by infantpipoc
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Guess “science fictional retelling of Chinese mythology” just does not roll off the tongue like “Taopunk”. As Red Candle Games’ first ever gamey title, Nine Sols pleases yours truly as a sci-fi fan a lot. It blends Roger Zelaney’s Lord of the LIght and Liu Cixin’s Three-body Problem together nicely. Playing this one during the launch week of Metroid Prime 4 feels particularly surreal. That long awaited first-person adventure alledgedly rehashed all the level er, biomes of Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. Nine Sols, as a Metroidvania hidden gem of 2024, certainly has environments with more and more thoughful ties to its narrative and characters. Which raises the question: why should one pay “Nintendo tax” when there are so many better and cheaper alternatives out there?
Didn’t I mention that I do not like this decade that much? Oh, well, a re-release of games from previous 2 generations taking a precious point sure suffice. As far as expensive polygonal extravaganzas go, Mass Effect trilogy is still the best at being a science fiction epic to me.
This is a tricky one. This enhanced version of Persona 5 came out in Japan in 2019, then the English version in 2020. However it did not go multiplatform until 2022. So, 2020s edged out. The game is always marketed as “fantasy”. However, the game’s story is gingerly stepping into sci-fi if one plays it in Japanese. The late mother of Fubata the party support was looking into Palace. While the written text is different, her subject’s sound is “kaggaku”, the Japanese word for “science”. So, this can be seen as science fiction. While 2024’s Persona 3 Reloaded is the much better paced experience, P5 is the full package. Palaces with fixed lay-out having text sensitive cover button and prog-gen Memento Mori is basically a vehicle section. Combining those with the combat interface, Persona 5 is a full member of the over-the-shoulder orthodoxy.y.
Despite the modern setting and a final level that can be described as “Sino-futurism”, this is a fantasy game. The only sci-fi conncetion would be me seeing it as an adduerm to Mass Effect 3. Back in 2012, I wondered about how hand-to-hand combat would be in over-the-shoulder view. 10 years later, I found what I looked for in SIfu. A shoutout to its developer Sloclap. Even though I have no interest in scoceer, this year’s rematch is a nice evolution from Sifu. The games’ publisher Kepler won Best Game Direction at the Keighley’s in 2025. But, only those ex-Ubi “lobbists” can share the limelight...
Hades er, series’ sci-fi vibe mainly came from the first one winning both Hugo and Nebula’s game category. Well, that plus how Deathless having more advance techology than Mortalkind. While the first game’s Admat Rail being a gun is modern tech, Xinth the Cloak being power armor is sci-fi. Also, once one can run in Hades II, one can never go to walking in any Supergiant titles.