In the first 5 minutes of playing Endling: Extinction is Forever, you know it’s one of those games that, without being a technical marvel or a waste of action, with an engaging and deep story, will inevitably grab you to the core of your soul will touch. Because of the trip mom fox (impossible to call her simply a fox or a protagonist) is at once a survival adventure, an intimate journey and nature’s call for help.
I was talking about the first 5 minutes, because that’s when we slip completely into Mama Fox’s skin. Escaping the flames of a fire in the forest where he lives, we’ll learn about some of the few controls that we’ll use in the adventure. The truth is that it doesn’t seem like an animal can display incredible abilities, but here they are amplified by the beautiful design of the setting and the power of the moment. mom fox can jump, sniff, run and climb trees. But right now, only one thing matters: running from the flames. Desperate, she (and we, as we see the trees being consumed and the other animals dying) arrives at a small cave where she faces an even greater challenge: the birth of her young.
Our goal for the first few days is to forage and get food to keep the four little ones in good health while avoiding other predators and especially the weird people that roam around. We only go out at night under cover of darkness and with our sense of smell we can find and eat almost anything: wild berries, leftovers, small rodents, fish… everything is allowed as long as we respect the health barrier of our little ones high up. But then an accident happens and that is that a scavenger (a human) takes one of our little ones out of the den and that triggers the rest of the family’s journey to find him. It’s going to be a dangerous journey, but at this point, as a player, I was keen to reunite the cub with his family.
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The boys are key pieces not only from the story, but also from the gameplay and from the feeling that the title leaves behind. Maybe it’s because, like Mama Fox, I’m also a father. But the constant feeling that my pups survived hunger and danger kept me going through game cycle after cycle. The missing puppy triggers a protective instinct I’ve rarely felt in the middle. Every night we go in search of that scent trail that will lead us to new clues on the path that the scavenger has taken with our pup, while we explore the surroundings, keep the rest of the little ones and teach them how to survive along the way.
There is a “Metroidvania” component in Endling that is based exactly on the learning puppies. There are places that will be inaccessible to them due to Mama Fox’s size, but not to the little ones, who will learn new skills through events (such as an accidental fall and subsequent indication) such as or through fences or holes walk in the walls. This opens up new sources of food and opens up new paths, the latter of which is also linked to the development of the story.
As I mentioned earlier, there is a day-night cycle in which we must only venture out of the shelter under cover of darkness and always return before sunrise, whether we have accomplished our goals or not. Many times will have to decide
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At this point it’s time to talk about the other component of Endling: Extinction is Forever, the world we live in. The map (an essential tool in this game to be able to examine all routes, events and food sources) is divided into different areas, all centered around a factory and some buildings where some decadent people live. And I say decadent because every encounter with them is a trait of our species’ pettiness in dealing with the world. Polluting the river, skinning a poor rabbit, feeding the factory and disposing of garbage… With a few exceptions in a later part of the game, man will always be the main enemy. The world is dying but in a beautiful way Nature continues to resist dying. The shoots, the river bed… even some hazards like the owl are beautifully integrated into a scene that, although we move by lateral displacement, rotates and changes orientation to give a sense of depth in territory. The beautiful music with its simple, warm and melancholic melodies complements the story wonderfully.
You can almost always keep the puppies intact without encountering particularly pronounced difficulties (as long as you don’t commit too much recklessness). But if you make mistakes or don’t react quickly enough to encounters (here they chose to solve with quick time events), any loss will weigh heavily on both you as a player and the game itself, as you may lose a puppy abilities that another one doesn’t, and you have to find another way that will make the adventure even more complicated. Sometimes it seems like there is no way forward or there is no more food. It can be a bit frustrating taking on enemies and knowing we’ll end up hurt and hobble home, but at least we survived to fight another day. And hopefully the little ones too. I also think that the boys’ skills should be learned “in the pack” as everyone is there, everyone is watching the learning and could internalize it together, but I suppose what Herobeat Studios was looking for here is to value and loves each cub for its individual value and not as interchangeable spare parts.
Endling has been a grueling adventure at times, and a bit unfair too (like life itself), but in the same way it has a beauty and purpose that many games aspire to and few match. Despite its short duration and being able to replay it now that I know the map and specific events, I want to let it rest. I need to sink it as deep as Journey or Firewatch before. And I think Endling is going to be one of those games that I want to come back to from time to time, like a family.