It has been an MMORPG type of year at Digitalchumps. This year we have reviewed New World on the PlayStation 5, Towerborne on the PC, and now we’re giving our impressions of the creepy survival and crafting game called IfSunSets.
IfSunSets from developer POLYMORPH is an interesting survival experience that relies heavily on your dedication to keeping your character alive, while at the same time sprinkling in some creepy undead action into the mix. It’s an odd combination but somehow it works well thanks to an intense atmosphere and a borrowed effect from the game Dying Light, where you have a finite amount of time to get things done before shit hits the fan.
So, build your house, set your traps, and make sure the gate is closed so that nothing can get to you. Let’s get this preview started.
Story
The story of IfSunSets begins with a shipwreck thanks to an angry Kraken. Your character survives the destructive beast and wakes up on the mysterious island of Luminora. Knowing that the island will probably end up being their home for a while, the shipwrecked sailor is tasked to prepare for a long haul and at some point a rescue. What your character quickly finds out while settling in Luminora’s lush jungles and beautiful beaches is that the island is more than just an exotic location. Bubbling underneath its beauty lies an evil underbelly where the undead wake at night and try to find the living.
The story is so ambiguous that it leaves room for plot twists and turns, but the core narrative is intriguing, fun, and intense. The element of mystery to the story with day and night and having to discover what the heck is going on to turn the night into such a dangerous time period gives motivation to keep going a bit further each day. Structurally, it’s a good MMORPG storyline where there is enough engaging content, while at the same time making room for future narrative choices that may not have been decided upon yet.
The story in this game helps to separate it from other MMORPGs out there now, while also maintaining the familiarity of the narrative structure that generally comes with this genre. In short, you’ll be intrigued and driven by the story but not lost with how it pushes you through. Its unsettling scenarios of innocent day and deadly night drive the entire tale.
A tale of two times
The gameplay in IfSunSets cleverly divides the game into two sections using the day and night. It’s a simple concept that works well with the story trying to be told. Anyway, let’s discuss these two gameplay attributes.
Daytime Preparing
During the day in the game, you’re allowed to explore, craft, and prepare yourself for a rough night. The exploration is extensive, as the island has nooks and crannies for your character to traverse and find leftover remnants from past residents. This could be tents left behind, notes that warn you of your predicament, and/or even supplies that will help you push forward. There’s so much to do and see, yet the island has its dangers so taking notes from notes you find helps to give you some guidance on what places you should avoid. For example, I did run into an encouraging note that told me to hang in there and survive, and at the same time to avoid the caves. That’s not at all ominous. It adds uncertainty to the situation and landmarks that haven’t been found. On one note, it ushers in a big world. Exploring around the island expands the game’s world and makes the adventure a lot bigger and deeper.
Now, while exploring the island, you can also gather material, chop down trees, take local wildlife for dinner sacrifice, and just find knick-knacks that can be crafted into something important. There is plenty to collect on the island, and plenty of crafts to make for about any type of survival situation. The game gets very detailed in what it can bring to the literal table in the crafting department. You can craft clothes, weapons, furniture, houses, and even traps in the game. By gathering material, you can make material that can be used to craft specific items. There are lists and lists of materials and objects you can make, and all are available to be made on the island.
Building shelters, setting traps, and making sure you are armed (and well-fed) is what you mostly do during the day. In this respect, it’s a familiar MMORPG concept that runs deep but doesn’t run too far away from what other games in this genre do. That’s not a bad thing because that means getting into the game is a lot easier, although there are a bunch of different tasks you must do to get going in the game initially. The tutorial will unveil the depth of this game quickly.
If gathering, creating, and preparing weren’t enough, the game does have a nice skills tree that allows you to upgrade attributes of your character and enhance specific traits (attack, defense, etc.). The traits cost points and those are gained from accomplishing tasks, challenges, and everyday gathering/collecting. While I haven’t fallen too far down this rabbit hole yet, I am amazed by how far the skills go and how big the tree is in the game. It’s quite large, which is a possible indicator that there are a lot of tasks to complete.
Beyond the tree, there is also a chance to use points to level up DnD-type attributes for the character, such as strength, stamina, and a bevy of other listed normal attributes. This acts as an additional push to keep exploring, crafting, adventuring, and taking out enemies when the time comes.
What is driving all the daytime activities is a timer. You are given finite time to explore, gather, and craft. Once the time is up, you must survive the night, so proper preparation, expectation, and strategy are necessary before the evening rears its head.
Nighttime Nightmare
Okay, so it takes a lot to make me nervous in a video game. It takes a LOT. I have survived the likes of Resident Evil, the unsettling house in PT, and the raw streets of a nighttime Dying Light. I’ve been through nighttime hell, and nothing prepared me for this.
The nighttime in IfSunSets is every bit of what it advertises. The first night I woke up after a long day of gathering and building, there were a huge number of beasts at my gate waiting to get in and take me out. They were going all World War Z on the gate, stacking on each other, falling from the cliffs above my gated area, and jumping over (sometimes through) the gate to get to me. They were loud, and unsettling, and made me immediately think about if I prepared enough for this moment. I was armed with a spear and a large club at that encounter and it still felt like it wasn’t enough.
While taking out the long-term residents, who weren’t friendly, wasn’t difficult, it was still jarring to wake up to that rustling. It wasn’t RE scary, rather it was just overwhelmingly scary. That is far worse than a jump scare because it consumes your senses and doesn’t let you settle into a scenario comfortably. That’s the horrible charm of the nighttime gameplay situation in IfSunSets, and it is helped by a survival timer that ticks away as you try to manage.
While I understand there is probably a lot more to the nighttime scenario, its base-level gameplay works beautifully with the daytime moments. One determines how well the other goes, and that makes this game far bigger and more strategic than expected. Anyway, I’ll keep you up to date on how the game shapes this aspect as it continues to develop. Right now, it works and is scary as hell.
Overall, the gameplay in IfSunSets is a great mixture of crafting, adventuring/exploring, strategic preparation, and action. There are many layers to this onion, and each one is very connected to the next. I want to see what meal this onion makes when the prep is finally over.
On that sweet onion note, let’s wrap up this preview.
More to come
While IfSunSets is still in Early Access, I can see where this game might go. It has a lot of potential and so many directions the story could take. We will keep an eye on it as it works through EA.
Keep your eyes open for more.