The Sun Will Rise

As a big RPG Maker fan, and a person suffering from depression from over 10 years, I had high hopes for this game. However, the developers managed to break two concepts at the same time. They broke the RPG system, and the Anti-Depression campaign. There are only two outcomes from playing this game. Either you are depressed and don't really care, or you're not but after playing this, you'll become depressed! We take a role in the life of Nathan, a chef-soldier who had a regular life, but events changed him to a different person. Players are invited to observe these changes in his mood, behavior and habits. The developers also had metaphors to exemplificate the life changes and enemies, as well as our battles. In terms of design, the game is very simplistic, not because the engine, but due to the lack of skills from the person or individuals who design the maps and areas. Some areas are just too big, basic and barely with anything interesting. Definitely lazy and with poor choices for environments. I'm also not counting the bugged areas, nothing is perfect and it's a common thing with RPG Maker games. [b]The Sun Will Rise[/b] is extremely short, 3 hours of gameplay, maybe more if you're new to RPG mechanics. Not only the design is basic, but the gameplay is a way too much simplified. A "[i](...) Final Fantasy-style game (...)[/i]" but without anything related to it in terms of game basics. Not only the creators never played Final fantasy, as they probably never played any RPG before. In [b]The Sun Will Rise[/b] you cannot farm for XP, and therefore the feeling of taking enemies at your own abilities is inconsistent. There is no economic system, although there is a store available with prices. There's no opportunity to upgrade or gain new weapons. There's only one side-quest and works as an exploit to get free potions. We know nothing about the World, the NPC's barely say anything decent, and to make any sense, we must hold on to a group of fighters that joins the player. A series of events, fights and items can barely be called an RPG... If this is a game of options, challenge and side effects, maybe RPG Maker wasn't the best option. Maybe this would work much better with a Visual Novel engine, or a Point & Click one. There are no depression references at all. The metaphors cannot justify everything and hope for the best. Plus, the interview occurring throughout the game is really basic and generic. If it is real, I couldn't feel any relation. Overall, this game is absolutely not an RPG. It's a strange mix of ideas and concepts that looked amazing on paper, but are miserable in an RPG Maker game. This has been the worst RPG Maker game I ever played, and if you are looking for a push up in your life, you'll not find it here. [b]The Sun Will Rise[/b] is boring, repetitive, shows no respect for your time, and in the end you'll learn nothing from it. Doesn't matter if only friends can help you, this game won't help you find any! There are a lot of other games that will fill you with [i]true[/i] hope, inspiration, great wisdom and amazing perspectives to help you on your journey. 2/10

I finished this game in about two and a half hours. This game in my opinion is wonderful. It's not only a game but it's also a lesson for people battling depression or for those who know others with depression. My dad always tells me, "The Sun Will Rise tomorrow." So this game really hit home on the name alone. You start off as a Captain who struggles to protect his town from bandits and through a rise of horrible events your character starts battling depression. Continuing the story you begin to wonder if life is even worth while if you are incapable to protect those you love. I won't spoil the game but overall I suggest anyone who wishes to play a rpg pixel game with a bit of real life advice, this is the game for you. It's much deeper than I thought it would be and it really hit home. Thank you to the Devs for reminding me that the sun will rise tomorrow :). You guys made my day. P.S: The combat is a little rough first off but as soon as you wear the cape, everything is MUCH easier. Just work though the first couple of battles. Anyone who has played rpg pixel games that were a little more on the unforgiving side shouldn't have any issues with it. I was surprised by the number of people complaining about the combat being too hard. Just play smart and you'll finish the game.

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A cute, but quite deep game with an encouraging message. I, as a person who suffers from the disease in question, found it very sweet. Also, lots of metaphors -which i love!- if you watch closely. I doubt, however, people who don't suffer from such an illness will understand. Not even from a game depicting it simplified like this. (And a word about the problems regarding difficulty some people mentioned: Personally, I don't know what you mean. It took me only two attempts to finish the first boss/dungeon. It's a bit tricky, but not overly hard, I think. Keep trying! Besides... I like that it's not 100% easy. This game is about depression + battling it (in the form of metaphors). And battling depression just. Is NOT easy.) This said, I totally recommend it if you like RPG Maker games and are interested in / can handle the topic of mental illness. AT LEAST it's worth a try. The only negative point is that it's too short :( It was nice, and I wished it was a bit longer! (Also, SHOUTOUT to the artists who created the "loading screens". They are gorgeous!)

Pros: - Some decent assents. - Semi decent starter town layout. Cons: - Don't see anything to do with depression here. - Boring, repetitive fights. - Ending is abrupt. - Some grammatical errors. - Cliché story As someone who works with MV myself, I really wanted to like this, but free or not, more effort is needed.

While playing this game i got more and more into wondering, why it has so many bad reviews. So here is what i think about it: First off, as someone who deals with depression since primary school and is now in their early thirties, i know quite well what we are talking about here. And let me tell you, this game sucked me in. I could really see me and stations of my own journey depicted in the story. Some of the things that were said and especially parts of the interviews were actual thoughts that i had/things that i said myself in some points of my life. As this game is so real it is unarguable painful for people with similar experiences. And on some points the game is even brutal. So i would definitly recommend, to take the start screen warning seriously. This is not a game to ease your fears or enable you to dream away. This game will stick its imaginary finger right into your wounds and tear them open. Which makes sense to me as in my experience it often is necessary to look at things for them to get better. However, i think it is still a good game and it can help people suffering from depression. And it may also do a good job in making other people experience what it feels like to be depressed? Can't really say, because that is not my point of view. Others may answer that. Lets go on with the inevitable pro's and con's: Pro: -decent artwork, nothing unique but still nice -really good story, packed with rich symbolism -really good dialogues, read all of them without getting bored -nice, not annoying soundtrack -game mechanics and controls are pretty standard and work -had it running on my ubuntu machine using wine (playonlinux) without experiencing any flaws or bugs -free! Con -no native linux port -can be pretty triggering especially for people who are suicidal (don't play if you're suicidal right now!) -although i understand that it's a crucial part of story and symbolism the "cape fights" can be pretty annoying and tedious for many players and may repell them from finishing the game (play on! :))

3/10

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Nie radzę kierowć się licznikiem godzin, bo ogrywałam to w offlinie. To nie jest gra! To coś wiecej. To wizualne ukazanie problemu depresji i tego jak to wygląda z prespektywy chorego. Mimo to, wciąga. Każdy fan jRPG znajdzie tu to czego szuka, a także czegoś sie nauczy. Tytuł polecam i po przyjacielsku radzę podejść do The Sun Will Rise z otwartą głową, bo całą fabułę należy sobie porządnie przemyśleć.