There Isn’t a More Badass Character Than Children of the Sun’s Psychokinetic Teenager on an Ultraviolent Murder Spree

In the heart of the Children of the Sun‘s dark woods, bathed in the glow of a full moon, I spy my targets illuminated in yellow. The words “Being Stuck” materialize in a flickering gothic font, but I focus on the task at hand. Positioned behind a boulder, I aim and swiftly dispatch the first with a single shot, blood splattering. I pivot to target the second, his face twisted in fear, poised to flee toward what’s presumably a getaway car. I look around, but I can’t spot any other enemies in sight for the life of me. I press pause to restart and try again.

From the outskirts of the woods, I spot the missing enemies sitting by a car to the right. I headshot both targets on the left, and aim toward the missing three. I can’t spot them. There’s a huge boulder blocking the way. I restart.

I headshot the targets on the right, and look to the left. I can’t see them—the boulder didn’t miraculously disappear. Restart.

I try a different chain of headshots on the targets on the right. The boulder seems to have grown larger. Restart.

The “Being Stuck” title does its little dance, but before I can sarcastically retort with a “No kidding” to the silent screen, a white subheading clicks: “Gas Tanks make the World burn brighter.”

I aim for the green fuel caps in the cars. Everyone explodes into tiny little pieces.

A gothic “Dead” text floods the screen while a deafening crunch fills my headphones. Against the backdrop of Children of the Sun‘s indigo hue, my hand involuntarily rises. I struggle to resist the urge as my fingers form an awkward configuration—index and pinky up, middle fingers down, and thumb hidden. A horn hand? Seriously?

Meet Children of the Sun’s Protagonist

“No Peace,” reads the back of our nameless, masked sniper’s hoodie, the only piece of writing over her lanky teenage frame. The quote is a red flag to anyone wanting to get close to her. Since nobody ever sees her, most people ignore the red flag. 

Children of the Sun‘s sniper hits to quench her thirst for revenge. She has no name and no life. When we first see her, she licks the barrel of her sniper rifle before deciding to Go Hunting, taking on four cultists with a single bullet. When the sun goes down, she hunts cultists to avenge her father. When the sun rises, she snipes fish and birds for breakfast. The two jobs represent no conflict for her: She snipes.

She is a solitary and forbidding figure, even more so when all enemy bodies drop dead on the ground.

One bullet is all you have to orchestrate her kinetic murderous spree. Having eerie psychokinetic abilities pays off here. Each bullet finds its mark — be it a cultist, a car’s fuel cap, or a poor, unfortunate, migrating bird — and stretches time as you become one with the projectile.

You can line up as many bodies as you like, but if you exhaust your targets and there are still cultists alive, it’s game over. Pine trees and doorframes are, weirdly, your biggest enemies. If you so much as graze them with a bullet, the cultists will hear you, spelling immediate defeat.

A Cunning, Reckless Menace

Children of the Sun is an episodic puzzle shooter, but your rehearsed choreography still leaves room for spontaneity. As you navigate the outskirts of forests, motels, or gas stations, you ponder your first move, but you can’t predict the bullet’s path from the sidelines. Once the first — and only — bullet has been fired, it’s showtime. Whether you execute the plan as intended or improvise a few kills along the way, the show must go on. 

Our teenage protagonist’s issues started long before we entered the scene, but don’t think her skillset is written in stone. You master the art of curving, redirecting, and supercharging bullets. As your skills level up, the game throws tougher challenges your way, with more cultists itching for a fight. Some hide behind long shields, while others sport full-body armor. Then there are those joyriding lunatics and psychic troublemakers who can throw your aim off course. It’s a constant battle of adaptation. 

Children of the Sun is an extreme game, ultraviolent, pitiless, and calculating. You might find yourself crouched at the edge of a motel teeming with cultists, silently adjusting your aim with the scroll wheel, but the moment that bullet flies, a hunger for bloodshed takes over. You shoot fast to boost your combo count, pressing buttons hard to empower your bullets to pierce enemy armor — you become an absolute savage.

Shoot to Thrill

I can’t say that in this episodic murder rampage published by Devolver, I found every level to be a hit. But Children of the Sun oozes so much style that you can’t help but overlook any slight imperfections in its formula.

As you scout the outskirts of the grainy, purple, and pink landscapes hoping to mark every yellow cultist poncho on the field, it’s hard to remember you’re just an average human being sitting behind a screen.

Children of the Sun is a weird acid-trip puzzle, reminding you that a 15-hour game with zero dialogue and a single bullet can forever alter your brain chemistry.

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About the Author

Cande Maldonado

Editor

Cande’s calling in life is to annoy NPCS, smash virtual pottery, and complete every side quest available in RPGs. Her passion for games dates to 2006, when she mounted a Chocobo for the first time, but she has been writing professionally for the past four years. Under Nintendo and Square Enix’s chokehold, she willingly pours hours upon hours into reaching 100% completion in the longest roleplaying games ever made. But hey, who needs fresh air and sunlight when you can just live in Ivalice?

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