Endling: Extinction is Forever

With all the hype surrounding that stray cat game, I hope that the similarly-themed Endling: Extinction is Forever will not be completely overshadowed. This four-legged adventure tosses us into an ever-changing world that forces a fox and her young cubs to not only survive the hostile weather conditions, but also humans, predators and, worst of all, deforestation. This is an emotional journey that is equal parts heart-wrenching and life-affirming, creating the kind of must-play game that only comes around every so often. This is my review of Endling: Extinction is Forever.

Forget Horizon: Forbidden West and Elden Ring, because Endling has the year’s most exciting start. As a fox, we race through the burning forest, avoiding falling trees, out-of-control flames, cars and everything else that gets in the way. What we don’t realize at the time is that the fox has a great reason to make it to safety, because she’s about to birth four adorable cubs. That’s right, this isn’t story about a lone fox, but rather an entire family that we’ll need to feed and nurture. Suddenly, things got a lot more complicated.

At first, life is all about exploring the winter wonderland and scrounge for food the fox can take back to the youngsters in the lair. However, that mission quickly changes when one of the cubs gets nabbed by a mysterious man. This lights a fire in the belly of the new mother to rescue her cub and reunite the family once and for all. Now, it’s up to the young family to work together to sniff out clues and fight back, all while scavenging for food and avoiding the forest’s many predators.

Endling plays out episodically, with each level represented by a single night. Because foxes are nocturnal, we’re only given a short amount of time each night to investigate the surroundings, gobble up food and search for important clues. But don’t stay out too long, because once night turns to day, the humans come out in full force, and one shot of their gun is all it takes to leave the cubs motherless. This is where we’ll need to use our instincts and stealthy maneuvers to stay alive and teach the cubs some important lessons.

It's worth mentioning that all this is happening on a 2.5D plane. Although it looks 3D, this is very much a side-scrolling adventure game. It’s also an open world, so you’ll need to make note of the different paths we can take as we further explore the ever-changing forest. Getting around is a little hard at first, but we quickly learn the markers that denote a new path. We can also check the map, just in case we need to figure out where to go next and how to get there.

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The game also helps us get around by leaving scents to important clues. Any time we pick up a purple scent, we know that the fox-napper has left three more items for us to investigate, getting us one step closer to rescuing the cub. The game will also highlight nearby food that you can either kill or collect. And in one of the best moves the developers could have made, the game will straight-up show us how to get back to the cave when the night is about to end. This saves us from having to constantly pull up the map.

Now, I use the words “ever-changing” to describe the forest, because this is one of those games where the open world is constantly changing around us. At first it’s just the shift from winter to spring, but then you’ll quickly realize that the influx of humans is bad news. There are fewer trees every day, and people seem to be leaving more garbage around. There are suddenly refugees living here and big corporations making it hard for the wildlife to survive. Watching the forest change from day to day is just as compelling (and sad) as tracking down the missing cub.

I think it’s clear that this game comes with a message about nature and how humans are encroaching on the forests that house wolves, bears and all kinds of other wild animals. While there are a few friendly humans here and there, we are clearly the bad guys. Of course, that was probably obvious when you read the subtitle. While I’m sure there are people who will complain that the message is a bit heavy-handed, I didn’t mind. I like that it takes us on an emotional journey through a forest in constant flux, and it’s cool how the open world changes with the story. I wish more games would commit to a message and play it out to an extreme degree.

It helps that the fox-napping mystery is compelling and exploring the every-changing open world is a lot of fun. I especially like how we’re constantly teaching the cubs new life-lessons that they’ll take with them well into the future. This is an incredibly emotional story full of ups and downs, but it’s also hopeful and life-affirming. There’s a nice balance here. There are some incredibly depressing moments, yet there are just as many joyous, even comical sections that will stick with you for years to come. It’s a story about persisting and never giving up, even when everything is stacked against us. Even though it’s about a fox and her cubs, there’s a lot of humanity sprinkled throughout the adventure, and the final act is truly something special.

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And let’s not forget that the game is absolutely gorgeous. From the opening run through a forest fire, you know that this is going to be a visual treat. This is a game that will stun you with its beauty, only to slowly have the game turn into a literal garbage dumb. But even at its dingiest, the backgrounds are always detailed and full of life. And it’s not just the backgrounds, but also the cartoony humans you interact with. This is the kind of game that shows you the story without saying a word, so paying attention to the small (and sometimes heart-wrenching) details is a must.

Endling is the kind of game that knows what it wants to say and then perfectly executes on that plan. It has a deep and moving story that immediately throws you into the hotseat and barely gives you a moment to breathe. While a little confusing at first, the world is fun to explore and constantly changing as the cubs grow and learn more tricks. From the gameplay to the graphics to the calming acoustic music, this game does just about everything right, including the environmental message, which I didn’t find to be too heavy-handed. Endling: Extinction is Forever may have a depressing title, but it’s easily one of the best games I’ve played this year.