Man, do I love this game. By stripping the genre down to its fundamentals, Void Sols manages to capture the feeling of a From Software game better than just about anything else I've played. The minimalist aesthetic is really what makes it all work: with no distractions or superfluous/tacked-on systems, we're left with pure exploration, combat, and survival. Don't mistake this prologue's brevity for scarcity; Void Sols already has a ton of depth, and the care and consideration that Finite Reflection put into it is unmistakable.

It's also an absolutely lovely game to look at, too. Its simple geometric shapes call to mind Geometry Wars for me, but the visual effects -- especially the concave perspective/UI and the brilliant lighting and particle effects -- give Void Sols a surprisingly polished feel already. The ambient noise is eerie and effective at setting the mood, and the sound effects are snappy, recognizable, and helpful to the player. In a game where timing is everything and vibe is essential, all of these things come together to make a game that is engrossing and challenging but fair.

It's so rare these days that I play a demo that leaves me yearning for more, and it's even less common that I dip into the optional challenges and try out additional builds. (That's another thing that's great here: the stats system isn't minimal so much as deeply refined. The STR/DEX archetypes are clear and rewarding to build around, but there's plenty of satisfying wiggle room to define your own play style in-between.)

I really hope Void Sols gets the attention it deserves and Finite Reflection has the means to build this game out into something bigger, because what they've got here is the kernel of something really special.

Man, do I love this game. By stripping the genre down to its fundamentals, Void Sols manages to capture the feeling of a From Software game better than just about anything else I've played. The minimalist aesthetic is really what makes it all work: with no distractions or superfluous/tacked-on systems, we're left with pure exploration, combat, and survival. Don't mistake this prologue's brevity for scarcity; Void Sols already has a ton of depth, and the care and consideration that Finite Reflection put into it is unmistakable. It's also an absolutely lovely game to look at, too. Its simple geometric shapes call to mind Geometry Wars for me, but the visual effects -- especially the concave perspective/UI and the brilliant lighting and particle effects -- give Void Sols a surprisingly polished feel already. The ambient noise is eerie and effective at setting the mood, and the sound effects are snappy, recognizable, and helpful to the player. In a game where timing is everything and vibe is essential, all of these things come together to make a game that is engrossing and challenging but fair. It's so rare these days that I play a demo that leaves me yearning for more, and it's even less common that I dip into the optional challenges and try out additional builds. (That's another thing that's great here: the stats system isn't minimal so much as deeply refined. The STR/DEX archetypes are clear and rewarding to build around, but there's plenty of satisfying wiggle room to define your own play style in-between.) I really hope Void Sols gets the attention it deserves and Finite Reflection has the means to build this game out into something bigger, because what they've got here is the kernel of something really special.