Narrative-based games have increasingly become one of my favorite genres. Offering a good sense of exploration while uncovering story elements without having to worry about how good your aim is, offers a nice break from more traditional games. When I saw Storm in a Teacup’s narrative-driven game, Close to the Sun, was heading to the Nintendo Switch, I was very excited. What kind of adventure would the Steam Punk world of Nikola Tesla offer and how well does the experience translate to Switch? After spending time with the game I now have the answers to both these questions!

Story

Journalist Rose Archer has received a letter from her sister Ada, asking her to come to the super ship Helios. Helios was built by the renowned inventor Nikola Tesla as a haven for scientific research and development. Things seem to have taken a turn for the worse as Rose arrives at a derelict Helios. What the heck is going on?!

Gameplay

Being a narrative-driven game, the main gameplay for Close to the Sun involves exploring your environment. The Helios is a massive ship and a very interesting setting. The event that happened to put it in its current state has made it a very creepy place to explore. Right from the get-go, you know something isn’t right as things are strewn about and disorderly. It doesn’t take long before you are finding torn apart bodies and blood trails.

Uncovering the truth behind what happened on the Helios can be done by finding clues during each of the game’s chapters or by experiencing flashbacks. I found the flashback sequences to be interesting and I enjoyed finding them. The tense atmosphere makes exploration feel slightly foreboding, and my aversion to horror gave me a tough time during certain segments. Close to the Sun will pull out a few jump scares to try and trip you up. These mostly involve people appearing out of nowhere and I hate to admit that they got me each time…

As you continue to progress through the game you will encounter enemies. Now, this isn’t a combat-based game, so dealing with these foes involves running away. You don’t have the fastest movement speed in Close to the Sun, but escaping these enemies isn’t too difficult. At times I do wish that you moved a bit faster though, as the slow speed feels a little too slow for my preference. Holding the ZR or R buttons does give you a bit of a speed boost but it really isn’t much.

Another source of the narrative comes from Rose’s sister Ada who will talk to you over a radio communicator you were given at the beginning of the game. These conversations are interesting, though in the beginning might seem oddly evasive and non-helpful. Dang it, Ada, just tell us what the frick is going on the first time we asked! After finishing the game I did gain an appreciation for how it played out.

Ada also serves as your navigation guide. She will tell you where you need to go next and offer little clues on how to get there. Of course, the path to get to where you need to isn’t free from obstacles. You can encounter the previously mentioned enemies or encounter a puzzle of some kind. Puzzle-solving in Close to the Sun wasn’t exceptionally difficult with many of the clues being within a few feet of the player at any given point.

Visuals

Now as good as the journey to discovering answers are, it is held back by its presentation on the Switch. Graphics are heavily downgraded to work on Nintendo’s hybrid console. Everything is extremely blurry, and trying to read some of the in-game items is practically impossible. There is a way to examine objects that will bring up the relevant text but still, there are a lot more details that just won’t be visible. There will also be moments of noticeable performance drops and animations that are playing at a lower framerate than you would expect. Again, all unfortunate cuts to get the game up and running on the mobile hardware. For me, the best experience came from playing in handheld mode on a Switch Lite to help mask more of the blurriness.

Audio

Thankfully there doesn’t seem to be any cuts to the audio quality on Switch. All voice work and sound effects sound clear and punctuated. The atmospheric ambiance and music also sound top-notch!

Replayability

After you complete the game you can come back for more in an attempt to find all of the hidden collectibles within each chapter. I didn’t find very many during my casual playthrough, so they are pretty well hidden.

What It Could Have Done Better

As far as game content goes for Close to the Sun, I was pretty happy. The chase segments can get a bit repetitive but never obnoxious to me. The biggest downfall for the Switch version of the game purely comes from the presentation. I couldn’t quite get used to the blurry look on everything sadly.

Verdict

Overall I found Close to the Sun to be a tense journey well worth playing. That being said I would recommend playing it on either PC, PS4 or Xbox One over the Switch iteration. The Switch’s cut-back presentation can really detract from the game’s overall experience and this is a game worth experiencing at its best.