I discovered Hello Sunshine at the Tokyo Game Show this week, which felt like kismet, as I was destined to play it at Gamescom in August and missed my opportunity. Man, am I glad the folks from Red Thread Games (a very small team) travelled to Japan to showcase their survival game that could tell the tale of our future.
In Hello Sunshine, you assume control of The Nomad, a character left alive at the end of the world, with the planet having been brought to its knees by a dominating corporation that ruined everything. Unfortunately, you’re still an employee of that corporation.
It’s not a stretch to say that Hello Sunshine is technically my top pick from everything on display at the Tokyo Game Show, and I’ll explain why…
Hello Sunshine, Goodbye The World We Know
Hello Sunshine gripped me from the moment I started running around in the world, being effectively crisped by a scorching sun that has disrupted the Earth’s atmosphere, turning it into a barren, sandy wasteland.
I was immediately introduced to The Nomad, the final employee of Sunshine, a mysterious corporation that brought about the end of the world while ironically promising a brighter future. In one way, they succeeded, as that throbbing hunk of flaming gas in the sky now illuminates every stretch of the world around you.
Shortly after greeting The Nomad, I met an enormous robot with a strange personality. For some reason, this robot protects you against more threatening mechanical entities, and he (he?) also provides respite from the glaring sun as he marches inexorably across the post-apocalyptic wasteland.
As Hello Sunshine unravels, you’ll build a relationship with this robot. It’s up to you to repair him, customize him, and upgrade him, allowing him to serve as a roving companion with some enhanced survival-based abilities. There’s no telling yet where the story will lead you, but you’re travelling towards something in the distance, which could be a way out of the end-of-the-world scenario you find yourself embroiled in.
I quickly fell in love with Hello Sunshine for a number of reasons.
The movement mechanics feel like they’re straight out of ARC Raiders, a game whose traversal systems I’ve been a fan of since it came out. I mentioned that to the team from Red Thread, and they let me know that ARC Raiders was one of the games they studied when piecing together Hello Sunshine.
It’s fluid, smooth, flexible, and weighty.
That naturally translates into the game’s exploration elements. As you walk behind your robot buddy along the long, almost endless road, you’ll dip away here and there to scour a ruined building or some remnant of days gone by. This is where combat crops up too, with The Nomad needing to defend herself against the Sunshine Corporation’s long-forgotten sentinels.
The game features a clever day-night cycle that has meaning. When darkness falls, so does the temperature, and you can stay out and explore away from the blistering heat, but now you’re forced to contend with the cold. While the daytime had you seeking shade and gulping down Purelite water, you’re now trying to stay warm at all costs, and that usually means staying close to your robot, which generates a vast amount of heat.
But at night, you can get busy. You’ll stop at Sunshine gas stations, which come equipped with 3D printers, crafting benches, camps, and cooking facilities. It’s here that you’ll end your day, hand in whatever tasks you’ve completed, prepare for the runs ahead, and maybe meet other strangers roaming the wastes.
Surviving The Sunshine
It’s immediately clear how hostile the world around you is. This ‘survival RPG’ isn’t crushing when it comes to difficulty, but you’ll need to manage your inventory, exposure, and equipment effectively. That means keeping things in tip-top shape, probing buildings and wrecks for precious resources, and maximizing your time at the gas stations to keep evolving as you trundle further down that long road towards whatever it is that’s looming on the horizon.
I noticed that, at the beginning of the game, the gargantuan robot that saved my life doesn’t really give a damn about me soon after. He wanders off down the street without a care in the world. But the team at Red Thread advised me that things will change, and as you talk to the robot and maintain him, you’ll build a bond that could even stretch to a ‘friendship’ of sorts.
I was getting Titanfall 2 vibes when they told me that (bless you, BT).
The demo I played barely scratched the surface, though. The survival elements run deep, and when you’ve advanced further, you’ll have salvaged bots to help you explore and loot the world; you’ll earn promotions from the corporation, and you’ll become a force to be reckoned with in this ruined, desolate wasteland.
Also, if you’re the kind of person who likes to play with someone else, you’ll be pleased to learn that Hello Sunshine boasts a full-fledged cooperative mode. It’s not the same experience, as it includes elements like resource trading, but it’s an alternate perspective that offers another layer to the game.
Red Thread Games is a tiny studio that doesn’t even number ten developers, but what they’ve produced in Hello Sunshine is absolutely wonderful. This isn’t their first outing, though. The studio has previously developed the likes of Draugen, Dustborn, and Dreamfall Chapters, all of which have done pretty well on Steam.
But back to Hello Sunshine.
It’s visually impressive, plays very smoothly, and has some unique elements that add charm to the vibe, such as the in-game art and the UI. There’s even a Fallout-like sense of satire in the parody of the corporations that seek to take over our real world.
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That’s what I mean when I say that Hello Sunshine could offer a glimpse at our future. It’s all automated cars and robot delivery vehicles. We’re like… there already.fte
I’d also love to point out that the robot is adorable. In one sequence, I watched as he stood alongside a gas station and plucked an antenna from the roof with childlike curiosity and wonder. When he realized he couldn’t simply plug it back in, he faltered for a moment, then gently laid it down on top of the building.
I just know he’s going to be so much fun to study when the game comes out. Not that we know when that will be, of course. But this is definitely one for your wishlist.
Does Hello Sunshine look like your kind of game? Let us know what you think on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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