void tRrLM (); // Void Terrarium review: The next roguelike title you need
Nippon Ichi Software saves the day in their roguelike adventure title void tRrLM (); // Void Terrarium
Title: void tRrLM (); // Void Terrarium
Developer: Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
Publisher: NIS America, Inc.
Platforms: PlayStation 4 (version reviewed), Nintendo Switch
Release Date: July, 10 2020 (EU), July 14, 2020 (US)
NIS America dropped their newest title void tRrLM (); // Void Terrarium Friday and in a world contaminated with toxic fungi, it’s up to a discarded maintenance robot to save the human race.
The discarded maintenance robot finds a girl named Toriko who’s on the brink of death among other discarded junk and the task is to nurse her back to health. But she may be the last remaining human and she’s highly vulnerable to the deadly conditions of the outside world. In the game, you take on other robots to ensure Toriko’s survival as the uncertain future of Toriko and the entire human race comes to light.
From the opening load screen to the top-down battle elements, this game has a unique charm to it. Upon playing you’re a little robot and it finds the girl and a friend along the way.
The soundtrack is interesting enough to keep your attention and the battle system is simple as well. In the first 30 minutes of play, the brief battle walkthroughs weren’t bad and kept to a simplistic style worthy of a game made by NIS America. Especially since they looked to keep the roguelike adventure style with cute visuals and somber story in the focal point.
I won’t lie, I died in the very first level as they’re procedurally generated with their turn-based combat but it was kind of worth it. I learned that just because it was a “game over” for that level, the things you earn can actually help you on the next journey to go on.
The graphics were definitely cute and you can see the facial expression from factoryAI as well as a little hint to how things came to be at the very beginning of the game. With a focus on helping Toriko journeys take on a sense of purpose.
There is no need to look for a difficulty level as enemies will continue to come at you. Literally. I was walking in the level and an enemy attacked me. Add in the random landmine that I came across and it’s no wonder why void tRrLM (); // Void Terrarium is going to keep you on the edge of your seat.
The procedural level progression was nice to see. When a game over occurs it’s not really over but the level changes to keep a form of newness going.
Throughout the gameplay, the itch to learn more about this game grew more and more. Like what happened to the human race and why was it only this girl that was found? Questions like that kept popping into my head as I continued to look for ways to nurse her back to health.
If you’re looking for a game that has a wow factor beyond the title screen. void tRrLM (); //Void Terrarium may be that title for you.
A copy of this game was provided to App Trigger for the purpose of this review. All scores are ranked out of 10, with .5 increments. Click here to learn more about our Review Policy.