Elden Pixels has built a strong reputation for itself with its Alwa games, both offering a great take on the traditional Metroidvania formula, but its latest release tries to do something quite a bit different. A Void Hope certainly carries on some of the level design and exploration elements central to the studio’s previous releases, but here there’s much more focus on atmosphere, story, and horror. It doesn’t entirely stick the landing, but this is ultimately a worthwhile little project that we’d encourage you to consider.
A Void Hope follows the tale of Keegan and Glinda, a couple in a rocky patch of their relationship who find themselves dealing with the fallout of a global pandemic. People all over are becoming infected and losing their memories, eventually devolving into zombie-like creatures that sometimes transform into something decidedly less human.
Despite the focus on narrative here, details are relatively sparse, which works both for and against the game. On one hand, the vagueness really helps you feel as helpless and confused as the characters, which adds a lot to the atmosphere. On the other, the emotional plot beats don’t hit nearly as hard as intended, as there’s usually not a lot of setup leading to these payoffs.
Gameplay could be best described as a walking simulator with some light Metroidvania elements. Each of the eleven levels has a series of objectives to fulfill, such as finding an object or activating a computer terminal, and you’re expected to solve basic environmental puzzles along the way. There’s nothing here overly challenging, but tension is always high as any of the people on screen can turn into a zombie at any moment and start chasing you.
As you progress, you’ll come across items to unlock new routes forward or to backtrack and find new areas in previous levels, such as by using a crowbar to remove planks from blocked doors. There aren’t really any upgrades or powerups to find along the way, but it’s still fun to revisit old areas and find new exits and other hidden goodies.
If there’s one thing A Void Hope excels at, it’s presentation. Every minute of its five or six hours is dripping with atmosphere, a lot of which is sold by the tremendous pixel art. The shadowy, somewhat decrepit environments display impressive amounts of detail in the spritework, while every character has you on edge and ready to run if they suddenly turn. Meanwhile, the lumbering darkwave soundtrack by Waveshaper gives it all a menacing and eerie tinge with marching drums and deep synths. This is the kind of game that completely pulls you into its world through its art and atmosphere. It's totally captivating from start to finish.
A Void Hope isn’t Elden Pixel’s finest project yet, but it is certainly its most interesting one. Even if its gameplay and story feel shallow, it does a great job of immersing you in its creepy and dark world—this is the kind of game that you’ll probably never play again after you finish it, but you’ll always remember it. It's worth picking up if you’re at all a fan of this studio’s previous work or if you’re interested in trying something that deviates from the norm a bit.
Comments 15
I still have to try the Alwa games. I love horror though so once I give those a go, if I like them, I’ll come back for this.
Price and length both sound just about perfect to me
Played a little bit of the game but it did not catch my attention as much as Alwa has. I will leave it resting for a while and try to go back to it.
Horror isn't exactly my cup of tea so this review was to me more of a reminder to play Elden Pixels's Alwa games when I can (I've already bought them so I just have to find the time for them) and even more so considering they're arguably overall better than A Void Hope.
That said, hope that those who will pick this up will enjoy it!
It’s been a while since you guys at NLife have gotten a review out from a game I wasn’t aware of, but, man, this one looks great. These kinds of reviews hooked me on your site, so I’m really happy about reading this one!
Loved the Alwa games, by the way. I may pick this one up at some point this year, if I find the time to add it in (hey, there’s practically nothing on my docket between Dragon’s Dogma/Peach and Erdtree, so, pending Stellar Blade, this may be something that hits that sweet spot). Really interested in this one, based on the review. Thanks @SwitchVogel! Always appreciate the work you do helping get indies noticed.
I hate game premises like this. It's like those terrible children's books that are trying to teach a lesson.
Wish they did more reviews of little game like this since we all know the next spin off space filler official game Nintendo slops out will get a 9 as usual. We already know how you feel about those so little gem reviews are much more worthwhile to see.
This game reminded me about The Final Station...
@somnambulance Funny you say that, reviews like this were what brought me to the site all those years ago! I always try to keep my eyes out for great little projects like this; especially these days, so much amazing content just flies under the radar. As much as I'm a major Nintendo fan, it's games like this that really keep me so engaged in the gaming hobby--so many interesting ideas being explored out in the indie space!
@SwitchVogel I was a lurker for a couple years when the Switch launched, as I was a bit out of the loop with the industry for a few years at the start of the Xbone/PS4/WiiU era, but I felt like the indie reviews in 2017, 2018, etc sort of helped me steer where I was going as a gamer as I returned to the hobby as a serious connoisseur. After the pandemic, with such a glorious year in indie gaming, I stopped lurking and joined the site because I felt like I missed out on discussing titles like To the Moon and Alwa’s Legacy. I’m really glad that, despite being such a huge site, you guys try to help people find the indies that deserve it, not just the ones everyone talks about in the greater online discourse.
I like alwa awakening, bought it on evercade exp and still playing it, still in the opening hours of the game. I wish they included alwa legacy on the cartridge too. Oh well, cathedral is a great game so it's okay I guess. I wish their next game is metroidvania like both alwa games
@JohnnyMind Both Alwa games are safe, clever, retro Metroidvanias worth a look, with one being an 8 bit style and the other a 16 bit. I too had trouble carving out the time though I had them in my backlog for a time.
As for this game, I "saw" it, but didn't know it was from Elden Pixels so I'm intrigued, but I don't care for horror style games. I'll give it another look to see if I'm down, but I'm glad I saw a review all the same.
@MeloMan Will definitely check those at some point, thanks for sharing your opinion about them!
Terrible game.
@diegoarthur the game is so much disappointing, if you ever play it again I'm sure it will take you less than 20min to put it down definitely
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...