Funeral for the Sun Review Summary

A gripping detective story with gorgeous unique art, though backtracking, missed interactables, notebook limits, and unclear clues can weaken deductions.

Compelling and gripping story: The narrative is widely praised as brilliant, immersive, and emotionally engaging, with many players highlighting its twists and the way it hooks them from the start. The multi-generational family saga set in a Latin American town is particularly noted for its depth and expansiveness.

Outstanding detective deduction game: Players consistently praise the game as a top-tier detective and deduction experience, with many calling it one of the best in the genre. The core puzzle-solving and investigation mechanics are repeatedly highlighted as engaging and rewarding.

Gorgeous unique art style: The watercolor-style art is frequently described as beautiful, unique, and full of personality. Reviewers emphasize how the visual design enhances the overall experience and sets the game apart.

Deep and realistic characters: Characters are often described as feeling like real people, with compelling relationships and development that make the story engaging. Players appreciate the large cast and the meaningful connections between them.

Excellent music and soundtrack: The music and soundtrack are repeatedly commended as gorgeous, moody, and well-composed, adding significantly to the game's atmosphere. Reviewers often mention the music alongside the art as a standout feature.

Backtracking and missed interactables: Players struggle to find missed flowers and previously interacted points because there are no clear markers or indications of what has been done. Backtracking without direction becomes tedious and frustrating.

Notebook and memory limitations: The notebook's memory function requires manual saving, can save duplicates, and copies entire text rather than allowing selective marking, while being hidden behind a character edit pop-up. This makes referring back to clues cumbersome and inefficient.

Unclear clues and weak deductions: Some clues are faintly mentioned, leading to stuck progression, and deductions often feel like guesswork with haphazard logic. The setup also allows the mystery to be solved too quickly, diminishing satisfaction.

Lack of hint system: No gentle hint system causes players to hit walls when missing key items like flowers or portraits, making progression feel stuck and frustrating. The complexity of matching characters and clues exacerbates the issue.

Language and translation issues: Unfamiliar Spanish titles and terms require constant lookups, and the game is currently not fully translated, creating a language barrier for some players. This adds difficulty in understanding terminology and context.

Deduction and investigation core: The game is fundamentally a deduction/investigation game where players piece together clues and relationships. This is the most frequently mentioned aspect, with many reviewers describing it as a mystery or detective game.

Puzzle difficulty easy to medium: The puzzle difficulty is generally easy to medium, with some friction. The game is designed to be solvable without hints.

Family tree construction mechanic: Players build and fill in a family tree to map complex relationships across generations. This mechanic is central to the gameplay and is often compared to The Roottrees are Dead.

Notebook for freeform deduction: Players use a notebook to arrange portraits, draw connections, and take notes manually. The notebook is player-controlled and essential for tracking information.

Comparison to Obra Dinn and Roottrees: Reviewers frequently compare the game to Return of the Obra Dinn and The Roottrees are Dead, noting similarities in deduction mechanics and structure. The game is often described as following their formula.

Crash on area entry: Players report the game crashes when entering a new area or interacting with a memory flower. This blocks progression at specific moments.

Broken background audio: Background sound randomly plays unrelated songs or drops out entirely. This disrupts the intended atmosphere.

Recommended for deduction fans: Reviewers consistently say this is a must-play for fans of the deduction genre. The game is praised as a worthy entry in the mystery puzzle category.

Strong Obra Dinn comparison: Many reviewers compare this game to Return of the Obra Dinn and other deduction titles. It is recommended for anyone who enjoyed those games.

General enthusiastic recommendations: Many short reviews simply urge players to give the game a try. Some cannot recommend it highly enough.

Recommended for genre fans generally: Several reviewers recommend the game to anyone who is a fan of this genre. They give a definite recommend without naming specific titles.

Highly recommended narrative experience: Fans of narrative-based games also give strong recommendations. Several reviewers say the story will move you and make you reflect.

Game completion: 10.0h.

Story completion: 10.0h.

Session length: 6.0h.

The game is reported to hook players from the very beginning through story, worldbuilding, and deduction pacing. QOL and memory-related progression friction are noted, but no review describes a later turning point to fun.

Friction: No hint system for missed flowers or portraits; Cannot rearrange saved memories for easier reference; Tedious moving many characters without multi-select; Progression stalls when faintly mentioned details are forgotten; Hit a wall trying to progress.

Unlock drivers: Gentle hint system for missed flowers or portraits; Rearrange saved memories for easier reference; Shift-drag multi-select for moving people.

Deduction Genre Veteran: Systematically explores rooms and memories, filling in identities and relationships from clues. Motivation: Solving fair deduction puzzles and seeing the genre formula refreshed. Stance: buy.

Narrative Mystery Immersive: Explores rooms and memories as a narrative experience, often finishing in one sitting. Motivation: Experiencing an emotionally rich story, world, and cast. Stance: buy.

Indie Craft Appreciator: Plays at a relaxed pace while appreciating presentation and following the creator's future work. Motivation: Supporting a solo developer and enjoying cohesive art, music, and approachable puzzle design. Stance: buy.

Similar to Obra Dinn and Roottrees: The game is frequently compared to Return of the Obra Dinn and The Roottrees are Dead for its deduction and investigation mechanics. Many reviewers note it as a successor or combination of these titles.

Comparable to Golden Idol series: Multiple clusters mention The Case of the Golden Idol as a similar game in the deduction genre. It is often grouped with Obra Dinn and Roottrees as a stylistic peer.

Other game comparisons: Reviewers also compare it to Ashbury Pines, Detective Grimoire for its map, and The Incident at Galley House. It is grouped with Red Pearls of Borneo and Séance of Blake Manor as similar titles.

Latin American setting and themes: The game is set in South America and explores themes of colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, and identity. The narrative spans Spanish conquistadors and 20th-century American capitalists, with Spanish terms used.

Solo or small team development: The game is primarily developed by a solo developer or a very small team, with one person handling most work and additional music contributions. It is a debut title by Nicolás G. Cid Delgado.