if this game respected my time more I'm sure I'd be its biggest fan
I was told it's like la-mulana but la-mulana has a bunch of QoL features that this doesn't seem to have
I was told it's like la-mulana but la-mulana has a bunch of QoL features that this doesn't seem to have
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.
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!
Probably one of the best games I've ever played, for reasons that you will only understand once you play it for yourself.
Never have I been so pulled into a puzzle game.
Hard as hell puzzles, wonderful story, and questions that continued to draw me back in until the very end.
Hard as hell puzzles, wonderful story, and questions that continued to draw me back in until the very end.
Decidí no continuar por un tiempo este juego, amo Zeroranger con todo mi corazón y tuve altísimas expectativas por este, y aunque me supo mantener atrapado y cautivado durante toda la trama de Gray con una historia relativamente solida, enternecedora y con sus momentos de brillantez que realmente me llegaron mucho (especialmente los primeros dos finales), la trama de Lilly simplemente me está perdiendo. La siento redundante y sin foco tanto en su historia como en su gameplay y level design, ya no hay sorpresas que no haya descubierto ya con Gray, y ya parece que la formula ambigua y obtusa de la narrativa se sigue por mero capricho y no por complementar al gameplay o una linea temática concreta, como sí sentía que ocurría con Gray.
Estaré sacando conclusiones apresuradas? Es más que posible, pero la verdad tengo miedo de terminar aún más decepcionado con lo mucho que esperé de esta obra, al menos de momento, prefiero quedarme con una experiencia sólida que supo atraparme con su ingenio y momentos enternecedores, al menos durante su primer trayecto, el cual ni siquiera es corto
Estaré sacando conclusiones apresuradas? Es más que posible, pero la verdad tengo miedo de terminar aún más decepcionado con lo mucho que esperé de esta obra, al menos de momento, prefiero quedarme con una experiencia sólida que supo atraparme con su ingenio y momentos enternecedores, al menos durante su primer trayecto, el cual ni siquiera es corto
“For these defects, and for no other evil, we are now lost and punished just with this: We have no hope and yet we live in longing”
Devotion is an incredibly potent motivator. Our capacity to love something or someone to such an extent that we can pledge every facet of our being to their cause is both a wonderful, yet tragic curse. This infatuation we have can allow us to endure even the circles of hell itself, but in turn it makes us blind. We forgo all else around in the pursuit of perpetuating the eternal memory of our devotee.
Void Stranger is a hard game to discuss for several reasons. The most pressing of which is that you simply are not allowed to speak of it in any meaningful capacity lest you give its game away to the uninitiated. So sacred are its labyrinthian secrets revered by those privy that they are selfishly hoarded, and only dispensed piecemeal to the desperate to prevent them from succumbing entirely to the void. It should be self-evident from this alone that there is much value to be had from this game through self-discovery. That to discuss the contents within its locker is tantamount to sin.
Yet to not talk about it defeats its message! Did others not play the same game as I? Did they not learn of the ultimate tragedy that ensues when keeping something so tight to one’s chest? To keep silent of our experiences is to allow them to die with us! These bearings are to be exposed. These walls we build around ourselves must crumble away so that who we are may be shared.
This review is a compromise of these two thoughts and split accordingly into two parts. The first, in which you are reading, to serve as mere bait to entice the curious and hungry into a deadly snare. A brief synopsis of memory deliberately obfuscated to reveal limited truth and provide some initial guidance. A second intended to be read for those whom have completed a ‘successful’ dive into the void, in which I will elaborate upon the true nature of the abyss. Such tiered structure of revelation is at the very core of this story that I would seek to have you to play.
Void Stranger presents itself as a classical story about how one’s devotion can surpass all. Lady Gray is the embodiment of traditionally noble ideals. Conviction and duty are paramount to her. She honours that which she loves by seeking to exist as an extension of their will. There is no burden too great that she is unwilling or seemingly unable to bear. This to her is the nature of love itself, the meaning she has ascribed to it. She expresses love through her devotion.
And yet this labyrinth she is made to endure is ultimately one of judgment. A condemnation of those who wander its ever-twisting halls. These puzzles that you initially meet with earnest resolve, they will slowly wear you ragged. They will wear away at your soul. They will surely consume you. You will soon come to an understanding that playing this much Sokoban truly is hell! The question becomes what do you do afterwards when your resolve falters?
There are a few options available to you when this occurs. Not all are obvious. ALL of them are valid ways to progress. The one and only meaningful purpose of this initial review is to provide this assurance. That each of these paths will ultimately, albeit differently, lead to payoff.
The most intuitive of course being to press onwards undeterred. Conviction, duty, devotion, so neatly align with that of a quality that games as a medium tend to cultivate within its players. Determination. With simply enough perseverance you will succeed. And although I offer alternatives do not let this dissuade you from this road. It is the intended path to follow, and you will be uniquely rewarded should you tread it.
Perhaps though you will try again. Repeat the game fresh from the start. Carrying over only a more experienced perspective. A less naïve and more discerning approach. There are secrets to these halls after all, that which you may have noticed but were too late to act upon in retrospect.
Or perhaps you will simply give up. Move on and play something else. This too is a valid conclusion to the journey. There is no shame in doing so. So many others have fallen to these halls after all and so too will all in time. To perpetuate memory eternal is foolish. Let it fade.
However most controversially I offer a final recourse that some would consider taboo. Cheat. Cheat a little. Cheat a lot even. Cheat as much as you think you have been cheated by. Look at floor puzzle guides. Ask for advice or hints from others whom have undertaken this journey. I will not pretend that the other roads are not more ideal. But you have nothing to prove. It is not your devotion that is being tested after all.
Ultimately Void Stranger is a game that seeks to hurt you. It hurt me and it is this grievance that I wish to share. And at the end of the void, if you have not lost yourself, you will discover the folly that is devotion. Can you remember why you are here?
(I recommend this game first and foremost to those who wish to see videogames elevated as a form of literary art. After playing this it has shown my faith in the medium in being able to convey unique and profound experiences to not be misplaced. However, that is not without caveats. This is a long and grueling journey with an initially uncertain payoff. It demands a lot of time from you. Some knowledge is gatekeeped until you have endured a requisite amount of suffering. This however is a part of the ‘art’. It is absolutely my favourite game I have played in quite some while. Sokoban fans may even find they might enjoy this too!)
“I wonder... Maybe we're simply too late. All light that reaches us is just a faded memory. If we wish to escape their fate... We must shine even brighter. Our light must become endless.”
Part 2 is here (Full of spoilers): https://www.backloggd.com/u/GingerV/review/1566841/
Devotion is an incredibly potent motivator. Our capacity to love something or someone to such an extent that we can pledge every facet of our being to their cause is both a wonderful, yet tragic curse. This infatuation we have can allow us to endure even the circles of hell itself, but in turn it makes us blind. We forgo all else around in the pursuit of perpetuating the eternal memory of our devotee.
Void Stranger is a hard game to discuss for several reasons. The most pressing of which is that you simply are not allowed to speak of it in any meaningful capacity lest you give its game away to the uninitiated. So sacred are its labyrinthian secrets revered by those privy that they are selfishly hoarded, and only dispensed piecemeal to the desperate to prevent them from succumbing entirely to the void. It should be self-evident from this alone that there is much value to be had from this game through self-discovery. That to discuss the contents within its locker is tantamount to sin.
Yet to not talk about it defeats its message! Did others not play the same game as I? Did they not learn of the ultimate tragedy that ensues when keeping something so tight to one’s chest? To keep silent of our experiences is to allow them to die with us! These bearings are to be exposed. These walls we build around ourselves must crumble away so that who we are may be shared.
This review is a compromise of these two thoughts and split accordingly into two parts. The first, in which you are reading, to serve as mere bait to entice the curious and hungry into a deadly snare. A brief synopsis of memory deliberately obfuscated to reveal limited truth and provide some initial guidance. A second intended to be read for those whom have completed a ‘successful’ dive into the void, in which I will elaborate upon the true nature of the abyss. Such tiered structure of revelation is at the very core of this story that I would seek to have you to play.
Void Stranger presents itself as a classical story about how one’s devotion can surpass all. Lady Gray is the embodiment of traditionally noble ideals. Conviction and duty are paramount to her. She honours that which she loves by seeking to exist as an extension of their will. There is no burden too great that she is unwilling or seemingly unable to bear. This to her is the nature of love itself, the meaning she has ascribed to it. She expresses love through her devotion.
And yet this labyrinth she is made to endure is ultimately one of judgment. A condemnation of those who wander its ever-twisting halls. These puzzles that you initially meet with earnest resolve, they will slowly wear you ragged. They will wear away at your soul. They will surely consume you. You will soon come to an understanding that playing this much Sokoban truly is hell! The question becomes what do you do afterwards when your resolve falters?
There are a few options available to you when this occurs. Not all are obvious. ALL of them are valid ways to progress. The one and only meaningful purpose of this initial review is to provide this assurance. That each of these paths will ultimately, albeit differently, lead to payoff.
The most intuitive of course being to press onwards undeterred. Conviction, duty, devotion, so neatly align with that of a quality that games as a medium tend to cultivate within its players. Determination. With simply enough perseverance you will succeed. And although I offer alternatives do not let this dissuade you from this road. It is the intended path to follow, and you will be uniquely rewarded should you tread it.
Perhaps though you will try again. Repeat the game fresh from the start. Carrying over only a more experienced perspective. A less naïve and more discerning approach. There are secrets to these halls after all, that which you may have noticed but were too late to act upon in retrospect.
Or perhaps you will simply give up. Move on and play something else. This too is a valid conclusion to the journey. There is no shame in doing so. So many others have fallen to these halls after all and so too will all in time. To perpetuate memory eternal is foolish. Let it fade.
However most controversially I offer a final recourse that some would consider taboo. Cheat. Cheat a little. Cheat a lot even. Cheat as much as you think you have been cheated by. Look at floor puzzle guides. Ask for advice or hints from others whom have undertaken this journey. I will not pretend that the other roads are not more ideal. But you have nothing to prove. It is not your devotion that is being tested after all.
Ultimately Void Stranger is a game that seeks to hurt you. It hurt me and it is this grievance that I wish to share. And at the end of the void, if you have not lost yourself, you will discover the folly that is devotion. Can you remember why you are here?
(I recommend this game first and foremost to those who wish to see videogames elevated as a form of literary art. After playing this it has shown my faith in the medium in being able to convey unique and profound experiences to not be misplaced. However, that is not without caveats. This is a long and grueling journey with an initially uncertain payoff. It demands a lot of time from you. Some knowledge is gatekeeped until you have endured a requisite amount of suffering. This however is a part of the ‘art’. It is absolutely my favourite game I have played in quite some while. Sokoban fans may even find they might enjoy this too!)
“I wonder... Maybe we're simply too late. All light that reaches us is just a faded memory. If we wish to escape their fate... We must shine even brighter. Our light must become endless.”
Part 2 is here (Full of spoilers): https://www.backloggd.com/u/GingerV/review/1566841/
this one really hurts to shelve. I really enjoyed what I played but I have so many mental hurdles keeping me from finishing this. I would love to be the guy that plays through Void Stranger multiple times and does all the different paths but I can’t. I get super anxious thinking about this process when I know I have a bunch of other video games I want to play and a bunch of other non video game things I want to devote my time to. As I think about the rest of my life and where I’m currently, I can feel that available time pool draining right in front of me. While the esoteric nature of this game is appealing, I know that I would resort to using a guide and that makes me feel a horrible mixture of impatient and flat out dumb. I ran into a similar scenario with Outer Wilds, where I really enjoyed it to a point, but that point was a brick wall where I had to confront who I am and what I’m worth. Even making the decision to shelve this was a small confrontation between myself and those feelings, and I feel like a wounded loser in this fight.
and why did the devs make her BUSTY?????
and why did the devs make her BUSTY?????
Truly the tsundere of puzzle games
Fuck this game
ich bin zu dumm dafür leider aber geht dumm
Necesitaría mucho más que unas pocas líneas para intentar describir los altibajos emocionales que Void Stranger me ha provocado. Incomprensión e incomodidad, interés y fascinación, rabia y melancolía, alegría y asombro, y finalmente, un tono agridulce al que me alegro de haber jugado. Por cada piso que pude terminar por mi cuenta, hubo tres que tuve que buscar la solución online; por cada mural que descifré, dos que no hubiera entendido jamás; y por cada escena de culpa católica enmarcada en personajes estereotípicos que me hizo apretar los dientes de la indignación, hubo tres que me hicieron sentir que estaba tocando de verdad al autore.
Decimos que los juegos son obras personales de la misma forma que decimos que detrás de cada obra de arte se sobreentiende siempre cierto esfuerzo y horas de trabajo: como una convención comodona, destinada a reafirmar nuestra decisión de dedicar el poco tiempo que tenemos de vida a un arte que seguramente no posea ni la mitad de humanidad que el poema más parco. Con Void Stranger sentí que experimentaba arte y basura a partes iguales, y en ese sentido, es un juego que me ha hecho pensar más que nunca en mi relación con este medio que me ha traído tantas alegrías y tantas, tantas decepciones.
Puedes admirar Void Stranger por la inquina mentalidad puesta a la hora de diseñar según que puzzles, y puedes detestarlo por su tendencia casi obsesiva a la ofuscación, que en más de una ocasión me hicieron querer cortar del todo. También puedes reconocer su intrincada narración, digna de cierta escuela de diseño post-Undertale que pareció tomar como única lección el accidente de Gaster. Pero para mí, lo que tiene valor de esta maraña de modos extra es el hecho de que, al final del día, el mensaje siempre es el mismo, el de la importancia de aprender a amar. En los momentos en que es así de simple, Void Stranger me agarra de verdad, y en los momentos en que deja relucir sus partes más avergonzadas, es cuando me irrita de verdad.
Así que le pongo un 4, porque supongo que un 5 quedaría reservado para los juegos que me afectan a un nivel estrictamente personal o me parecen encapsulaciones ideales de una forma que no siempre sabré explicar, puedo afirmar sin ninguna duda que hay muchas cosas en Void Stranger que no me gustan. Pero no puedo negar que me ha hecho pensar de un modo que pocas obras, irónicamente desde Undertale, lograron.
--------------------------
I would need much more than a few lines to describe the emotional ups and downs that Void Stranger has provoked in me. Incomprehension and discomfort, interest and fascination, anger and melancholy, joy and wonder, and finally, a bittersweet note that I'm glad I had the opportunity to experience. For every floor I was able to finish on my own, there were three I had to look up the solution online for; for every mural I deciphered, two of them I would never have guessed on my own; and for every scene of Catholic guilt framed by stereotypical characters that made me cringe in indignation, there were three that made me feel like I was really reaching the author.
We say that games are personal works in the same way that there's always some effort put behind everything, in the sense that we use to reaffirm our life choice to devote so much of our precious time on Earth to an art form that probably doesn't have as much humanity within it as the shortest poem. With Void Stranger I felt like I was experiencing art and dreck on several occasions, and in that sense, it is a game that has made me think more about my relationship with a medium that has brought me so much joy and yet so much disappointment than many others.
You can admire Void Stranger for its devilish attitude towards puzzle design, and you can loathe it for its almost obsessive tendency to obfuscation, which made me want to quit it many times. You can also recognize its intricate storytelling, worthy of a post-Undertale school of design that took Gaster's accidental fame as its main bullet point. But for me, what's valuable about this mess of a title is the fact that, at the end of the day, the message remains the same: That of the importance of being loved. When it's that simple, is when it grabs me better. And when it's much more dishonest and shameful is when it really irritates me.
So I give it a 4, because I suppose a 5 should be reserved for games that affect me on a very personal level or encapsulate an ideal form of gaming that I'm not always good at explaining. I can state without a doubt that there are many things in Void Stranger that I don't like. But I can't deny that it has made me think in a way that few works, ironically since Undertale, managed to do.
Decimos que los juegos son obras personales de la misma forma que decimos que detrás de cada obra de arte se sobreentiende siempre cierto esfuerzo y horas de trabajo: como una convención comodona, destinada a reafirmar nuestra decisión de dedicar el poco tiempo que tenemos de vida a un arte que seguramente no posea ni la mitad de humanidad que el poema más parco. Con Void Stranger sentí que experimentaba arte y basura a partes iguales, y en ese sentido, es un juego que me ha hecho pensar más que nunca en mi relación con este medio que me ha traído tantas alegrías y tantas, tantas decepciones.
Puedes admirar Void Stranger por la inquina mentalidad puesta a la hora de diseñar según que puzzles, y puedes detestarlo por su tendencia casi obsesiva a la ofuscación, que en más de una ocasión me hicieron querer cortar del todo. También puedes reconocer su intrincada narración, digna de cierta escuela de diseño post-Undertale que pareció tomar como única lección el accidente de Gaster. Pero para mí, lo que tiene valor de esta maraña de modos extra es el hecho de que, al final del día, el mensaje siempre es el mismo, el de la importancia de aprender a amar. En los momentos en que es así de simple, Void Stranger me agarra de verdad, y en los momentos en que deja relucir sus partes más avergonzadas, es cuando me irrita de verdad.
Así que le pongo un 4, porque supongo que un 5 quedaría reservado para los juegos que me afectan a un nivel estrictamente personal o me parecen encapsulaciones ideales de una forma que no siempre sabré explicar, puedo afirmar sin ninguna duda que hay muchas cosas en Void Stranger que no me gustan. Pero no puedo negar que me ha hecho pensar de un modo que pocas obras, irónicamente desde Undertale, lograron.
--------------------------
I would need much more than a few lines to describe the emotional ups and downs that Void Stranger has provoked in me. Incomprehension and discomfort, interest and fascination, anger and melancholy, joy and wonder, and finally, a bittersweet note that I'm glad I had the opportunity to experience. For every floor I was able to finish on my own, there were three I had to look up the solution online for; for every mural I deciphered, two of them I would never have guessed on my own; and for every scene of Catholic guilt framed by stereotypical characters that made me cringe in indignation, there were three that made me feel like I was really reaching the author.
We say that games are personal works in the same way that there's always some effort put behind everything, in the sense that we use to reaffirm our life choice to devote so much of our precious time on Earth to an art form that probably doesn't have as much humanity within it as the shortest poem. With Void Stranger I felt like I was experiencing art and dreck on several occasions, and in that sense, it is a game that has made me think more about my relationship with a medium that has brought me so much joy and yet so much disappointment than many others.
You can admire Void Stranger for its devilish attitude towards puzzle design, and you can loathe it for its almost obsessive tendency to obfuscation, which made me want to quit it many times. You can also recognize its intricate storytelling, worthy of a post-Undertale school of design that took Gaster's accidental fame as its main bullet point. But for me, what's valuable about this mess of a title is the fact that, at the end of the day, the message remains the same: That of the importance of being loved. When it's that simple, is when it grabs me better. And when it's much more dishonest and shameful is when it really irritates me.
So I give it a 4, because I suppose a 5 should be reserved for games that affect me on a very personal level or encapsulate an ideal form of gaming that I'm not always good at explaining. I can state without a doubt that there are many things in Void Stranger that I don't like. But I can't deny that it has made me think in a way that few works, ironically since Undertale, managed to do.
This review contains spoilers
( This is a spoiler filled part 2 to a less revealing previous piece: https://www.backloggd.com/u/GingerV/review/1566836/ )
“Become endless? To hell with all of that! I'm happy because we're together, right here and now. Even when the last star burns out... This memory will surely remain. Because I love you.”
I am assuming that if you have decided to click on that ‘I’m ready’ button you have learnt of the curious decision made within the heart of the void. If you have not, I will not begrudge you of your agency if you decide to read on further. I myself cheated this game out of its many secrets similarly to this, yet by the time I did so, it was because I was fully enamoured with it. So, I give this final opportunity to turn back should you seek to form your own infatuation with this experience before I corrupt any preconception you have with that of my bias.
As you are left perhaps still reeling at the decision made by Lady Gray, you reload the game and are given a brief reprieve to absorb what exactly has just transpired before you are thrown back once more into the void. That initial premise of Void Stranger you just endured in that first playthrough, encapsulating those classical story archetypes, was merely there to serve as pretext. A formative basis in which to be iterated upon in a never-ending pursuit of recontextualization and retrospection. The first layer of many in which you engage and form an understanding with a literature’s thoughts and ideas. Conventionally most stories will end here leaving the reader on their own to pursue any further depths, Void Stranger however does the work for you in reframing itself. Narratively bringing itself forward an age, the world setting shifting to cement this change. Becoming modern, a more contemporary piece, self-critical and questioning. The game’s story structure has evolved paralleling that of how story frameworks have over time. You slowly discover that Void Stranger is about the ever-evolving nature of literature itself.
But no that is not the immediate concern is it, this realisation happens later when the dust is settled and the immediate fire is put out. The most pressing thought that dwells in one’s mind for the second playthrough is less abstract. This thought as you are given control over a new character, this stranger that Gray chose over the very charge in which she braved hell itself for, forms a simple question. Why? Why did she make that choice?
And here lies the focal point of this game. Void Stranger is ultimately not a drama nor a romance but that of a tragedy. It is about the insurmountable power of love yes, but more so about one of its perpetually recurring adversities. More specifically that of the irreconcilable differences between the understanding of love of a parent with that of their child. How these different interpretations of love between them are not reciprocated because they each are conceived from that which is fundamentally opposed.
Gray embodies limitless love for one person, but that devotion was never towards her daughters. Instead, Gray’s love and devotion is ethereal, directed towards the voided, to that of a deceased queen upon whom their lineage derives. In lieu of a living being of flesh in which to dedicate her love, there is only simple memory. If memory is all that remains then so be it, Gray will see to it that it persists eternally. A light that she must see become endless.
Parents do not love their children for who they are. How can they? Initially there is nothing in which to form such a connection. These fragile zygotes that only eventually grow into personhood have yet to form a self. They are naught more than a growing mass of flesh. To sincerely love a child before they can grow and realise themselves is impossible. Instead, a parent loves that which they can project onto, a perceived potential. A belief in the idea of what the child will eventually become. For Gray that belief is in that endless light. That these children, and their children, and their children will live ever eternal. Proxies for the endlessly recurring memory that she is devoted to. This is a sincere expression of love. The tragic rationale on how she made that choice in the void.
A child’s love in turn starts as something much cleaner but unfortunately no less delusional. It, at least, is founded upon something tangible, the corporeal and living caretaker in front of them. This person who seemingly loves them unconditionally. As the child grows and attains self-actualization, this formative perception of love is sought to be reciprocated. Lillie (and the Lily whom was lost to the void) loves Gray wholeheartedly. And in turn seek to express this love by embodying to become just like them, to honour them by living as their reflection. Eventually however, it is come to be understood that the unconditional basis that formed such a love is not real.
And yet it does not matter at all! Love is belief in as much as it is devotion. Lillie embodies a sincere unconditional love for her mother Gray naïve it may be. This love however is not what Gray sought. She cannot accept Lillie to live for her sake over that of her muse. To do so would extinguish her memory, her eternal light, to kill what little remains. And so Gray does not, and cannot, reciprocate this love coming from this reflection herself. And so she rejects it.
There is no recourse. The memory is still doomed to fade. Devotion without purpose is foolishness. As Gray too becomes only memory what then becomes of Lillie? This being whose self was conceived from the basis of these two irreconcilable and unreciprocated beliefs in love? The dawning realization that Lillie could never become someone Gray could see as worthy to love. That perhaps she only exists as a wrong choice, that it should have been her left behind in the void. What answer exists there for her should she return? For one devoid of devotion? I will not deny you from forming your answer by presenting my own.
Void Stranger does not end here. As far as I am aware Void Stranger does not end. It seeks to encapsulate something grander than a story. The journey of life itself in all its infinite recursion. It repeats that trick mentioned earlier once more. Bringing the story forward another age, recontextualizing itself. The nature of story itself now coming under scrutiny. The enigmatic purpose of demons and of void to be elaborated upon and revealed. A work as a living being in which we breathe life into. Now becoming post-modern.
But I am not capable nor willing to elaborate any further. Satisfied as I am to leave it here. The adventure of life goes on, with and without me.
“I don’t know what this feeling is, but… I was searching for it for a long time. Now that I’ve found it… I realize that it doesn’t belong to me.”
“Become endless? To hell with all of that! I'm happy because we're together, right here and now. Even when the last star burns out... This memory will surely remain. Because I love you.”
I am assuming that if you have decided to click on that ‘I’m ready’ button you have learnt of the curious decision made within the heart of the void. If you have not, I will not begrudge you of your agency if you decide to read on further. I myself cheated this game out of its many secrets similarly to this, yet by the time I did so, it was because I was fully enamoured with it. So, I give this final opportunity to turn back should you seek to form your own infatuation with this experience before I corrupt any preconception you have with that of my bias.
As you are left perhaps still reeling at the decision made by Lady Gray, you reload the game and are given a brief reprieve to absorb what exactly has just transpired before you are thrown back once more into the void. That initial premise of Void Stranger you just endured in that first playthrough, encapsulating those classical story archetypes, was merely there to serve as pretext. A formative basis in which to be iterated upon in a never-ending pursuit of recontextualization and retrospection. The first layer of many in which you engage and form an understanding with a literature’s thoughts and ideas. Conventionally most stories will end here leaving the reader on their own to pursue any further depths, Void Stranger however does the work for you in reframing itself. Narratively bringing itself forward an age, the world setting shifting to cement this change. Becoming modern, a more contemporary piece, self-critical and questioning. The game’s story structure has evolved paralleling that of how story frameworks have over time. You slowly discover that Void Stranger is about the ever-evolving nature of literature itself.
But no that is not the immediate concern is it, this realisation happens later when the dust is settled and the immediate fire is put out. The most pressing thought that dwells in one’s mind for the second playthrough is less abstract. This thought as you are given control over a new character, this stranger that Gray chose over the very charge in which she braved hell itself for, forms a simple question. Why? Why did she make that choice?
And here lies the focal point of this game. Void Stranger is ultimately not a drama nor a romance but that of a tragedy. It is about the insurmountable power of love yes, but more so about one of its perpetually recurring adversities. More specifically that of the irreconcilable differences between the understanding of love of a parent with that of their child. How these different interpretations of love between them are not reciprocated because they each are conceived from that which is fundamentally opposed.
Gray embodies limitless love for one person, but that devotion was never towards her daughters. Instead, Gray’s love and devotion is ethereal, directed towards the voided, to that of a deceased queen upon whom their lineage derives. In lieu of a living being of flesh in which to dedicate her love, there is only simple memory. If memory is all that remains then so be it, Gray will see to it that it persists eternally. A light that she must see become endless.
Parents do not love their children for who they are. How can they? Initially there is nothing in which to form such a connection. These fragile zygotes that only eventually grow into personhood have yet to form a self. They are naught more than a growing mass of flesh. To sincerely love a child before they can grow and realise themselves is impossible. Instead, a parent loves that which they can project onto, a perceived potential. A belief in the idea of what the child will eventually become. For Gray that belief is in that endless light. That these children, and their children, and their children will live ever eternal. Proxies for the endlessly recurring memory that she is devoted to. This is a sincere expression of love. The tragic rationale on how she made that choice in the void.
A child’s love in turn starts as something much cleaner but unfortunately no less delusional. It, at least, is founded upon something tangible, the corporeal and living caretaker in front of them. This person who seemingly loves them unconditionally. As the child grows and attains self-actualization, this formative perception of love is sought to be reciprocated. Lillie (and the Lily whom was lost to the void) loves Gray wholeheartedly. And in turn seek to express this love by embodying to become just like them, to honour them by living as their reflection. Eventually however, it is come to be understood that the unconditional basis that formed such a love is not real.
And yet it does not matter at all! Love is belief in as much as it is devotion. Lillie embodies a sincere unconditional love for her mother Gray naïve it may be. This love however is not what Gray sought. She cannot accept Lillie to live for her sake over that of her muse. To do so would extinguish her memory, her eternal light, to kill what little remains. And so Gray does not, and cannot, reciprocate this love coming from this reflection herself. And so she rejects it.
There is no recourse. The memory is still doomed to fade. Devotion without purpose is foolishness. As Gray too becomes only memory what then becomes of Lillie? This being whose self was conceived from the basis of these two irreconcilable and unreciprocated beliefs in love? The dawning realization that Lillie could never become someone Gray could see as worthy to love. That perhaps she only exists as a wrong choice, that it should have been her left behind in the void. What answer exists there for her should she return? For one devoid of devotion? I will not deny you from forming your answer by presenting my own.
Void Stranger does not end here. As far as I am aware Void Stranger does not end. It seeks to encapsulate something grander than a story. The journey of life itself in all its infinite recursion. It repeats that trick mentioned earlier once more. Bringing the story forward another age, recontextualizing itself. The nature of story itself now coming under scrutiny. The enigmatic purpose of demons and of void to be elaborated upon and revealed. A work as a living being in which we breathe life into. Now becoming post-modern.
But I am not capable nor willing to elaborate any further. Satisfied as I am to leave it here. The adventure of life goes on, with and without me.
“I don’t know what this feeling is, but… I was searching for it for a long time. Now that I’ve found it… I realize that it doesn’t belong to me.”
-Uh........