飛天小笨鯨

I successfully played a video game called “Endling - Extinction is Forever” last weekend. It is about how the last fox mother on Earth strives to survive with her cubs on the doomsday. Gamers take on the role of the mother fox, who  not only has to take care of her three cubs but also find one missing cub captured by humans. I was tempted to pre-order this game immediately due to the adorable foxes as well as the issues of animal welfare and ecology this game raises.

Surpassing my expectations, this game is based on a short and simple story. However, its meaning is far from light. It was with a heavy heart that I finished this game. Even though I held back my tears, at the bottom of my heart deep bouts of sorrow pierced me. This emotion went deeper than the game's tragic ending. When realizing that the cruelty of the real world is much greater than any fictional story, the sense of tragedy was inescapable.

“Endling - Extinction is Forever” allows gamers to feel the perspective of animals and the sense of powerlessness when facing human threats and environmental destruction. This video game helped me feel more empathy for the plight of animals and their emotions.

Besides natural enemies such as the owls, what more terrible was slaughter by human or traps everywhere. Moreover, the fox mother we played had no choice but to feed my cubs garbage for lack of food. Sometimes the fox mother’s head was stuck in plastic, and this annoyed and frustrated me. I was especially shocked by the last scene!

In the catastrophic world depicted by “Endling - Extinction is Forever,” it is not difficult to speculate that as the fox mother, all things will be destroyed. On this dark night of despair, perhaps the occasional kindness and warmth amidst different species or the willpower to survive provide the glimmers of hopeful light.

“Endling - Extinction is Forever” is a short game, but I recommend trying it. I believe our perception of life and ecology may be reshaped via experiencing this heartbreaking adventure.

If the main theme of “Endling - Extinction is Forever” is about destruction and hopelessness. I expect the sequel will be about rebirth and hope which will give the audience a more positive perspective on life.