the world view to the game design, it is a title that pays tribute to the sci-fi games released in the golden generation of the 80s and 90s, with a unified retro design. The Steam store page is open.
This work is a science fiction visual novel set in space and the Jupiter orbit patrol ship “Gundog”. Set in the year 214 of the star calendar, four years after the end of the Ring-Solar System War, the world is depicted in a world where the peace of the entire galaxy is still unstable.
The characters and worldview are designed to be reminiscent of 80’s robot anime such as “DANCOUGA” and “Aim for the Top! Starting with monochrome green visuals, it adopts a retro-designed adventure style, and is characterized by reminiscent of the 80’s SF visual novel game throughout the work.
https://jp.ign.com/stories-from-sol-the-gun-dog/65007/gallery/embedThe animation expressed in the game is also expressed by applying sprite animation instead of flipping animation that draws the entire screen. With a retro design that you can feel throughout the work, casual sprite animation reminds us of the animation of PC engine sci-fi games in the 80s and 90s.
The play style of the game is a comprehensive method, where you click on suspicious points on the screen to investigate point and click, or click on the menu to use conversations and items.
Players will search for important story clues from the characters’ remarks while navigating through complex human relationships. Different clues may be hidden depending on the time and progress of the scenario, so it seems important to investigate thoroughly.
This work will be produced as the first work of the “Solar System Story” series, and will be the origin of all stories. It seems that a magnificent story will be drawn across multiple works in the future.
