In the first five minutes of playing Endling: Extinction is Forever, you can tell that this is a game that is neither a technological marvel nor an action blockbuster with a thrilling and deep story that will inevitably touch your heart deep in the soul. Because Mother Fox’s journey (it’s impossible to simply call her the fox or the protagonist) is a survival adventure, an intimate journey, and at the same time a cry for Mother Nature’s help.
I’m talking about the first five minutes, because that’s where we get completely into the mother fox skin. Escaping the flames of the forest fire where she lives, we learn some of the few controls we’ll use on our adventure. Mother foxes can jump, sniff, run and climb trees. But only one thing matters now: escape from the flames. Desperate (and so were we, as we watched trees burn and other animals die), she managed to get to a small cave where she faced an even bigger challenge: giving birth to her cubs.
Our goal for the first few days was to find and obtain food to keep our four young cubs healthy while avoiding other predators, mainly the wandering strange humans. We only go out at night, under the shelter of darkness, using our scent, we can find and eat anything: wild berries, garbage, small rodents, fish…anything that helps keep us The cubs have high health standards. But then something unfortunate happened when a scavenger (a person) took one of the cubs out of the cave, which sparked the rest of the family’s journey to find him. It’s going to be a dangerous journey, but at this point, I’m fully involved as a player in explaining that the cubs find their families again.
Here is an ad:
Young pups are a key part of not only the story, but the gameplay and the feel the title leaves behind. This may be because, like Mother Fox, I am a father myself. Survived by my cubs constantly feeling hungry and in danger, which brought me through this game. Missing cubs grow a scent, and every night we go out looking for scent trails that will lead us to new clues about the paths the scavenger and the cubs take together, while exploring their surroundings and keeping other cubs safe, At the same time you teach them how to survive.
There is a “metroidvania” component in Endling, which is based on the learning of the pups. Some places, which are inaccessible to the mother fox due to her size, are not suitable for small children, and they will learn new skills through events (such as accidental falls and subsequent advice), such as digging, jumping, or passing through fences or holes in walls. This will provide access to new food resources and open up new paths, although the latter is also tied to story development.
As I already mentioned, there is a day and night cycle where we can only venture out of shelter under cover of darkness, and we must always return before the sun rises, whether or not we have achieved our goal. Many times we will have to decide whether to let the prey flee or not follow the scent trail of the lost pup because we are too far from the burrow and have to get back as soon as possible (even if that means being noisy and putting us in more danger). As I said, the important thing here is to keep the family alive.
Here is an ad:
At this point, it’s time to talk about Endling: Another component of Extinction is Forever, the world we live in. The map (an essential tool in this game, able to investigate all routes, events and food resources) is divided into different areas. All of these areas are located around a factory and some buildings where some ruthless humans live. I say cruel because every encounter you have with them is representative of the way our species treats the world. Polluting rivers, skinning poor rabbits, exploiting factories, dumping garbage… Except in the more advanced parts of the game, with a few exceptions, humans will be the main enemies. The world is dying, but in a beautiful way, nature is constantly dying. Plants, riverbeds…even some dangers like owls are beautifully built into the landscape, giving a sense of depth to the territory as we move it by scrolling sideways, spinning and changing directions. The beautiful music, with its simple, warm and melancholy melodies, is also a wonderful addition to the story.
With no particular difficulty (if you’re not too reckless), you can keep the pups intact most of the time. However, if you make a mistake, or don’t react quickly enough to the encounter (in the form of a quick time event), every loss will weigh you as a player and the game itself as a burden, because you may lose one with another An incompetent cub, you must find another path that makes the adventure more difficult. Sometimes it seemed like there was no way to move forward, or there was no food left. Facing the enemy can be a little frustrating, knowing you’ll end up hurting and limping home, but at least you’ll survive to fight another day. Hope the cub survives too. I also think that cubs’ skills should be learned as a group, because everyone is there, everyone can see the learning, and they can embrace it together. But what Herobeat Studios is looking for here is that you value and love the individual value of each pup, not as a spare that can be replaced.
Endling is an exhausting adventure at times and a little unfair (like life itself), but at the same time it has the beauty and intent that many games want to achieve and only a few do. Despite its short length, this game has left a lasting impression on me, as it did before Journey or Firewatch. I think Endling is going to be one of those games that I want to revisit again from time to time as if it were part of my family.
