Heartstring-tugging eco-adventure Endling begins its journey today

destructoid.com:

After several long, painstaking years of development, developer Herobeat is finally ready to let the cubs run free: Today sees the arrival of the dramatic, evocative, eco-conscious adventure title Endling — available to purchase now on PlayStation, PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch platforms.

Set against the backdrop of a planet that has eaten itself alive with carelessness and selfish avarice, Endling is the tale of a mother vixen — the last adult fox alive — who leaves the decreasing safety of her den to guide her three cubs out into an uncaring world in search of a safe haven in which they may hopefully survive, thrive, and perhaps even find a sliver of light for the future of their own species.

As the watchful mother, it is the player’s task to guide the cubs through a hazardous side-scrolling world, providing safety and sustenance while raising the youngsters to adapt to the terrain, predators, and prey encountered en route. Against the backdrop of man’s hostility to man, the heroic family must defy seemingly impossible odds if they are to see tomorrow, with danger beckoning from every bracket, roadway, and shadow.

Endling utilizes effective visual storytelling, an evocative score, and beautifully stylized visuals to tell a tale of hope, despair, adventure, and bravery, all underlined with a desperate message of survival. I first wrote about Endling back in 2019, and that feels a whole other world away. I write this sweltering in my chair, as England is experiencing, legitimately, the highest heat temperatures since records began. On a global, ecological, and socio-political basis, times have sure changed in the short years since Endling began development, with its underlying message ringing truer today than it did