Howdy,

I recieved the game through from Amazon today and having read the reviews, I thought I knew what to expect.

Boy, was I wrong.

There is literally nothing in my 20+ years of gaming experience that is remotely similar. The sensation is not entirely unlike being dumped in the middle of a desert with no map, no survival gear and scorpions and rattlesnakes arguing over who's going to kill you first. I recognise the artistic style in the game - its very surreal - reminds me of Dali, Man Ray and various other Surrealists. The music, if it could be called that, fits the mood of the place but seems to stick in the mind and not always in a pleasant way.

As said above, while it doesn't remind me in gameplay terms of anything thats gone before, it stirs memories of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus on the PS2 and a very old and obscure game called Sentinel Returns on the PS1.

The first time I died was barely 5 cycles in, due to poor colour management and giving the Sisters too much too early. I'm on my second playthrough and up to cycle 8 or 9. The first time I saw a Brother walking towards me out of the darkness I nearly cacked myself. It looked horrifying but then when it spoke, its tones were calm, reasoned and completely unexpected.

This game has left me thoroughly confused, although I hope to get to the bottom of it. Eventually.

I can see what you mean about the Sentinel Returns, I've still got an old demo disc somewhere with the PC version of it on. I remember trying to play that and having no idea what I was doing so that's another one in common with The Void

Hope you enjoy playing!

Bizarrely enough, I've managed to track down a PC copy of Amazon but I cant seem to get it running, even with so called "compatibility mode" enabled =/.

Arty games seem to be making a rise in PC circles at the moment - Eufloria for one and an online game (still in Alpha) called Love. Just happened to see both in PC Gamer while reading the Void review.

The PC version of 'Sentinel Returns' worked with 3DFX cards - which are no longer made. You can get it running if you use a 'Glide wrapper' (do a google search).

Alternatively, try out one of the many versions of the original game, 'The Sentinel' - or one of the remakes! The gameplay in 'Sentinel Returns' is identical to the original.

I'm a big fan, btw

Here are a couple of good, free Windows remakes:

* Sentry - Rather old; but probably my favourite version of The Sentinel. Very atmospheric.
* Zenith - New, slick, beautiful - You shouldn't have any problems running this.

Every time I play, I discover something new - something usually involves me regretting the actions of the past few hours. >.<

The boss fights really are a test of your Color - I often find myself being pushed to the very last drops of whatever I have. I must admit I have yet to kill any though, although usually its within a hair's breadth of victory.

One thing I did learn though was to always make sure I never use the last few drops of a particular colour. As an example, I set up lots of gold trees on my second playthrough, ended up giving too much to the Nameless Sister (my current favourite <3) and then when the trees failed, no more seemed to spawn anywhere.

In a nutshell, always make sure you have enough of a particular colour to start a new tree in a new garden - you won't regret it! =)


Coming back to this Sentinel business, the reason I was keen for the "official" version was the creeptastic soundtrack that came with it - it was the music more than anything else that reminded me of The Void (although the feeling of paranoia, isolation, persecution and alienation also struck a chord, not to mention the ball-bustingly high difficulty curve).

Stick with it - You'll do it
Great advice

Ah yes. It was composed by John Carpenter (Halloween), IIRC.

@Hydra I tried it a year or two ago with a glide wrapper on an XP machine, no luck there though sadly. I still remember that foetus thing on the main menu that would get injected, the sound it made, still makes me cringe. Be giving it a try on this machine though *fingers crossed*

@MasamuneSSX How are you settling into The Void now? Pulling your hair out in anger or simply enjoying the scenery? If I were ever to become a landscape gardener I know what I'd be drawing on for inspirtation. Bit on a tangent but if you like a Dali influence to things see if you can find "Spellbound" with Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman.

Killed my first boss yesterday \o/ and it did take a merry crapload of colour to do so. I met another of these "particular" bosses (those that have completed the story thus far know the ones I mean) and got flattened in seconds. Finally met Ole as well for the first time and her chamber raises an awful lot of questions. Nameless, however, remains my favourite for now.

I've just reached a certain part in the story that actually caused me to shed a tear in real life. Those that have read my other posts on here will know the bit I mean but once again, I will avoid spoilers. Was there anything I could have done to prevent it?

Nope.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Now I'm really sad.

To bring you a beacon of hope, you can "fix" it later in the game.

Well, all things change....and I finally managed to complete The Void.

I'm now slowly working on my second playthrough and I'm determined to correct a major oversight I made on my first run, although I suspect it will be incredibly hard to fix. I will be watching the future activities of IPL with great interest. =3

Congrats, Masamune!