Endling - Extinction is Forever

Around the same time as Spirit of the North, another game that caught my interest featuring a playable fox protagonist was Endling - Extinction is Forever, mainly due to the art style and the concept of having to play as a mother fox caring for her cubs and any of their deaths is permanent. I was interested enough that I played a demo for the game through Steam to get a better idea of the concept, albeit with some fumbling around as I grasped what exactly to do. Once the game actually came out, I opted for a physical PS4 copy, which I received as a gift, using my experience from the demo to ensure that I would make it to the end with every cub alive. After managing to accomplish this goal during my initial playthrough, I felt that the game was ultimately worth the wait.

As a forest fire rages on, a pregnant mother fox runs for her life and gives birth to four cubs when she reaches the safety of a lair. Shortly after her cubs have started to grow, one of them is lured out and kidnapped by human poachers, whom the mother fox is unable to stop. While taking care of her three remaining cubs, the mother fox searches relentlessly for her fourth.

A mother fox escapes a forest fire.

The story is split across 30 nights, told entirely visually. Some nights revolve around tracking the scent of the lost fourth cub, which also use visuals to tell what happened to it. Not only is this story executed very well, the visuals alone can make for some very emotional moments at times. Additionally, on nights 8 and 17 in particular, rescuing badgers has an impact on the story, including the ending. While said ending is emotional either way, it can be worth your time to achieve the alternate one.

At the start of the game, after the cubs are born, you have the option to change their color schemes, including the one which gets kidnapped early on. While there are a number of options to choose from, I went with the default color schemes so it would be easier for me to keep track of them during gameplay.

The gameplay itself is not too complex, though it does fit in well with the themes of the narrative. Each night, you must explore the area to search for food for your cubs along predetermined paths, though there are forks where you can change direction, and you must get back to your lair for safety before the night is over. Sniffing displays a green scent trail for you to follow to look for food, while purple scent trails lead to more clues about your missing cub, however the latter only appears on specific nights. Food scavenging can include plants, leftovers or animal carcasses, however you can also use stealth to catch live prey without being spotted and even climb up pipes and trees to look for more food. At certain points in the game, your cubs can be taught various survival skills, each of which become useful in opening up additional opportunities to scavenge for food.

That said, caring for your cubs isn’t always easy. The longer you take to look for food, the more your cubs will starve, and taking too long will result in death by starvation. Predators can also attack you and your cubs if you aren’t careful, and owls can take your cubs if you aren’t fast enough to intervene. While you have the ability to run, traps and confrontations with predators can slow you down, disabling your ability to run as long as you are injured. Many predators are human, with the Scavenger being able to kill you with one shot and the nigh unstoppable Furrier able to potentially kill you if you can’t get away fast enough. On top of that, returning to your lait too early can cost them health and it’s possible to accidentally uncover a bag when digging for trash and nearly suffocate.

Watch out for Scavengers and other hazards.

There are ways around many of these hazards though. Just as stealth can be used to sneak up on prey, it can also be used to avoid predators, plus you can use designated distraction points to distract Furriers when they spawn. You can bark to call for your cubs if they are too far behind you, however this can also alert predators to your location, so you need to be careful when you use it. Traps can be hopped over if you spot them in time, plus you can teach one of your cubs how to disable traps in a later night. Though you can get injured, you can also fight back against enemies by mashing Cross, which can also be used to tear open bags before you suffocate and dig under certain barriers. An additional ability is petting your cubs at any time, which you can use to clam down your cubs after successfully rescuing them from a predator. There is also a helpful human named Molly, whom you can also allow to pet you after you encounter her.

One of the most helpful features is the map, which you can bring up at any time. Not only does it keep track of your current location, it also tracks important locations such as badger shortcuts and your lair(s), as well as important figures such as badgers, the Scavenger, the Furrier and Molly. Special events are also marked with a question mark, which can include background events, special food locations and Furrier distraction spots, though I did wonder whether or not that last one should have had its own designation on the map. The badger locations required to alter the ending are also mixed in there, so a guide may be necessary depending on what you’re looking for.

One thing that can be said about Endling is that the visuals are stunning. While it does feature a heavily-stylized art direction, there is plenty of detail in the environment that sells the setting, with a lush forest area contrasting with civilization and views of abandoned buildings and deforestation. While the world is fairly expansive, it still feels fairly manageable and, aside from using the map for reference on how to navigate it, the game world is designed such that you have a general idea of where you are just by the design.  What also helps is that, when the night is about to end, the game will start to visualize the quickest route back to your current lair, though you will still need to watch out for hazards.

In addition to the great environmental design, it seems that a lot of care went into the fox animations, as they are pretty accurate to the actual behavior of a fox, which even extends to the cubs. Adding to this are some realistic animal noises that help make the world feel more alive, especially in regard to the foxes. While the soundtrack is pretty minimal, it also helps those moments with music to stand out more since they help indicate certain events or enemies, with the ambient sounds of nature and the man-made wasteland to help set the tone. The game also has some great sound design, as certain actions are clearly indicated by specific sounds, though I will admit that one or two noises made me think of the classic PopCap game Zuma of all things.

While I don’t have much experience with the genre, I found Endling – Extinction is Forever to be an overall interesting survival game experience. While the game will not be for everyone, those who find the genre or premise appealing may want to consider playing it at least once, plus there is plenty of replay value for those who are dedicated to getting through with every cub alive.