Explore and escape the prison pyramid floating in deep space!
Void Pyramid is a turn-based RPG that's heavily influenced by classics in the genre (both digital and physical), but cuts some complexity in favor of more recent quality-of-life features. You play as a prisoner of the void pyramid, located somewhere in deep space. Your task is to defeat the demon warden and of course escape.
Starting out, you must choose one of three "classes". Each is strong in one stat, but weak in another. This decision dictates how you play early on, though you can improve skills as you wish later on (using currency). There are a number of locations where your initial choice of class makes a difference, typically giving you some type of bonus items as a result.
Wandering the chambers, you'll encounter monsters, puzzles, traps, obstacles and loot - pretty much what you would expect from a game of this type. What sets Void Pyramid apart from your run-of-the-mill RPG however is its presentation and delivery. There are less character stats here than in most RPGs, and they're easier to understand, making the game much more approachable. Combat is straightforward as a result, and I imagine some may find the combat system a little too simplistic. The way I see it, making the stats and combat easier to understand allows the player to get on with exploration and puzzle solving, which are equally important facets of this game.
It's tough to talk about exploration and puzzles in Void Pyramid without also making mention of its visual style, as they're essentially married. This game makes excellent use of the 8-bit art style to cleverly obscure secret areas, hints and lore. It has a lot more detail than you might expect, and almost every bit of that detail comes with additional (sometimes quite funny) information and rewards if you investigate it. To say I'm impressed with this game's use of art (in the rather limiting style they opted for) is an understatement - it makes me look at the classic games even more critically now.
Though Void Pyramid takes many cues from classic RPGs, it also adds some present-day conveniences. Between having warp items as well as checkpoint terminals, you can easily return to a save location should you need to stop playing. Death in the game is treated quite fairly as well - instead of having to reload a save, you're revived back at the starting room with a little less money in your pocket.
While overall I really like Void Pyramid, its not without some flaws. My biggest gripe is that you will spend some time grinding so you can reasonably survive the next set of rooms, though this process is minimal (due mainly to specific locations with high monster traffic, making it an effective leveling area). Depending on your personal taste, you may not like the simplistic combat, the number of puzzles or the amount of reading involved (though I feel it has just about the right amount of each).
As far as I'm concerned, Void Pyramid is a fantastic title full of mystery, exploration and detail well worth checking out!
No comments:
Post a Comment