Sunlight

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"Sunlight" is a 30-minute exploration game featuring a vibrant, hand-painted 3D world inspired by expressionist art. Players journey through a forest with trees speaking in harmonized whispers, using different voices, genders, and dialects. The game boasts a powerful 3D audio experience, with hauntingly beautiful music recorded in Norway and sung by the award-winning choir Kammerkoret Aurum, along with a wide range of voice actors.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

69%

Audience ScoreBased on 251 reviews

story24 positive mentions

stability2 negative mentions

The game features stunning visuals and a beautiful art style that enhances the overall experience.
The audio design, including the diverse voices and music, creates a meditative and immersive atmosphere.
Sunlight is a unique artistic experience that encourages philosophical reflection and emotional engagement.

The gameplay is extremely limited, consisting mainly of slow walking and flower picking, which can feel repetitive and tedious.
Many players found the overlapping voices difficult to understand, leading to frustration and a lack of clarity in the narrative.
The game is very short, lasting only about 30 minutes, which some players felt did not justify the cost.

story
104 mentions
23 % positive mentions
67 % neutral mentions
10 % negative mentions
The story is a meditative and philosophical exploration of humanity and emotional connection, delivered through various voices as players navigate a visually stunning environment. While some find the narrative engaging and beautifully complemented by music, others criticize it for being overly pretentious, slow-paced, and lacking substantial progression. Overall, enjoyment of the game heavily depends on one's appreciation for its abstract storytelling style and immersive audio-visual experience.
- “A charming stroll through an endless forest with fantastic voice acting, beautiful music, and a beguiling story.”
- “Artful and mindful experience of escaping from reality for thirty minutes to walk through the forest, where beautifully painted trees tell you a philosophical story with many different voices, accompanied by Tchaikovsky's glorious music.”
- “Listen to the story and realize we are all one.”
- “The story showcases the literary prowess of a high school English student, and like a high school English student, it stretches its writing, somehow making a short story with very little progression last 30 minutes.”
- “Unfortunately, the story text consists almost entirely of 'philosophical rambling', the kind of monologuing where, after all is said and done, you remember they said a lot of things, but you can't think of anything they actually said.”
- “I'm normally a fan of walking sims, but there's literally nothing except walking forward and occasionally picking up a flower while a bunch of voices chant a story at you.”
music
42 mentions
43 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and emotional resonance, enhancing the overall experience with a blend of powerful soundscapes and voice acting. Many reviewers highlight the enchanting choir music and classical influences, particularly Tchaikovsky, which contribute to a meditative atmosphere. However, some feel that while the music is captivating, it sometimes suggests a depth that the game's narrative does not fully deliver.
- “Make sure that you wear a headset, because the powerful music and the effect of the voices that tell the story are a huge part of what makes this such a magical experience.”
- “A charming stroll through an endless forest with fantastic voice acting, beautiful music, and a beguiling story.”
- “Artful and mindful experience of escaping from reality for thirty minutes to walk through the forest, where beautifully painted trees tell you a philosophical story with many different voices, accompanied by Tchaikovsky's glorious music.”
- “It is like walking outside with music, but without the fresh air or movement, which are two of the most important things of taking a walk.”
- “In settings, you can turn down the voices, the music, and/or turn down the nature sounds to silent.”
- “Try just nature, no voices, no music.”
graphics
30 mentions
60 % positive mentions
30 % neutral mentions
10 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are widely praised for their stunning and evocative art style, often compared to oil paintings and watercolor visuals, which create a captivating atmosphere. Players appreciate the beautiful integration of visuals and sound design, enhancing the overall experience, despite some minor performance issues. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the game's aesthetic appeal and narrative depth.
- “I love this game's art style; more games should aim for something like this.”
- “This game's art style is absolutely amazing; the forest feels interesting and never-ending.”
- “Raw, evocative artistic expression set to lavish visuals, a divine choir, and an existentially ambiguous poem.”
- “Raw, evocative artistic expression set to lavish visuals, a divine choir, and an existentially ambiguous poem that's held back slightly by performance glitches and an off-putting ASMR introduction.”
- “🔲 Graphics don't matter in this game.”
- “The art style feels like an oil painting.”
gameplay
14 mentions
21 % positive mentions
57 % neutral mentions
21 % negative mentions
The gameplay is largely minimalistic, focusing on wandering through a forest to collect flowers and listen to the story, with no puzzles or significant challenges involved. While some players appreciate the relaxing nature and narrative flow, others find the repetitive mechanics frustrating and lacking depth. Overall, it serves more as an interactive experience than a traditional game, with a completion time of about 30 minutes.
- “It's gameplay allows you to sit back and relax while allowing the story to flow around you.”
- “Genius game with a killer mechanic.”
- “It has an actual ending, with what I think to be a geniusly simplistic use of an input mechanic.”
- “Gameplay is pretty much non-existent—you walk to the next flower, pick it up, and repeat.”
- “There are no puzzles or actual gameplay, and the game itself takes about 30 minutes to complete.”
- “From a practical gameplay standpoint, you really just wander the forest listening to the exposition while gathering flowers for a bouquet which you will eventually carry to the edge of what has already been experienced by previous players to drop your bouquet along with a closing thought.”
atmosphere
8 mentions
25 % positive mentions
63 % neutral mentions
13 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is generally appreciated for its immersive qualities, particularly in forest settings, though some players feel that certain gameplay mechanics, like floating, can detract from the overall experience. Overall, the atmosphere invites players to simply enjoy the environment, despite some criticisms regarding immersion.
- “Love the forest atmosphere here.”
- “Not much to it, so just enjoy the atmosphere for a bit.”
- “Floating around like a ghost detracts from the immersion and the impact of the atmosphere and story.”
emotional
8 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is polarizing; while some players find the finale deeply moving and appreciate the story's emotional weight, others criticize it as pretentious and lacking depth. The game's aesthetic and music contribute positively to the experience, but the minimal gameplay elements can leave players feeling disconnected. Overall, opinions vary widely, suggesting that personal taste will heavily influence one's emotional response to the game.
- “The finale was too emotional for me.”
- “If you don't expect any game elements other than occasional flower picking, I'd say yes, given that it is pretty to look at, the story, while somewhat pretentious, carries emotional weight, and the music and voices blend together to make a nice experience.”
- “The story, while somewhat pretentious, carries emotional weight, and the music and voices blend together to make a nice experience.”
optimization
4 mentions
50 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is generally praised for its impressive performance and stunning visuals, but it is marred by occasional performance glitches and an awkward ASMR introduction that detracts from the overall experience.
- “Really a great performance.”
- “Raw, evocative artistic expression set to lavish visuals, a divine choir, and an existentially ambiguous poem that's held back slightly by performance glitches and an off-putting ASMR introduction.”
replayability
4 mentions
75 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Users consistently highlight the game's "infinitely replayable" nature, indicating that it offers a compelling experience that encourages multiple playthroughs.
- “The game is infinitely replayable, offering new experiences with each playthrough.”
- “I love how the game is infinitely replayable; there's always something new to discover.”
- “With its infinitely replayable nature, I find myself coming back to this game time and time again.”
stability
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is marred by performance glitches that detract from its otherwise stunning artistic presentation and immersive experience. Additionally, the introduction's ASMR elements may be off-putting for some players, further impacting the overall stability of the experience.
- “Raw, evocative artistic expression set to lavish visuals, a divine choir, and an existentially ambiguous poem that's held back slightly by performance glitches and an off-putting ASMR introduction.”