at first i was a bit put off by some of the design decisions - i'm a big fan of "hard puzzle games" (stephen's sausage roll, anything by draknek, etc.), as such, i've been spoiled by quality-of-life features like infinite undo and instant resets. this game doesn't have those, to the detriment of the initial experience - you have to trust that SE are doing something very deliberate here. as it turns out, they are.
to my surprise, i actually see recognize a lot of shmup DNA in the overarching design. this is a puzzle game with a risk/reward mechanic, with multiple loops and esoteric clear conditions. you don't just beat the game by solving all the puzzles, in fact, solving all the puzzles isn't even necessary to beat the game. there is so much lurking beneath the surface that i don't think anyone could confidently mark the game as "completed," but the superficial experience is strong enough that you don't need to go down the rabbit hole to have a good time.
this is the zeroranger of sokoban.
---
(vague, minor spoiler below)
an addendum of warning: like zeroranger, this game also has the "deletes your save file" gimmick at certain point(s). in that game, it wove into the narrative and systems of the game in a way that, to me, enhanced the experience, and crucially, the consequences were basically negligible. i'll defend it in ZR, but i'm not here for it this time. back up your save. it's not worth it.
to my surprise, i actually see recognize a lot of shmup DNA in the overarching design. this is a puzzle game with a risk/reward mechanic, with multiple loops and esoteric clear conditions. you don't just beat the game by solving all the puzzles, in fact, solving all the puzzles isn't even necessary to beat the game. there is so much lurking beneath the surface that i don't think anyone could confidently mark the game as "completed," but the superficial experience is strong enough that you don't need to go down the rabbit hole to have a good time.
this is the zeroranger of sokoban.
---
(vague, minor spoiler below)
an addendum of warning: like zeroranger, this game also has the "deletes your save file" gimmick at certain point(s). in that game, it wove into the narrative and systems of the game in a way that, to me, enhanced the experience, and crucially, the consequences were basically negligible. i'll defend it in ZR, but i'm not here for it this time. back up your save. it's not worth it.
An endlessly surprising "sokoban"/tile-based puzzler that builds entire mechanics out of "cheating."
By this point, though, there are a lot of games that get treated like: "oh you just gotta play it, it's so special and unique, I can't possibly talk about it, just trust me bro." So I want to try to be more specific about what works, if that's something you want to hear.
For one, the puzzles are great, and it cycles through different mechanics quickly enough that you shouldn't ever feel too stumped for too long. There are some clever and opaque tricks involved with the difficulty balancing and "fail states"...so try not to worry about failure at all. And I think if you play it, you'll find yourself continuously shocked by how far they are able to push the tile-based puzzle format.
The story feels appropriately minimalist at first, but it gradually becomes more layered alongside the mechanics. I should note that it's extremely character and lore focused - possibly my main nitpick of this game is that there isn't more of a pronounced central message in play. But there are several character moments that I was moved by, and at times it hits hard enough that you might even forget that you're playing a puzzle game. It's impressive exactly how well it's all thought out, too, because visual and mechanical symbolism are alllll over this game.
The complexity develops gradually over the course of the game, but it reaches such a point where it can actually be hard to determine how to progress. For some people, I think that could be an exit point...but to me, it became extremely satisfying to test hypotheses, revisit the things I hadn't quite figured out, and eventually: discover what I was missing. I do wonder how these moments will feel when the game becomes "more known," and when there are clearer guides on how to see everything this game has to offer. All of that is to say, if this seems like something you're interested in, I think the sooner you play it, the better it'll be.
By this point, though, there are a lot of games that get treated like: "oh you just gotta play it, it's so special and unique, I can't possibly talk about it, just trust me bro." So I want to try to be more specific about what works, if that's something you want to hear.
For one, the puzzles are great, and it cycles through different mechanics quickly enough that you shouldn't ever feel too stumped for too long. There are some clever and opaque tricks involved with the difficulty balancing and "fail states"...so try not to worry about failure at all. And I think if you play it, you'll find yourself continuously shocked by how far they are able to push the tile-based puzzle format.
The story feels appropriately minimalist at first, but it gradually becomes more layered alongside the mechanics. I should note that it's extremely character and lore focused - possibly my main nitpick of this game is that there isn't more of a pronounced central message in play. But there are several character moments that I was moved by, and at times it hits hard enough that you might even forget that you're playing a puzzle game. It's impressive exactly how well it's all thought out, too, because visual and mechanical symbolism are alllll over this game.
The complexity develops gradually over the course of the game, but it reaches such a point where it can actually be hard to determine how to progress. For some people, I think that could be an exit point...but to me, it became extremely satisfying to test hypotheses, revisit the things I hadn't quite figured out, and eventually: discover what I was missing. I do wonder how these moments will feel when the game becomes "more known," and when there are clearer guides on how to see everything this game has to offer. All of that is to say, if this seems like something you're interested in, I think the sooner you play it, the better it'll be.
CN for Void Stranger: Sexual harassment
A lush and witty sokobon-hybrid that stumbles over making sense of its mutli-genre style brakes. The way the tile swap game slowly shifts in and out of a Zelda-like dunegeon crawler to a La Mulana action-riddler is really breathtaking and exciting, but I ended up feeling way less about this as it came to a close. Where Zeroranger effortlessly lines up its sparse narrative with the stressful emotional player-arc of trying to 1cc a shmup, Void Stranger boasts a generic mélange of "don't give up" vibes that fails to celebrate its own strengths or its genre heritage. The constant micro genre-shifts really are delightful, but they walk too far away from the core frustration-to-lightbulb-moment cycle of this kind of puzzle game. I like the grunt work and guess-and-check solutions this game makes a player deal with, but after a certain point I really do not need to descend the tower twice per reattempt of the final sequence. I thought the problem with this game would be having too much text, but besides the dull swing at a System Erasure cinematic universe, the story is perfectly tender and understated despite all the women being naked for the entire last third. What I'd really like to see from System Erasure in the future is a bit more follow-through on the clear central design idea and an understanding of where to put the period on the game. Void Stranger is a blast and really so so so exciting to pull apart but it's far too gray in-between the text behemoth of La Mulana and their own debut arcade joyride.
A lush and witty sokobon-hybrid that stumbles over making sense of its mutli-genre style brakes. The way the tile swap game slowly shifts in and out of a Zelda-like dunegeon crawler to a La Mulana action-riddler is really breathtaking and exciting, but I ended up feeling way less about this as it came to a close. Where Zeroranger effortlessly lines up its sparse narrative with the stressful emotional player-arc of trying to 1cc a shmup, Void Stranger boasts a generic mélange of "don't give up" vibes that fails to celebrate its own strengths or its genre heritage. The constant micro genre-shifts really are delightful, but they walk too far away from the core frustration-to-lightbulb-moment cycle of this kind of puzzle game. I like the grunt work and guess-and-check solutions this game makes a player deal with, but after a certain point I really do not need to descend the tower twice per reattempt of the final sequence. I thought the problem with this game would be having too much text, but besides the dull swing at a System Erasure cinematic universe, the story is perfectly tender and understated despite all the women being naked for the entire last third. What I'd really like to see from System Erasure in the future is a bit more follow-through on the clear central design idea and an understanding of where to put the period on the game. Void Stranger is a blast and really so so so exciting to pull apart but it's far too gray in-between the text behemoth of La Mulana and their own debut arcade joyride.
Void Stranger's approach to progression is uniquely interesting.
Here is an example:
You're just a few levels in, and encounter your first npc. Because of some tricky placement, you end up accidentally pushing that npc off a ledge. Oh no! What was that about? You reset the level. Now the npc isn't them anymore. Did you do something bad? Was that character important? Will you need to restart the game? How would you even do that, there doesn't seem to be any save file management in the menus. The game will not answer any of these questions, you will just have to move on and continue playing.
I got into these moments of confusion several times in my playthrough. And every time and I was more hooked.
This dedication to being unhelpful carries on to the puzzles of the game. The hints as to what you need to do to get different endings are few, and always very cryptic. I found this to be both frustrating, and really rewarding. Not only because it made any new discovery that much more exciting, but because it also forced me to deeply engage with the world and its stories, by scouring each piece of lore with information on what is going on.
That world is really well written and I grew attached to many of the characters.
You follow several storylines that don't end up being very deeply intertwined, but still are related to each other in interesting ways.
Similarly, even various of the mechanics of the game end up being related to elements of the story in ways that aren't completely necessary, or completely explained. But still make the world feel richer.
Not everyone will enjoy Void Stranger. But it touched me deeply, and it radically changed my perception of how videogames can approach storytelling and player progression.
Here is an example:
You're just a few levels in, and encounter your first npc. Because of some tricky placement, you end up accidentally pushing that npc off a ledge. Oh no! What was that about? You reset the level. Now the npc isn't them anymore. Did you do something bad? Was that character important? Will you need to restart the game? How would you even do that, there doesn't seem to be any save file management in the menus. The game will not answer any of these questions, you will just have to move on and continue playing.
I got into these moments of confusion several times in my playthrough. And every time and I was more hooked.
This dedication to being unhelpful carries on to the puzzles of the game. The hints as to what you need to do to get different endings are few, and always very cryptic. I found this to be both frustrating, and really rewarding. Not only because it made any new discovery that much more exciting, but because it also forced me to deeply engage with the world and its stories, by scouring each piece of lore with information on what is going on.
That world is really well written and I grew attached to many of the characters.
You follow several storylines that don't end up being very deeply intertwined, but still are related to each other in interesting ways.
Similarly, even various of the mechanics of the game end up being related to elements of the story in ways that aren't completely necessary, or completely explained. But still make the world feel richer.
Not everyone will enjoy Void Stranger. But it touched me deeply, and it radically changed my perception of how videogames can approach storytelling and player progression.
This game is fucking insane, it just keeps going deeper and deeper, I don't even think I hit the bottom of the rabbit hole but I'm satisfied saying I "finished" the game at the point I've hit.
You'll probably enjoy it the most if you like digging up secrets.
It's a giant time sink and good luck finding info with community having CIA level of confidentiality.
The story is confusing af. The only thing you can say conclusively is that everyone is a lesbian.
It's a giant time sink and good luck finding info with community having CIA level of confidentiality.
The story is confusing af. The only thing you can say conclusively is that everyone is a lesbian.
Completion Criteria: Ending 2
I've been debating whether I should mark this as complete and review it and since the game has told me it's over. I feel like I should, for people confused about what I mean? I can't really be specific without spoilers and I can't even really critique it without spoilers. But I want to provide a review for people who are seeing the high scores and wondering if it's worth it.
I guess I also don't have an answer for you. I don't know. The game is a sokobon intended to be used to provide a detailed and mysterious story, but although the sokobon is servicable (as the genre gets, very standard), and the story itself is serviceable to what I played. They do not gell particularly well. Themes come across and are obvious but for a game that wants to hide secrets from you, it makes it very hard for you to look for secrets. Playing through ostensibly the entire game because I realised a split second too late that the room I was in was the goal of a clue provided earlier does not leave a good taste in your mouth. My gut tells me that the scores for this game may be bloated by those who really put loved it whilest the middling feelings were blasted away by the tedium expected from you. I played the game for a bit over 10 hours and was already not particularly happy with the design choices so when I checked the How Long to Beat Time was over 50 hours, also seeing the recommended reviews on steam reaching upwards of 140 hours, I realized that this game is hitting for people.
Maybe the reason people are so invested are legitimate, maybe they are superficial, maybe they are horny. I don't know. All I can say is as someone who has finished some highly controversial puzzle games like La Mulana, I just feel like they may have attempted to purify their theme and ended up ruining the puzzles of the world (even they kind of mess up there them anyway with <spoilers>
Try it with a word of caution, if you get to a point you think the game asks for too much, don't follow the words of hype. Maybe I'll go back to it but I am definitely not invested in doing so at the moment.
I've been debating whether I should mark this as complete and review it and since the game has told me it's over. I feel like I should, for people confused about what I mean? I can't really be specific without spoilers and I can't even really critique it without spoilers. But I want to provide a review for people who are seeing the high scores and wondering if it's worth it.
I guess I also don't have an answer for you. I don't know. The game is a sokobon intended to be used to provide a detailed and mysterious story, but although the sokobon is servicable (as the genre gets, very standard), and the story itself is serviceable to what I played. They do not gell particularly well. Themes come across and are obvious but for a game that wants to hide secrets from you, it makes it very hard for you to look for secrets. Playing through ostensibly the entire game because I realised a split second too late that the room I was in was the goal of a clue provided earlier does not leave a good taste in your mouth. My gut tells me that the scores for this game may be bloated by those who really put loved it whilest the middling feelings were blasted away by the tedium expected from you. I played the game for a bit over 10 hours and was already not particularly happy with the design choices so when I checked the How Long to Beat Time was over 50 hours, also seeing the recommended reviews on steam reaching upwards of 140 hours, I realized that this game is hitting for people.
Maybe the reason people are so invested are legitimate, maybe they are superficial, maybe they are horny. I don't know. All I can say is as someone who has finished some highly controversial puzzle games like La Mulana, I just feel like they may have attempted to purify their theme and ended up ruining the puzzles of the world (even they kind of mess up there them anyway with <spoilers>
Try it with a word of caution, if you get to a point you think the game asks for too much, don't follow the words of hype. Maybe I'll go back to it but I am definitely not invested in doing so at the moment.
Very simple on face value but incredibly deep under the surface in many ways you don't really expect. The ever-evolving gameplay loop keeps you on your toes and overall, it does a great job of expanding while staying true to the very basic core. If puzzles games are your thing and you want something a little deeper, this game is an easy recommendation.
Truly the tsundere of puzzle games
This review contains spoilers
Go down the rabbit hole. Do it.
Void Stranger was a blast to play last year. A friend and I got in a voice call and collectively lost our god damn mind for a week straight trying to figure out all the puzzles.
If you do play this, grab a friend, and go in completely blind. Don't look up anything if you get stuck, you shouldn't need it.
8/10 would lose my god damn mind again.
Spoilers ahead:
A couple of the deeper lore puzzles are a bit bullshit (the snake one especially felt bad imo) but otherwise it was amazing from start to finish.
I didn't vibe with the true ending of the game admittedly. I thought they were going somewhere else but it ended up being a callback to another game by the same developers. Cool, but was really hoping for a big payoff at the end and it didn't really hit.
The times spent asking "wait is that a hint? Is this obscure thing a part of the bigger picture? NO WAY DUDE, IT IS?" is a vibe I don't think I'll ever get to experience again. Thanks for that System Erasure!
Void Stranger was a blast to play last year. A friend and I got in a voice call and collectively lost our god damn mind for a week straight trying to figure out all the puzzles.
If you do play this, grab a friend, and go in completely blind. Don't look up anything if you get stuck, you shouldn't need it.
8/10 would lose my god damn mind again.
Spoilers ahead:
A couple of the deeper lore puzzles are a bit bullshit (the snake one especially felt bad imo) but otherwise it was amazing from start to finish.
I didn't vibe with the true ending of the game admittedly. I thought they were going somewhere else but it ended up being a callback to another game by the same developers. Cool, but was really hoping for a big payoff at the end and it didn't really hit.
The times spent asking "wait is that a hint? Is this obscure thing a part of the bigger picture? NO WAY DUDE, IT IS?" is a vibe I don't think I'll ever get to experience again. Thanks for that System Erasure!
This review contains spoilers
lady gray you gotta kill that twink
System Erasure just fucking GETS it
Me resulta raro ponerle cinco estrellas a un juego que no he podido terminar y que he acabado viendo en Youtube (los sokoban se me dan de culo, que le voy a hacer), pero es que se lo merece. Los primeros minutos me volaron la cabeza, y la historia ha estado a la altura hasta el final.
La única queja que tengo (que no resta nota al juego porque no deja de ser una opinión muy influenciada por lo mal que se me da) es que el género sokoban no casa del todo bien con el secretismo que rodea a todo el paquete. En juegos como Tunic, la busqueda de secretos que lleva al final verdadero del juego se puede hacer a tu ritmo, sabiendo que todo está a tu disposición para que lo vayas desgranando poquito a poco y sin añadir frustración. En Void Stranger un paso en falso significa perder horas de juego: no hay botón de deshacer, ni ningún tipo de pista que te guíe por habitaciones que ya te has pasado anteriormente, teniendo que volver a resolverlo todo otra vez. Entiendo que es parte del encanto del juego y que primero vino el sokoban y luego la historia (la propia creadora lo explica así), pero lejos de motivarme, esto me hizo tirar la toalla. Habiendo visto el resto de la historia y de los secretos, me alegro de haberlo dejado de jugar para verlo en vídeo, porque viendo los requisitos para llegar al final sé que me habría amargado la experiencia.
Y vaya experiencia. Que locura de historia, de OST, de gráficos. Si merece la pena quedarse hasta el final, desde luego es por todo eso. Único e irrepetible como ninguno, es una de esas historias que tengo claro que recordaré para siempre.
Me llevo eso y la lección de que un "videojuego"... puede ser solo "video" y no pasa nada... (mejor me voy yendo ya).
La única queja que tengo (que no resta nota al juego porque no deja de ser una opinión muy influenciada por lo mal que se me da) es que el género sokoban no casa del todo bien con el secretismo que rodea a todo el paquete. En juegos como Tunic, la busqueda de secretos que lleva al final verdadero del juego se puede hacer a tu ritmo, sabiendo que todo está a tu disposición para que lo vayas desgranando poquito a poco y sin añadir frustración. En Void Stranger un paso en falso significa perder horas de juego: no hay botón de deshacer, ni ningún tipo de pista que te guíe por habitaciones que ya te has pasado anteriormente, teniendo que volver a resolverlo todo otra vez. Entiendo que es parte del encanto del juego y que primero vino el sokoban y luego la historia (la propia creadora lo explica así), pero lejos de motivarme, esto me hizo tirar la toalla. Habiendo visto el resto de la historia y de los secretos, me alegro de haberlo dejado de jugar para verlo en vídeo, porque viendo los requisitos para llegar al final sé que me habría amargado la experiencia.
Y vaya experiencia. Que locura de historia, de OST, de gráficos. Si merece la pena quedarse hasta el final, desde luego es por todo eso. Único e irrepetible como ninguno, es una de esas historias que tengo claro que recordaré para siempre.
Me llevo eso y la lección de que un "videojuego"... puede ser solo "video" y no pasa nada... (mejor me voy yendo ya).
Was in the process of drafting out some grand essay, but figured nothing will convey my thoughts on this game better than a simple spiel.
Void Stranger is everything I wanted from a video game and then some. It's a bold reminder of why I stay invested in the medium.
It's ambitious, disciplined, funny, frustrating, horny, heart wrenching, and it balances all these emotions with utmost care and attention to detail. I haven't played anything like it, and I doubt I ever will.
Simply put, it's one of the best games ever made.
Thank you for such a beautiful memory.
Ad Meliora
Void Stranger is everything I wanted from a video game and then some. It's a bold reminder of why I stay invested in the medium.
It's ambitious, disciplined, funny, frustrating, horny, heart wrenching, and it balances all these emotions with utmost care and attention to detail. I haven't played anything like it, and I doubt I ever will.
Simply put, it's one of the best games ever made.
Thank you for such a beautiful memory.
Ad Meliora
Absolutely brilliant game design. Puzzles are hard but fair, especially towards the last half of the game. Makes you feel like a dumbass and genius simultaneously lol.
Its hard to explain the game without going into spoilers, but if you are at all questioning if it's worth it, buy it ASAP. Only $12 USD is an INSANE deal for the experience.
I can say without a doubt I will be thinking about this game for a very long time. GOTY 2023
Its hard to explain the game without going into spoilers, but if you are at all questioning if it's worth it, buy it ASAP. Only $12 USD is an INSANE deal for the experience.
I can say without a doubt I will be thinking about this game for a very long time. GOTY 2023
Scratching beneath the inky surface of Void Stranger reveals a very tight mechanical puzzler with a minimalist game boy art style, mashed up with an anime story, a surreal world, and obtuse meta elements. I can see how people might find this combination charming but it just didn't work for me.
It's difficult to really talk about the game without spoiling it as it goes out of its way to be secretive about its mechanics and premise. It takes the stance that difficulty is synonymous with just not telling you how anything works so the design comes off as being more arbitrary than punishing. There is a lot more depth to the game but all hidden behind vast quantities of tedious puzzle grind so I hope you enjoy that core game loop.
Under the veneer of mystery is a reasonable and challenging sokoban-style puzzler. You can remove and place blocks but only from/to a space directly in front of you. The rigid movement makes facing the right way a challenge of navigating the tight spaces and doing things in the right order. This is complicated by gaps, blocks with different mechanics, obstacles, and enemies that wander the stage. Despite being mechanically sterile the puzzles are serviceable but repetitive and lack a 'fun' element preventing me from really engaging with the game beyond the surface level.
The other half of the game involves its setting and story which are drip fed throughout. While I'll avoid getting into details, both the story and main character feel uninspired at first glance. While I understand the game ends up going into a lot of depth I just wasn't hooked by the story breadcrumbs or the core game loop so I had no motivation to even finish the first playthrough.
Whether this game captures the nuances it's trying to emulate will come down to player preference. I was taken in by the trailer but I felt like it's attempts to be dark and mysterious just feel obvious and predictable. The hints at larger layers of puzzle and the mechanics you'll obviously need to get there struck me as tedious and boring - spoiling the game for myself revealed this hunch to be completely right. If you aren't hooked by the core loop and story in the first few hours, the next 40 aren't worth the effort.
It's difficult to really talk about the game without spoiling it as it goes out of its way to be secretive about its mechanics and premise. It takes the stance that difficulty is synonymous with just not telling you how anything works so the design comes off as being more arbitrary than punishing. There is a lot more depth to the game but all hidden behind vast quantities of tedious puzzle grind so I hope you enjoy that core game loop.
Under the veneer of mystery is a reasonable and challenging sokoban-style puzzler. You can remove and place blocks but only from/to a space directly in front of you. The rigid movement makes facing the right way a challenge of navigating the tight spaces and doing things in the right order. This is complicated by gaps, blocks with different mechanics, obstacles, and enemies that wander the stage. Despite being mechanically sterile the puzzles are serviceable but repetitive and lack a 'fun' element preventing me from really engaging with the game beyond the surface level.
The other half of the game involves its setting and story which are drip fed throughout. While I'll avoid getting into details, both the story and main character feel uninspired at first glance. While I understand the game ends up going into a lot of depth I just wasn't hooked by the story breadcrumbs or the core game loop so I had no motivation to even finish the first playthrough.
Whether this game captures the nuances it's trying to emulate will come down to player preference. I was taken in by the trailer but I felt like it's attempts to be dark and mysterious just feel obvious and predictable. The hints at larger layers of puzzle and the mechanics you'll obviously need to get there struck me as tedious and boring - spoiling the game for myself revealed this hunch to be completely right. If you aren't hooked by the core loop and story in the first few hours, the next 40 aren't worth the effort.
In a month of playing Baldur's Gate, Armored Core 6, and whatever else, this MissingNo-core puzzler held my attention the most. It was brought to my attention by a post on /v/ that simply read "Puzzlekino or Voidslop?" and for whatever reason I bought it without investigating further.
I don't feel much of a desire to write an in-depth review here, so just know that the puzzle gameplay remains intriguing all the way through to the end, the game's score is fantastic, and the "more than meets the eye" subversive elements of the game are hidden well enough to not undercut themselves in a pitfall so many would-be-clever devs fall into. A game well worth playing.
Puzzlekino.
I don't feel much of a desire to write an in-depth review here, so just know that the puzzle gameplay remains intriguing all the way through to the end, the game's score is fantastic, and the "more than meets the eye" subversive elements of the game are hidden well enough to not undercut themselves in a pitfall so many would-be-clever devs fall into. A game well worth playing.
Puzzlekino.
Too much repetition, too obtuse at times, the story doesn't fully work for me, but also one of the most unique, interesting games in years.
I'd only recommend it to puzzle enjoyers, because so much of the game is puzzles and they get really difficult, but I feel like the story stuff could appeal to a whole huge chunk of people who wouldn't necessarily play puzzle games like this ordinarily. Unfortunately, I'm not fully part of that huge chunk of people who the story might appeal to, the tone is a little too anime and/or YA for my taste, though there are still cool things in it. And the way it's told/structured is pretty cool.
I am a puzzle game fan though, and this game has a lot of puzzles. Actually too many, I think, it's a little overlong. And if you want to figure out all the secrets, there is a LOT of repetition. But there is also a LOT of content behind those secrets, and the secrets are satisfying to figure out, so the repetition feels both tedious and worth it.
Overall, really neat!
I'd only recommend it to puzzle enjoyers, because so much of the game is puzzles and they get really difficult, but I feel like the story stuff could appeal to a whole huge chunk of people who wouldn't necessarily play puzzle games like this ordinarily. Unfortunately, I'm not fully part of that huge chunk of people who the story might appeal to, the tone is a little too anime and/or YA for my taste, though there are still cool things in it. And the way it's told/structured is pretty cool.
I am a puzzle game fan though, and this game has a lot of puzzles. Actually too many, I think, it's a little overlong. And if you want to figure out all the secrets, there is a LOT of repetition. But there is also a LOT of content behind those secrets, and the secrets are satisfying to figure out, so the repetition feels both tedious and worth it.
Overall, really neat!
One of the best games of the year. I can't say much about it (and the more I say, the worse for you), just jump into the void. I am 11 hours right now and I'm not even grasping the first layers of the onion. System Erasure = Masterpiece.
A Puzzle Box of Puzzles.
I still can't quite figure out if this game's merging of scattered post-modern storytelling and very concrete puzzle mechanics fully works. On one hand, the immediate and constant rewards from solving the very video-game-y Sokoban puzzles helps to keep the player's attention as they try to figure out the more meta aspects of the puzzle box. On the other hand, I'm really not sure I want to play hours of Sokoban-adjacent levels, for how creative they are, every time I want to try something.
I played enough of this to know what's up with it. And watched a bunch more on YouTube for good measure. But I don't think I'll go back to it to do the full 100%. I really appreciate how detailed and intricate the game is, and how it lays out its puzzle box, but be it because, as much as I love tile-based puzzles, I can only take so much of them, or because the narrative, despite being interestingly told, felt a bit hollow, I really did not resonate much with it.
It's very deliberately a Lore Game, but it's less Dark Souls and more Shonen. It's all about quirky characters and small tear-jerky parables. Not Terrible in its own right, but eventually I started feeling that I was doing a huge amount of work to piece together a narrative that didn't quite match up tonally with that effort.
Immaculate vibes. Lots of great and detailed work. Really good puzzles. Dozens of anatomically preposterous breasts. I get why people love this thing, and I can appreciate a lot of what it does, but ultimately it just kinda left me cold.
It's a Zoomer game it's what it is. I think I'm just too old for Void Stranger. It's like whatever the jester thing people keep posting on twitter is.
I still can't quite figure out if this game's merging of scattered post-modern storytelling and very concrete puzzle mechanics fully works. On one hand, the immediate and constant rewards from solving the very video-game-y Sokoban puzzles helps to keep the player's attention as they try to figure out the more meta aspects of the puzzle box. On the other hand, I'm really not sure I want to play hours of Sokoban-adjacent levels, for how creative they are, every time I want to try something.
I played enough of this to know what's up with it. And watched a bunch more on YouTube for good measure. But I don't think I'll go back to it to do the full 100%. I really appreciate how detailed and intricate the game is, and how it lays out its puzzle box, but be it because, as much as I love tile-based puzzles, I can only take so much of them, or because the narrative, despite being interestingly told, felt a bit hollow, I really did not resonate much with it.
It's very deliberately a Lore Game, but it's less Dark Souls and more Shonen. It's all about quirky characters and small tear-jerky parables. Not Terrible in its own right, but eventually I started feeling that I was doing a huge amount of work to piece together a narrative that didn't quite match up tonally with that effort.
Immaculate vibes. Lots of great and detailed work. Really good puzzles. Dozens of anatomically preposterous breasts. I get why people love this thing, and I can appreciate a lot of what it does, but ultimately it just kinda left me cold.
It's a Zoomer game it's what it is. I think I'm just too old for Void Stranger. It's like whatever the jester thing people keep posting on twitter is.
This review contains spoilers
Okay here’s my actual review.
If you clicked on the spoiler warning I assume you’ve played the whole thing, but if you haven’t, again, SERIOUS SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!! This game deserves to be played blind!
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After exhausting almost everything I possibly can in this game (still working on that 0thRanger scorerun) I think I’m finally ready to try and sum up my feelings on this game, which is a harder task than I initially expected because of just how… much this game is.
I love what System Erasure does, and I’m really glad that people are enjoying this game so much, but reflecting on my own experience I’m left with somewhat mixed feelings. (This is not to say flawed games are automatically “bad.” My 4-star rating is usually reserved for games I think aren’t perfect but are still great experiences.)
I think mainly my point of contention is with how the story is handled. I think the game’s setting is super interesting and a pretty unique take(/fake out) on the purgatory/Dante’s Inferno tropes often seen in video games. While playing I found myself very invested in discovering more about the lore, and I’m still currently working on compiling a document of everything I’ve found to try and make sense of it all. But I found the story surrounding Gray and Lillie to be resolved in sort of an unsatisfying manner. Most of the game's endings have sort of an “happily ever after” vibe, where it turns out well for (at least one of) them, but I found myself sort of unsatisfied with how simple the conclusions are compared to the complexity of the emotional turmoil these characters experience during the game. (Speaking of which there is an often noticeable tonal clash between story and gameplay segments, and the more anime-esque elements did somewhat take me out of the setting.) In the “extra” endings there is some new information given about Add, the traitor lords, and what DIS(/Green Orange???) is, but still left me with little closure after the credits. The more I sit with it the more I think that might be the point. (ie: “The true nature of DIS is far beyond your understanding. I can’t let you come into contact with it!”)
I can’t not bring up ZeroRanger – the devs’ previous breakout (smash) hit – here as a point of comparison. One could argue that comparing these two games is an apples to oranges situation. I partially agree with this, but I also think it’s amazing how close System Erasure could push the sokoban format into being a shmup. Save for the difference in real-time decision making, the core gameplay loop (emphasis on it being a loop) for both games here is surprisingly similar. Memorize a route, get as far as you can, and then see if you can keep pushing it a little further.
I think shmups are actually a great medium for storytelling, despite being so geared around pure gameplay. I think this generally boils down to a “don’t think, feel” mindset present in the design of these games. While their plots tend to be pretty simplistic, it is the build up of visuals, music, level design, and the engagement actually finishing the game demands of you that makes you invested in what emotional stakes it does offer. (While ZeroRanger similarly borrows tropes from anime/pop culture, it makes more sense in its context as a passion project and tributary to the roots of the medium. And also just flows better with the narrative minimalism.)
Void Stranger, for the most part, accomplishes this as well albeit in a slightly modified format. Where it falls short for me is that it introduces so much more that isn’t clearly followed up on. Solving each puzzle, deciphering each brand, and breaking into each new secret is so much more involved in both constructing a narrative and absorbing the player’s attention, yet it also leaves so much more left unsaid. Additionally, while a single loop of a shmup usually pushes 30-45 minutes at most, no such time constraint is issued here, making the required distance between breakthroughs that much more.
That is not to say that this game is bereft of memorable, engaging, and/or emotional moments, far from it in fact. Particularly standout to me is the “voided” sequence. I was absolutely floored by how well the visuals, music, and gameplay elements work together to create this pure expression of grief… and the struggle that comes with it.
Great care has generally gone into the game’s visuals, and it works really well in all departments save for 0thRanger, where visibility takes a small hit compared to the more easily sight read two-tones of ZeroRanger. And the soundtrack is incredible as usual. The BGM for the eight main portions of the game are all excellent accompaniments to the gameplay (even when the gameplay in question is just thinking about how to solve a puzzle) and great expressions of the character of each void lord. I often found myself playing to the beat even though it’s completely unnecessary.
I am not particularly intelligent so I did have to look up a few of the puzzle solutions. Most of them I gave my college try and was pretty close to getting on my own but just needed that little push. The only one I think I really couldn’t get was Eus’ brand, again I was pretty close from my own attempts to put the screenshots together, but the images fit together in a number of ways that don’t form the right brand.
When I was able to figure out solutions or secrets on my own, it felt near magical. So much care has been put into every detail of this game to the point that the devs actively account for you to be trying to break it at any given opportunity (again, shmup mindset?). I’m not really into sokobans, but how many other ones require you to trick the game into warping you to an out of bounds floor by manipulating HUD elements? When I figured that out on my own I practically jumped out of my seat.
Something that sticks out to me is just how much the love of playing video games is imbued into System Erasure’s games. Not only in the sokoban design elements actively expecting you to work against them, but also in how many other forms of gameplay appear. Between the RPG facades, DDR minigame, picross puzzles, bomberman and centipede (also literally) elements, dating simulator snippet, and of course the shmup/sokoban-shmup hybrid segments, this game was made with the ethos that playing video games is fun!
A common point of detraction for this game is that discovering many of its secrets is very time consuming and can become somewhat of a slog. I do understand and partially concur with this sentiment, however you do get access to “power-ups” pretty early on that trivialize much of the actual sokoban puzzle content in the game. After this point the game basically expects you to find the majority of the puzzles impeding progression trivial, after which you can amass a bunch of locust idols and learn where floor skips are, which then makes it easier to test theories and discover secrets, etc etc. In practice though, this can be somewhat slow and tedious.
Well, as usual, I’m not sure how to end this review. I’ll just say that I enjoyed this game for the most part, even if I found the story to be somewhat overambitious or the gameplay slightly flawed. I eagerly look forward to what System Erasure continues to produce as many games don’t even get close to this ballpark of engaging for me.
If you clicked on the spoiler warning I assume you’ve played the whole thing, but if you haven’t, again, SERIOUS SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!! This game deserves to be played blind!
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-
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After exhausting almost everything I possibly can in this game (still working on that 0thRanger scorerun) I think I’m finally ready to try and sum up my feelings on this game, which is a harder task than I initially expected because of just how… much this game is.
I love what System Erasure does, and I’m really glad that people are enjoying this game so much, but reflecting on my own experience I’m left with somewhat mixed feelings. (This is not to say flawed games are automatically “bad.” My 4-star rating is usually reserved for games I think aren’t perfect but are still great experiences.)
I think mainly my point of contention is with how the story is handled. I think the game’s setting is super interesting and a pretty unique take(/fake out) on the purgatory/Dante’s Inferno tropes often seen in video games. While playing I found myself very invested in discovering more about the lore, and I’m still currently working on compiling a document of everything I’ve found to try and make sense of it all. But I found the story surrounding Gray and Lillie to be resolved in sort of an unsatisfying manner. Most of the game's endings have sort of an “happily ever after” vibe, where it turns out well for (at least one of) them, but I found myself sort of unsatisfied with how simple the conclusions are compared to the complexity of the emotional turmoil these characters experience during the game. (Speaking of which there is an often noticeable tonal clash between story and gameplay segments, and the more anime-esque elements did somewhat take me out of the setting.) In the “extra” endings there is some new information given about Add, the traitor lords, and what DIS(/Green Orange???) is, but still left me with little closure after the credits. The more I sit with it the more I think that might be the point. (ie: “The true nature of DIS is far beyond your understanding. I can’t let you come into contact with it!”)
I can’t not bring up ZeroRanger – the devs’ previous breakout (smash) hit – here as a point of comparison. One could argue that comparing these two games is an apples to oranges situation. I partially agree with this, but I also think it’s amazing how close System Erasure could push the sokoban format into being a shmup. Save for the difference in real-time decision making, the core gameplay loop (emphasis on it being a loop) for both games here is surprisingly similar. Memorize a route, get as far as you can, and then see if you can keep pushing it a little further.
I think shmups are actually a great medium for storytelling, despite being so geared around pure gameplay. I think this generally boils down to a “don’t think, feel” mindset present in the design of these games. While their plots tend to be pretty simplistic, it is the build up of visuals, music, level design, and the engagement actually finishing the game demands of you that makes you invested in what emotional stakes it does offer. (While ZeroRanger similarly borrows tropes from anime/pop culture, it makes more sense in its context as a passion project and tributary to the roots of the medium. And also just flows better with the narrative minimalism.)
Void Stranger, for the most part, accomplishes this as well albeit in a slightly modified format. Where it falls short for me is that it introduces so much more that isn’t clearly followed up on. Solving each puzzle, deciphering each brand, and breaking into each new secret is so much more involved in both constructing a narrative and absorbing the player’s attention, yet it also leaves so much more left unsaid. Additionally, while a single loop of a shmup usually pushes 30-45 minutes at most, no such time constraint is issued here, making the required distance between breakthroughs that much more.
That is not to say that this game is bereft of memorable, engaging, and/or emotional moments, far from it in fact. Particularly standout to me is the “voided” sequence. I was absolutely floored by how well the visuals, music, and gameplay elements work together to create this pure expression of grief… and the struggle that comes with it.
Great care has generally gone into the game’s visuals, and it works really well in all departments save for 0thRanger, where visibility takes a small hit compared to the more easily sight read two-tones of ZeroRanger. And the soundtrack is incredible as usual. The BGM for the eight main portions of the game are all excellent accompaniments to the gameplay (even when the gameplay in question is just thinking about how to solve a puzzle) and great expressions of the character of each void lord. I often found myself playing to the beat even though it’s completely unnecessary.
I am not particularly intelligent so I did have to look up a few of the puzzle solutions. Most of them I gave my college try and was pretty close to getting on my own but just needed that little push. The only one I think I really couldn’t get was Eus’ brand, again I was pretty close from my own attempts to put the screenshots together, but the images fit together in a number of ways that don’t form the right brand.
When I was able to figure out solutions or secrets on my own, it felt near magical. So much care has been put into every detail of this game to the point that the devs actively account for you to be trying to break it at any given opportunity (again, shmup mindset?). I’m not really into sokobans, but how many other ones require you to trick the game into warping you to an out of bounds floor by manipulating HUD elements? When I figured that out on my own I practically jumped out of my seat.
Something that sticks out to me is just how much the love of playing video games is imbued into System Erasure’s games. Not only in the sokoban design elements actively expecting you to work against them, but also in how many other forms of gameplay appear. Between the RPG facades, DDR minigame, picross puzzles, bomberman and centipede (also literally) elements, dating simulator snippet, and of course the shmup/sokoban-shmup hybrid segments, this game was made with the ethos that playing video games is fun!
A common point of detraction for this game is that discovering many of its secrets is very time consuming and can become somewhat of a slog. I do understand and partially concur with this sentiment, however you do get access to “power-ups” pretty early on that trivialize much of the actual sokoban puzzle content in the game. After this point the game basically expects you to find the majority of the puzzles impeding progression trivial, after which you can amass a bunch of locust idols and learn where floor skips are, which then makes it easier to test theories and discover secrets, etc etc. In practice though, this can be somewhat slow and tedious.
Well, as usual, I’m not sure how to end this review. I’ll just say that I enjoyed this game for the most part, even if I found the story to be somewhat overambitious or the gameplay slightly flawed. I eagerly look forward to what System Erasure continues to produce as many games don’t even get close to this ballpark of engaging for me.
Everything about this game is beautiful and interesting but the gameplay is such a filter its crazy
The way I am magnetized to this game is indescribable. There is a surface, and then there is more, and then there is even more. It just keeps giving.
At every level, its presentation is excellent and not just in the classic videogames way — look at the screenshots, the graphics are cute; listen to the music, the soundtrack is excellent. More than that, this game is surprising in a way that I’m constantly marveling at. There is clever showmanship in its very execution that I hope anyone with the patience to give this the time it warrants can appreciate.
Over time, I have felt more and more like a master of the Void. The mechanics haven’t shifted. I have. You should too!
At every level, its presentation is excellent and not just in the classic videogames way — look at the screenshots, the graphics are cute; listen to the music, the soundtrack is excellent. More than that, this game is surprising in a way that I’m constantly marveling at. There is clever showmanship in its very execution that I hope anyone with the patience to give this the time it warrants can appreciate.
Over time, I have felt more and more like a master of the Void. The mechanics haven’t shifted. I have. You should too!
Other people have written what I would say on Void Stranger much better than I could. What I'd just like to highlight is how powerful the script is--this game has shockingly little dialogue, but it packs every word with the perfect amount of sentiment. Mixed with arguably the best pixel art Ive ever seen in the medium, it really keeps you going through the void, run after run, constantly chasing shadows to find the next clue to the bigger puzzle of the world these characters inhabit.
To speak any deeper would be to ruin the experience, which is ultimately the curse of this game, but its just a wonderful time if you like that sort of gameplay-story integration in games, its so much more than the sum of its parts.
I am not a sokoban gamer though.
To speak any deeper would be to ruin the experience, which is ultimately the curse of this game, but its just a wonderful time if you like that sort of gameplay-story integration in games, its so much more than the sum of its parts.
I am not a sokoban gamer though.
I'll write a real review but for the moment just know that this might be one of the most phenomenal piece of game design, and one of the best thing that came out of indie video games.
And I'm not even a fan of sokoban!
And I'm not even a fan of sokoban!
Bom demais, só para avisar que esse jogo tem o segredo do segredo do segredo do segredo do segredo do segredo lol
I was a fan of zeroranger, system erasures previous game to this, so the announcement of void stranger was quite exciting. And this game does not disappoint. I spent 80 hours on this game, and every time I thought I was done more and more content appeared. Amazing story, fantastic lore, and crazy puzzles that break the bounds of the game, Void Stranger is truly one of the best games ive played and contender for my goty
A puzzle game with neat ideas. Nice story/gameplay, but sadly HEAVILY bogged down by repetition of similar playthroughs with different story beats. Some fast travel or something would've helped a lot. ALSO, the puzzles on top of puzzles, hiding underneath puzzles inside of puzzles can get grating when trying to figure out what exactly you need to do to proceed, wasting time as the game forces you to go through the whole game as you try to find the ONE thing you might've missed. All in all, fun on the 1st, and even 2nd run because of the slight variations, but after that, It gets boring.
The puzzles+OST are good but I am not patient or observant enough (I am diagnosed with ADHD lmao), for the secret hunting so I didn't enjoy that aspect and had to look up things which soured the experience for me. I didn't enjoy the repetitive nature of the game either.
I liked the story in NG, NG+, NG++, but the true ending raises more questions than answers, and the story in general didn't feel very integrated with the gameplay depending on how you played, whereas ZeroRanger did that perfectly.
In my opinion, the bullshit parts of ZeroRanger (like the save deleting at the end) are amplified in this game. Keep your save backed up at all times, just in case a mistake sets your progress back by a lot. Also note down things and take screenshots.
It's probably a 10/10 for the very niche group of people that:
1) enjoy puzzles
2) aren't impulsive and/or inattentive
3) are very good at thinking out of the box
4) can tolerate or even like repeating the same levels
5) enjoy anime tropes
But anyone else is probably going to have a very mixed experience with some high highs and some miserable lows
EDIT: Raised the score bc I can't get it out of my head
I liked the story in NG, NG+, NG++, but the true ending raises more questions than answers, and the story in general didn't feel very integrated with the gameplay depending on how you played, whereas ZeroRanger did that perfectly.
In my opinion, the bullshit parts of ZeroRanger (like the save deleting at the end) are amplified in this game. Keep your save backed up at all times, just in case a mistake sets your progress back by a lot. Also note down things and take screenshots.
It's probably a 10/10 for the very niche group of people that:
1) enjoy puzzles
2) aren't impulsive and/or inattentive
3) are very good at thinking out of the box
4) can tolerate or even like repeating the same levels
5) enjoy anime tropes
But anyone else is probably going to have a very mixed experience with some high highs and some miserable lows
EDIT: Raised the score bc I can't get it out of my head
I went back and beat it with some friends
it's peak.
it's peak.