written by Blain Newport on Thursday, 8 July, 2010
GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.
The Void is a bad game by many of the standards I commonly apply.
Obscure goals? Check.
Impossible fights? Check.
Hours of lost progress? Check.
Annoying interface? Check.
But it's the question. "It's the question that drives us, Neo." And it's not just one.
What is this place, really? What will happen if I feed a sister more than is allowed? How do I defeat the monsters? How do I do it efficiently? How much color can I safely give and use? What colors should I value most?
And there are still secrets. In each phase, a major change occurs. I've only seen three phases so far, so I suspect there will be many more changes to adapt to. I've heard that the void will die in a fixed amount of time, so there may be a clock on everything I do. I'm still encountering new monster types. The Brothers are giving me new tasks. And there is at least one major part of the game journal marked "Souls" that has no meaning to me yet.
Initially, Zelda games were about exploration. Some of it was annoying and stupid (trying to burn every bush and bomb every wall). But it was exploration. Now most of what you do in those games is expected, has become cliche.
I forgot what it was like to see something alien. The annoying robots in Bionic Commando and punishing platform bits of Rearmed seem so incredibly stale now, fossilized, really. Even Zeno Clash is conventional compared to this. "Let's go exploring!"
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