Thanks to a recommendation by my fourteen year-old sister, I've been playing this most bizarre, unique and fantastic game called The Void. To explain what this game is and, specifically, why it's so good, is difficult. But I'll try.



By what is thought to be a random 1 in 1000 chance, a soul has ended up between mortal death and eternal death. It's not purgatory as this is no gateway to either heaven or hell. This is the only place between life and death - The Void. Well, that's what some call it. It appears to be a place devoid of Colour (capitalisation intended) and it appears to either have been starved long before this soul appeared, or it's in the process of dying. This is pretty much where you start, with nothing to tell you where you came from, where you're going, and what you must do. Well, nothing except some alluring sorrowful voice telling you to approach and take your first Heart.



This is a first person game, but it's no shooter. The goals you think you have to aim for change and shift in priorities. One of the facets of this fascinating game is how information is fed to the player because the information you receive isn't necessarily factual. Most games build their stories bit by bit, as is the case with The Void, but within a short while you come to realise that everything the characters say is just an opinion, or maybe even an outright lie. You feel you're playing into someone else's ulterior motives. I've already decided what voices to listen to and what to ignore (and there's always someone with an opinion about what you're doing,) but I could be making a huge mistake. Another aspect is this issue with Colour; it's the most precious resource and is used for everything. Any use of it has ramifications, but use of it is unavoidable, and what you do can set you up to succeed or fail a few cycles down the line.



And you get this increasing sense that your presence and ability will become the most significant and important thing to ever occur in this place.



There are three distinct character types. I'll mention two: The Brothers are horrifying, and the Sisters are all stark naked. I don't know that this is necessary, but I do think there's a purpose to this - you're meant to find the sisters alluring. I think they all use this to their advantage, and I think as the story moves on you learn to become wary of both words and appearance, but I've not finished this game yet so I'm not yet sure. Even if I was I'm not about to spoil this for you.



The story continues to deliver its revelations and, up to where I've played, has now taken a very interesting twist I think I have an idea of where this is all going.



Now here is both a praise and a warning - this game is quite non-linear, with failures not necessarily ending the game outright, and steathily offering you plenty of chances to screw yourself over and forcing a reload. I had to reload once because I'd run out of the two colours I absolutely needed, and this was because I'd not noticed I needed to cultivate them properly. In the first days of my playing of The Void, I started again completely because I'd put myself in an unescapable dead end, had learned a few things in the process, and knew I could set myself up far better. This doesn't kill the game if this is necessary in your first few hours. There appears to be an opinion amongst reviewers that this is an intended mechanic and knowing this means you should be free from being too harsh on yourself too early on. I didn't plan ahead, and learned my mistake.



So now, currently in this game, I'm second guessing every movement of every character in the Void, including myself, and every use of colour. When travelling between chambers you can control how fast time passes. I'm always immediately moving the dial to the lowest setting possible to reassess everything, holding CTRL to bring up my colour palette to stop time completely if I have all the info I need to work out my next five moves. I'm thinking constantly as I play, working out, planning ahead with every decision. In my game so far, it appears to be working. You think, therefore you exist and you play. It's like playing chess on about five different boards at once, all of which affect the other. If this sounds like too much hard work for you, don't touch The Void. If this kind of tension sounds exciting and/or rewarding, (and I think, for all the frustrations this setup promises, it is), I implore you to consider this game!



I think the best hint I can give to successfully get through this is to consider each time you receive a new goal. If a Brother says you have five cycles to achieve it, save the game, and make a note of it. This one is important. Figure out where you need to go and what you need to get there, and work to that goal. Plan well ahead and work out what colours to cultivate, where, and how.



I also wanted to mention that the vocal casting and acting is of a pretty darned high quality.



I'll now just link to a pretty good review I found for this game by quoting a brilliant line from the reviewer.



But this isn't a regular game, that doesn't satisfactorily describe your task, and even though that's what you're first told to do, there's this unavoidable nagging thought in your mind that the game might be lying to you.



It's mostly first person, but it's strategy, it's resource management, it's mystery, it's horror, it's action. This is an arty game, and it is can offer a unique and very challenging story and gameplay. I think there are quite a lot of hours here for your money. If that's up your street, and you like the sound of the review on Eurogamer, check it out.