This is the kind of game you feel you owe a review to. I picked it up after hearing comparisons to La-Mulana, which is a game that gives its fans an itch that's almost never scratched, but the great injustice of many of these reviews is how they overlook the standard, entirely non-cryptic puzzles. You might get the impression from negative and positive reviews alike that the hundreds of mechanically simple block puzzles is a grind that stands between you and this 'deeper level' that people really fall in love with, or that the regular puzzles themselves are what's unfriendly to a beginner. I'd say that if you enjoy puzzles or problem solving in general, the 'surface level' block puzzles which make up the bulk of the game are really, really well done.

System Erasure has a solid grasp on how to make minimalism work, but also what a healthy pace to introduce new elements into the mix looks like. The key problem to overcome on each floor is constantly changing and the solutions are consistently satisfying - I can only remember one out of the 500+ across the whole game I'd class as unfair or dumb, in which an unreachable block moves by itself when you pause the game. They also get pretty damn challenging, with the back half being particularly fiendish after it's done with themed areas and starts using every mechanic at its disposal against you. I wouldn't say it's on a Baba is You level of frequent outside-the-box thinking, but you're left with the impression that they've thought of every little movement quirk or unorthodox use of an obstacle, particularly with some of the optional collectibles. All of this is to say that the puzzles alone would have made me feel like I'd gotten my money's worth as someone who likes puzzle games in general.

Either way, the other parts of this game are top-notch too. The presentation is excellent, with nice pixel art on a distinctive monochromatic palette complementing the puzzle design's sense of 'getting a lot out of a little'. The soundtrack by eebrozgi deserves particular praise in nailing the atmosphere and driving home the game's most memorable moments - at least ten different spoilers come to mind here, so let me stop at saying that the first area's theme, Void Symphony, sets a high benchmark for that 'starting a new adventure' feeling that makes you just fall in love with video games all over again. The tracks are catchy, extremely diverse in style, and have plenty of little details and motifs to pick up on. The story trickles in over time with an undeniable charm that had me genuinely caring about the characters. Some elements do seem to be better appreciated if you played their last game, ZeroRanger, which I didn't, but it didn't really impact my overall enjoyment of it from the simple beginning to the rather over-the-top end.

The bottom line is that a blind playthrough of Void Stranger is full of constant surprises, and I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone looking for something refreshingly different where you don't know what to expect - with the one caveat that they'll have to be okay with some repetition and a handful of downright mean traps in the lategame for people not paying enough attention. The secret puzzles aren't as numerous as the La-Mulana comparison might expect you to believe (the game is pretty good at leading you to the entrance of the rabbit hole, in my opinion) and there are some good spoiler-free resources out there now to nudge people along if they ever get stuck. My few gripes with it are quashed by the fact that you truly do not get games like this every day.

This is the kind of game you feel you owe a review to. I picked it up after hearing comparisons to La-Mulana, which is a game that gives its fans an itch that's almost never scratched, but the great injustice of many of these reviews is how they overlook the standard, entirely non-cryptic puzzles. You might get the impression from negative and positive reviews alike that the hundreds of mechanically simple block puzzles is a grind that stands between you and this 'deeper level' that people [i]really[/i] fall in love with, or that the regular puzzles themselves are what's unfriendly to a beginner. I'd say that if you enjoy puzzles or problem solving in general, the 'surface level' block puzzles which make up the bulk of the game are really, really well done. System Erasure has a solid grasp on how to make minimalism work, but also what a healthy pace to introduce new elements into the mix looks like. The key problem to overcome on each floor is constantly changing and the solutions are consistently satisfying - I can only remember one out of the 500+ across the whole game I'd class as unfair or dumb, in which [spoiler]an unreachable block moves by itself when you pause the game[/spoiler]. They also get pretty damn challenging, with the back half being particularly fiendish after it's done with themed areas and starts using every mechanic at its disposal against you. I wouldn't say it's on a Baba is You level of frequent outside-the-box thinking, but you're left with the impression that they've thought of every little movement quirk or unorthodox use of an obstacle, particularly with some of the optional collectibles. All of this is to say that the puzzles alone would have made me feel like I'd gotten my money's worth as someone who likes puzzle games in general. Either way, the other parts of this game are top-notch too. The presentation is excellent, with nice pixel art on a distinctive monochromatic palette complementing the puzzle design's sense of 'getting a lot out of a little'. The soundtrack by eebrozgi deserves particular praise in nailing the atmosphere and driving home the game's most memorable moments - at least ten different spoilers come to mind here, so let me stop at saying that the first area's theme, Void Symphony, sets a high benchmark for that 'starting a new adventure' feeling that makes you just fall in love with video games all over again. The tracks are catchy, extremely diverse in style, and have plenty of little details and motifs to pick up on. The story trickles in over time with an undeniable charm that had me genuinely caring about the characters. Some elements do seem to be better appreciated if [spoiler]you played their last game, ZeroRanger[/spoiler], which I didn't, but it didn't really impact my overall enjoyment of it from the simple beginning to the rather over-the-top end. The bottom line is that a blind playthrough of Void Stranger is full of constant surprises, and I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone looking for something refreshingly different where you don't know what to expect - with the one caveat that they'll have to be okay with some repetition and a handful of downright mean traps in the lategame for people not paying enough attention. The secret puzzles aren't as numerous as the La-Mulana comparison might expect you to believe (the game is pretty good at leading you to the entrance of the rabbit hole, in my opinion) and there are some good spoiler-free resources out there now to nudge people along if they ever get stuck. My few gripes with it are quashed by the fact that you truly do not get games like this every day.