Nine Sols [PEGI 16] is an action-platformer game with Metroidvania elements that is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. You play as a cyborg humanoid cat called Yi as he makes his way through a “Taopunk” world on a quest for revenge.
The game has challenging combat where enemies and bosses can defeat you in just a handful of attacks. The game encourages you to use timed parries, blocks and dodges to overcome your foes. However, you can make the game easier by selecting “Story Mode” when selecting a difficulty.
Story Mode
Story Mode offers two combat multipliers – one to adjust how much damage enemies receive, and another for reducing the amount of damage you receive.
The Attack Multiplier’s default setting is at 150% when starting Story Mode. However, you can decrease this to 100% (the default attack strength in Standard Mode) and increase it up to 1,000%. You can adjust the multiplier in increments of 10.
The Injury Multiplier’s default setting is 25% on Story Mode. You can reduce this value to 1% and increase it up to 100% by adjusting the multiplier in increments of 1.
Controls
The game requires a single joystick and most buttons on a gamepad to play, with the button interactions involving either a single press or a hold to perform actions. The Right Stick is optional and you can play the entire game without needing it.
Left Stick = Control Character
Right Stick (optional) = Look around to see further ahead without moving your character/scroll through lore
Cross (PlayStation)/A (Xbox)/B (Nintendo Switch) = Jump
Circle/B/A = Interact/hook [press]/Hack when controlling Mystic Nymph [hold]
Square/X/Y = Attack [press]/Charged Attack (when unlocked) [hold]
Triangle/Y/X = Shoot Arrow (when unlocked)
L1/LB/L = Parry/Block [press]/Unbounded Counter (when unlocked) [hold]
L2/LT/ZL = Mystic Nymph
R1/RB/R = Attach Talisman to enemy [press]/Detonate Talisman Explosion [hold]
R2/RT/ZR = Dodge [press]/Sprint (when unlocked) [hold]
D-pad Up = Heal
D-pad Left/Right = Change Arrow Type (when unlocked)
There are segments of the game where you need to hack into machines to open doors and chests, which involve inputting a sequence of 4 D-pad buttons in a set amount of time. Each sequence is randomly generated so the D-pad buttons you need to press for a sequence will be different each time. You can also use the Left Stick directions to perform the hacking action.
You can also remap the controls in the game, including the individual stick directions on the Left Stick. You can only remap inputs that are displayed within the remapping menu, which include the Left Stick, face buttons, shoulder buttons, and D-pad buttons. You are unable to assign any inputs to the Right Stick, Stick Clicks, or Menu buttons.
We hope that this post has been useful. For more information of the accessibility features found in other titles, please use the “Games” category on the site.
Developer Resource:
For video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their games, please visit https://specialeffectdevkit.info/
Examples of how other titles ‘give players options to power up their various abilities in the game’ similar to the Attack Multiplier and Injury Multiplier in Nine Sols, can be found in module 6.2 Player Strength