As somebody who writes about video games, I watch a particularly large amount of video game trailers. After many years of doing this (both for work and for pleasure) I like to think I’m pretty good at spotting what to expect from a game based on one of these flashy two minute videos. I was pretty certain that Sunset High would be an intriguing narrative game with a few choices to make based on its trailer, and I suppose I was partially right. It’s also a game that expects you to correctly recall lessons about quantum physics though, so if you’re expecting an easy ride then you’d better think again.
Sunset High is such a game of mystery that you don’t actually get told the name of the main character immediately. Referred to only as the last letter of your name, you set off for a normal day of school where you’ve planned to sit next to your love interest, a person you only know the first letter of their name: “K”. When you arrive, though, “K” is nowhere to be seen, and despite trying your best to find out why your teacher and classmates aren’t particularly forthcoming with information.
At the very start of the game Sunset High is an incredibly linear experience. There’s a set path (that’s literally marked out with a line made up of stationary character models of the main character) that you have to follow across the classroom alongside a set of tasks you must complete. You’ll get to meet the jocks and jerks of the school as you pass out handouts for the teacher, answer a few questions about the “Double Slit Experiment”, and eventually end the day with a screen telling you that you failed. Thankfully this is a timeloop game, so you can try and try again to solve the mystery of your missing love and this messed up educational facility.
Once you’ve failed you’ll be given the opportunity to level up one of your Persona, which are basically your personality traits. There are three of these to pick from, intelligence, aggression, and of course “the level of ferocity in which you believe in aliens”. By levelling these up between runs or by taking part in conversations involving these traits, you’ll unlock new conversation options which will hopefully (but not definitely) help you progress on your quest.
Progression is a bit of a touchy subject with me when it comes to Sunset High, because it’s not a remotely easy game to move forward in. You’ll get given quests which will generally point you in a direction towards something new, but you’ll often need exact Persona levels and to pick some very specific conversation options to ensure you do. This is at least helped by the fact that you can rewind or fast forward time at any moment, from fairly early into the game, which means you aren’t too badly punished for a single wrong choice.
So you probably now understand that Sunset High requires all your attention, but you also need to know that it’s very bizarre and very dark. It’s also full of little pointless Easter eggs, and I suppose even alternate endings that you’ll almost definitely discover while looking for ways to get out of this nightmarish time loop. One of the first of these I found was when I selected to “Give Up” instead of having another repeated day of school. I was sent to a screen where my character sat staring and pulsating with a constant flow of negative thoughts scrolling to the side of him. If there was a way to stop this I couldn’t find it, and I ended up having to hard close the game to continue. I have to admit, the game really listened to me when I told it that I was ready to give up.
Another early bizarre moment is at the end of your first day, where you are confronted by the teacher. She’s one of many characters you’ll chat to in the timeloop classroom, although the only one who isn’t part of a classic school clique. She’ll challenge you to a pop quiz about the lesson, and eventually ask you impossible questions about the mystery at large. This might sound normal, but it’s presented as a classic RPG battle with options to choose from like “Flee” (which does nothing) and health bars that’ll drop for correct and incorrect answers. Sunset High is just so unapologetic in everything it decides to do, and it’s hard not to love that.
It’s this unapologetic side of the game that also hurts it the most though. So few aspects of the game are well explained, and this almost always leads to confusion. Like the Persona system which resets your level each day without telling you, or the fact that levelling one Persona drops the level of the others. You’ll slowly work this out with moments of frustration, which no amount of rewinding will fix. Those big brained folks who love solving mysteries and learning about mechanics by trial and error may end up adoring this side of the game, but I just didn’t.
Sunset High is an absolutely fascinating game that made me wish I was both more patient and more intelligent. It’s full of interesting ideas, unexpected moments, and dark twists, and it does not care if you are struggling to progress. It will not be to everyone’s taste, but those who love it will love it hard.