Void Stranger

I wrote an entry for the game in the Thinky Games database.

I'm signing off on Void Stranger after 20 hours or so. Pieces of advice for those who consider playing it:

It is unique. This much is true.

It is harsh. Forget about all QoL features from the past 15 years. No undo, no skipping levels (mostly), no tutorialization, no knowledge check, etc. No joyful feedback from your hard wins, just the next gray sokoban room. If you want to dive deeper, you'll have to deal with a permadeath mechanic. And this is still the surface of dubious design choices.

At some point it was too much for me. I barely had any fun, yet/so I clung on uncovering the story for finding purpose in my playing. But that was a mistake. The story is told through meager breadcrumbs or cryptic cutscenes. Endless teasing. And what I could make out eventually amounts to erratic fanfic nonsense to me, but ymmv.

I like good mysteries and moody atmospheres, and I'd say I'm usually keen on challenges, so I thought I'd love the game. But it shattered my enthusiasm and left me bitter.

"Are you ready?", it asks. Guess I wasn't. Hopefully, you will be.

I did eventually get the murals to bring me to the 3 burdens + more arcane stuff, and I got to activate the authorized brands on run start. Got the alphabet code too. I'm halfway into Lillie's run. Wondering if there'll be an incentive to do the rooms without the burdens, since most of them feel broken with wings or sword. There's Void lore in outrageously random rocks. And the high fantasy story turned into mother-daughter melodrama. I'll get to the end of Lillie's run, see what the game throws at me this time, but I'm finding close to no joy in anything.

I do like the rooms designed against burden use/abuse. But I can't bring myself to deactivate them all the time, mostly because I'm eager to get to a point with less threads dangling. Also the absence of undo and the one-level-at-a-time-ness could turn any hard level into a needlessly frustrating experience. I've been wondering about how much the devs leaned on the experience of pain and confusion for core design, e.g. like in Shadow of the Colossus.

I liked the audacity of it, I just wished I had a better grasp on how the scene related to the rest of the game.

Tbf my early reaction was one of being moved, it's a fair emotional kick and it's got surprise on its side. But after 30 seconds or so I realized it would be as oblique as the rest of the game so far, no clarity in sight, no relief, just the firm knowledge that you're navigating through pain. The first picture-memories I unlocked hint at a contemporary setting, which would frame the high fantasy story as some sort of escape world, from child loss maybe? All in all I'd say the scene was clever, but I'm not really willing to share the pain on display. If that makes sense.

So Void Stranger threw a musical number at me? I feel like I was supposed to be moved, but the oblique narration keeps me from feeling much anything for the character/story/whatever. There's been a strange light giving me a hint about perfection, huh? okay then. I got a free infinity sigil but couldn't make it work (tried inputting it 2 times, nothing happened as far as I could see). Tried inputting the first tablet as a sigil, I was told sod off you can't use that, okay then. Found a room to reproduce the sigil, half creatures appeared on both sides, okay then? what now?

I guess I'll be collecting murals/sigils this time (even though I don't know if/how I could use them), and crystals to unlock pictures, and try and not die before B230-something. Puzzles are nice (although the lack of undo and selection made it very stern), but the game runs on hard teasing, and I'm not confident any payoff will soothe my frustrations. Discoveries and aha moments require setups, obviously, but dangling 15 carrots in front of me for 10 hours straight is not a good way to proceed imho.

I began Void Stranger tonight. Feels like it's going to be a strange ride.

Didn't know it was a Finnish game
sweats in noita terror