Endling: Extinction is Forever Reviews
Endling – Extinction is Forever is a powerful game. It deftly highlights human greed, corruption, and our unique knack for environmental devastation. At the same time, it offers glimmers of hope and redemption, tiny bright spots that manage to shine through the encroaching darkness. The trials and tribulations of the traumatized fox at the heart of the game will leave your heart aching and bruised, and you’ll be left somehow simultaneously saddened and enraged. Such sorrowful fury is meant to be a powerful motivator: use it.
Without using a single word in its narrative, Endling - Extinction is Forever is a landmark game that offers one of the most exhilarating experiences available in the Switch library. Even if its gameplay leaves something to be desired in terms of depth and diversity, this survival indie does something much more important with its premises, which is to promote a reflection on the possible extinction of our planet's environment, an agenda that, unfortunately, is often overlooked and forgotten in many social and political debates of this chaotic 21st century.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Endling - Extinction is Forever is not a game for people who deny our destruction of the world. If you think that our pollution and constant expansion is a good thing, then this game may be uncomfortable for you as it doesn’t pull any punches. It's is an experience worth having, and with a length of about four hours, it’s a tight, polished experience that doesn’t have any fluff.
Endling – Extinction is Forever is a beautiful, heartfelt journey but one that is also tragic and cruel. It really goes into how man’s actions on the environment have far reaching consequences and I applaud Herobeat Studios for building a game around this message. The only downside of it to me is that I wish it had a bit more variety in some parts. If you love animals and are looking for a game that will hit you right in the feels then Endling is a must-play.
Endling conveys a necessary message through a moving story and entertaining and satisfying gameplay. The herobeat Studios video game is a must.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Endling: Extinction Is Forever may not be perfect, but the story and experience it provides is a cut above.
An exciting, tragic and narratively impactful journey that deals with its themes in a bold and never sloppy way.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Play as a mother fox looking for her missing cub in a post-apocalyptic future where Earth is slowly dying. A scrappy survival tale with moments of tension and tenderness.
Endling: Extinction is Forever has moments of heart and engaging gameplay with its interesting blend of survival management and immersive narrative adventure. However, it screws the pooch by giving us too much of its message while not motivating us to play more because of its slow pacing and unclear tutorials. Don't be mistaken, there is an excellent game underneath the many frustrating elements.
Endling is a heartbreaking, yet honest and necessary take on the human effect on natural habitats. The harrowing tale is masterfully paired with this fresh take on the survival genre. Despite a few minor critiques when it comes to navigation and occasional unlucky scenarios, Endling is a dime a dozen type of experience worthy of your attention.
Foxes are one of nature’s most incredible creatures. Playful like dogs, sleek and curious like cats, they exist as the woodland critter most likely to lift your spirits at any given moment. They tend to show up in video games frequently, often as playable characters, like in Spirit of the North. But in Endling – Extinction is Forever, the player must do their best to ensure the survival of an entire fox family. This may sound like a quaint and low-key experience, but it is, in fact, incredibly stressful and leads to some harrowing and intense moments. Beautifully animated and designed, Endling is a thought-provoking and powerful fable on the importance of preservation and environmental protection.
“Endling” isn’t the sort of game you might settle down to play after a long day of doomscrolling through social media; it’s the sort that forces you to confront the monstrous scale and toll of human activity on the ecosystem and the planet. And yet, even as a deeply apocalyptic look at what feels like the imminent end of our world, the game’s profound pessimism doesn’t stray too far from the truth. Scientists have already warned that we are in danger of losing 20 to 50 percent of all species by the end of this century; the bulk of this is due to human activity.
There are plenty of games that approach the subject of the upcoming apocalypse by the hand of humans and their constant influence on Earth’s decay, and although Endling: Extinction is Forever shows but a slice of the effects of our actions upon the planet, it does so in a way that’s sure to leave a mark on you. It isn’t the most action-intensive game you’ll ever play, but it’s fantastic in a way that very few games manage to be with the limited scope that it’s given.