Full-colour demo dawns for Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Complete version of visual novel-styled sci-fi adventure coming to Steam in February 2025

There are many potential threats in a fictional universe at war in space, but no matter what external danger exists, the common major challenge is in managing the disparate personalities crammed together aboard an inescapable vessel. Players will have both sets of issues to deal with soon enough in Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog, an upcoming visual novel adventure from Space Colony Studios.

There have been four uneasy years of peace since the allied Martian and Jovian forces defeated the Solar Federation and sent them back to Earth. Recently, mysterious signals of unknown origin have been received from further out in space, so the Jovians dispatch several patrol ships to investigate, including the JFS Gun-Dog. Before long, however, what starts as a routine reconnaissance mission "escalates into a battle for survival" as a "new danger looms deep in the ocean of stars, threatening not just the Gun-Dog but all her crew." Players assume the role of (and name/gender) the newly appointed security officer, a lieutenant whose sole combat experience in the war was a failed deployment in the decisive battle that resulted in the loss of your fellow crewmates, a tragedy whose scars you still bear today. When trouble arises and morale breaks down during your latest assignment, you must not only save the ship from a perilous new assailant but also navigate the increasing "paranoia, conspiracies and vendettas that break out amongst the crew." 

Described as a "love letter to retro anime and 80s Sci-Fi," Stories from Sol is a visual novel-styled slideshow adventure that wears its old-school inspirations proudly on its sleeve, from the pixel art to unvoiced dialogue to simple point-and-click mechanics. Instead of directly exploring the ship like a more traditional adventure, a menu-driven interface on the side of the screen allows you to move, look, use, talk and present inventory items in between lengthy dialogue sequences. You can go just about anywhere on board (once you've attained the necessary access), such as the bridge, engineering, sick bay and crew quarters. There you'll find the scattered Gun-Dog crew, from the "elegant yet distant Captain Bartermews, to the bubbly Lieutenant Commander Cassandra Quinn, to the assertive and domineering Chief Mackenzie Cathays." Each has their own "distinct personality, role and history," so you must "listen closely to the characters' words to reveal important clues or duplicitous intentions." Only by getting to know them all better can you properly determine whether to "work with or against them to unravel the mystery."

The full version of Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog won't be ready until early next year, but it already has a specific release date of February 20, 2025 on PC, PlayStation and Switch platforms. You can dive right into the first hour of gameplay right away, however, through a newly revamped demo that adds a full-colour option to go with the previous vintage-green-only aesthetic, available from Steam, the PlayStation store and Nintendo eShop.