The retro sci-fi visual novel Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog is now out on Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. A launch trailer that previews its old-school aesthetic and music, as well as its space-set story, accompanied the game’s release.
Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog cites PC-9800 titles as an inspiration and advertises itself as an “‘era-accurate'” game with more than 300,000 words of text and a branching narrative. It also has mechs. The synopsis (via Steam) reads:
War is over. War is just beginning.
Planetary Calendar 214. Four years have passed since the end of the Solar War. Our protagonist, scarred from the loss of their crewmates in the war, is re-assigned to the Jovian patrol ship Gun-Dog as it’s dispatched with orders to investigate mysterious signals coming from the edge of Jovian Space.
Unknown to the Gun-Dog’s crew, a new danger looms deep in the ocean of stars, threatening not just the Gun-Dog but all her crew.
Take on the role of the Gun-Dog’s security officer as you attempt to save the ship from an unknown assailant whilst navigating the paranoia, conspiracies and vendettas that break out amongst the crew. As camaraderie falls apart can you overcome the challenges that await?
Wales-based Space Colony Studios developed the title on the Ren’Py 8.X engine, while Astrolabe Games is the publisher. There is a physical version of the game, published by PM Studios Inc. in North American and by Meridiem in Europe. Multiple languages including Simplified Chinese, French, and Japanese are supported, and the console versions include Korean as an option.
Sources: GameTrailers YouTube channel, Meridiem website
