Many thank’s to Profour for providing the preview code
The Dog Days
Fire Dogs is a short exploration game based on Korean mythology. The developers allowed me to preview this game which is currently in Early Access. If you like your walking simulators but need more dogs in them then maybe this is for you.
The game puts you in the paws of a mythological dog known as a Bulgae, working for the King of Darkness. The King of Darkness is finding the realm a little too dark so sends out the Bulgae to retrieve the Sun. It’s a tale that recounts the origins of the Eclipse and I really enjoyed looking up the mythology this game is based on. In the game you play as the wolf-like character as you explore the human realm looking for shrines to power yourself up in order to grab the Sun. That is basically the game in its current form. Run around a fairly large open area looking for some glowing shrines. Activate them by howling at them and do this seven times before ascending to the palace and finishing the game.
Considering the game is based on Korean mythology it currently doesn’t give a lot of context to this within its narrative. The game has no narration or documents to discover and read to learn more about its inspiration. The story the mythology is based on is also not finished which gives the impression there may be a lot more game to come.
Explore and Howl
The controls are rather interesting considering this game is basically a walking simulator. The main controls are movement and jumping. When you find a shrine you automatically howl at it to activate. But if that’s not enough dog behaviour for you, you can push any of the D-pad directions and get your dog to sit down, dig a hole or just howl on que. It’s kinda fun to mess around with but all these actions currently serve no purpose to gameplay. But they sure make you feel more like a dog.
The game also offers online multiplayer. You can choose to just play the game solo but alternatively you can host a public game and if you’re lucky a random dog might join you. Unfortunately during my three playthroughs on separate occasions I was not lucky enough to find another companion to enjoy wolf antics with.
Good Boy
In its current form on your first playthrough you will finish this dog adventure in no more than 30 minutes. Unless of course you really enjoy hanging around as a dog. Now the game is in Early Access and available at an incredibly cheap price (under £3 in the UK). While very short I did find the experience quite relaxing, somewhat akin to games like Journey. Now in fairness this game doesn’t quite live up that in its current form but who knows maybe this will be the next dog walking simulator masterpiece. If you want to support the developers journey through Early Access, be sure to pick this game up and have a jolly good time playing as a pooch. Good boy.
