Stories From Sol: The Gun-Dog Review

I’ve had my eye on Stories From Sol: The Gun-Dog for a while now—long enough to be one of the first to interview the developer about their inspirations and aspirations. And now, finally getting my hands on the finished game, I can say with confidence: it was worth the wait.

One of the first things the game absolutely nails isn’t just the pixel aesthetic (let’s be honest, pixel art itself isn’t an innovation) but rather its ability to carve out a distinct visual identity from the start. Back when I first saw the promotional material, I could immediately tell what kind of game this was and what genre it belonged to and how PC-9800 era-accurate it was from any single screenshot. It’s the same instant recognition you get with classics like Chrono Trigger or EVE Burst Error—games where the art direction or even just the protagonist’s hair color made them unmistakable. That kind of strong visual identity feels rarer in today’s world, where so many games blur together, and The Gun Dog simply and easily stood out like a sore thumb.

The pixel art isn’t the only standout feature here, but the ship, the Gun-Dog itself, the heart of the story and the setting for its horror-mystery space gun fights, is equally attention-grabbing and meticulously crafted. Starting with a lengthy introduction, the game takes its time setting up every part of the Gun Dog ship—the sick bay, the hangar, the airlock, the captain’s quarters, the engine room (complete with how the engines work and how ships in this world travel in light years and all that science fiction lore we science fiction nerds have been swallowing since we were kids). Clearly, someone on the team spent a lot of time studying and taking notes on Leiji Matsumoto’s works like Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999.

The fun part is that these locations aren’t just static backdrops, like in many Japanese dating sims. Every area serves a purpose, tied directly to your crew of engineers and co-pilots. Sometimes, navigating from one point to another isn’t as simple as walking straight there—you’ll need to find alternative routes, interact with background elements, and even puzzle your way out of locked rooms. Despite spending 10-15 hours in the game, I felt more connected to its world and thinking about its elements than I have in some sprawling open-world titles that simply scatter trees, caves, and rocks without much afterthought. The Gun Dog proved that world-building isn’t about size—it’s about making every space, pun intended, matter.

I’m treading carefully here—no spoilers, of course. It’s an unspoken rule that you don’t spoil a visual novel, especially one that thrives on discovery. But I do want to touch on something the developer promised: making the story feel personal to every player. I can confidently say now that they absolutely delivered on that.

At around Chapter 8, I hit a divergence point—one of those moments where the timeline visibly splits in visual novels. I made my choice, faced betrayals, trials, and everything in between, and reached an ending. Then, out of curiosity, I replayed that section and chose differently. What I got wasn’t just some altered dialogue or a reworked version of the same scene—it felt like I was playing a completely different game. I even stumbled upon a discussion mechanic I never encountered in my first playthrough—one that required me to pick a sequence of choices correctly, something I had no idea even existed in my first playthrough.

The pixel art isn’t the only standout feature here, but the ship, the Gun-Dog itself, the heart of the story and the setting for its horror-mystery space gun fights, is equally attention-grabbing and meticulously crafted.

I also enjoyed that the choices in the game are not simple binary decisions or have obvious and predictable outcomes. Sometimes, unlocking an event requires repeating the same choice multiple times until it clicks and plays the scenario tied to it. There are also joke interactions, hidden achievements, and item-based scenarios that add an extra layer of depth to each character. It’s the kind of branching design that genuinely respects player agency and makes every choice and interaction feel meaningful rather than just a means to an ending counter.

I can say that’s the magic of The Gun-Dog—it’s not just a visual novel you read, it’s one you experiment with. In many visual novels, choices ultimately funnel you into static, predetermined events, but The Gun-Dog feels like five or six different games packed into one, and it gives you the freedom to micromanage every aspect of your journey. And honestly? That felt way more compelling than just piling on a bunch of bad endings for the sake of variety. 

After my first playthrough, I spent four more hours just messing around—jumping between different routes from the chapter menu, revisiting scenarios, uncovering puzzles and interactions I had completely missed the first time. I wasn’t just chasing the “true” route; I genuinely wanted to see everything the game had to offer.  

The fragmented and branching design also demanded that every scene pull its weight. There’s no filler, no waiting around for the good parts. Most moments felt deliberate, with a reverberating potential to either shift the narrative or reveal something vital. Usually, I’d sit through hours of fluff before I read something of value or before a choice really mattered. But the scenes here feel really serious and meaty most, if not all of the time.

The only real downside is a technical one—some chapters bugged out and locked me out of progression, forcing me to skip ahead using the chapter menu. Oddly enough, they worked fine the first time but refused to load again later. I also ran into the occasional crash screen, though just pressing “ignore” a couple of times let me continue without issue. 

Aside from these hiccups, the experience was smooth. The sprites feel incredibly lifelike, the characters are layered with secrets and possibilities, and the retro music ties it all together beautifully.

The fact that this might become a series (according to the developer’s interview) also made me appreciate the ending, which was left hanging and genuinely wanting for more. It felt like the developer has a clear vision and a long  term plan rather than just making things up and running based on the game’s success, and I’m personally all in on whatever Stories from Sol is going to end up. If that’s their first work, I’m very hopeful about their series’ future.

A review code was provided by Astrolabe Games for Steam. Stories From Sol: The Gun-Dog is available now on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC.