Developed by Nippon Ichi Software and published by NIS America comes Void tRrLM();//Void Terrarium, a rogue-like RPG. Set in a post-apocalyptic fungal world where only machines and mutated creatures still reside. Or is it? I honestly found this game a joy to play, as it brings this nostalgic feeling that I will express in the details of the game. It is visually stunning in a simple way and fantastic in the interesting use of almost forgotten game styles.

In this game, you play as a robot who after powering on finds himself fighting defective killer robots, through a top-down maze covered in the fog of war, eventually coming to a large broken glass vial. Within lies a little girl who will come to be known as Toriko.

This is odd as directly after you will meet Factory AI, a computer program that shamefully and regretfully admits to being the cause of this apocalyptic world, as well as the mass genocide and extinction of the human race. So it thought, that is until you inform it of the small child you found only inches away.

Racked with guilt the Factory AI is determined to make sure Toriko survives with you to do all the heavy lifting. It sends you out to different ever-changing mazes in the vast wastelands to collect items to upgrade Toriko’s living area. In these mazes, you will uncover items to upgrade and heal, and eventually meet the weapons robot, aka Robbie. You will level up gaining, increased stats, and new attacks fighting off killer robots and mutated animals.

All in search of materials and food for Toriko, which leads me to the nostalgic part of this game – when you get the Nanny system. The second game style is pretty much a Tamagotchi. It monitors her life using hearts, lights a symbol when she is hungry, and places number 2’s when her terrarium needs cleaning all in a rectangle monitoring screen.

This game is unique in that death is not a punishment as long as you gather at least one thing that you need, be it non-contaminated food or story items. Other than that, collect a full inventory and die. Now that may seem weird, but that is how you return to the terrarium. Going in multiple times and returning without food or story items is a big kick in the teeth, as non-contaminated food can be hard to find. Eventually, it evolves from basic to more elaborate such as maintaining clean air to playing with her remotely while in the dungeons.

The art style of this game by far it is my favorite thing. It is simple but beautiful. It gave me vibes of some of the old games I used to play. The music especially took me back, reminding me of games like Yu-Gi-Oh and Digimon World, like a sort of soft digital and chime-like sounds. I found myself starting to care for the girl, which made the character more engaging and in turn made all the characters more satisfying.

I enjoyed this game, besides letting the child die there are not too many negative consequences, so take that as you will. The story gets pushed to the wayside a bit, though there is a bit of a twist part halfway through that spices it up. In the end, though I cannot fault this game too much.

Don’t get me wrong, it is by no means perfect, but it does what it is meant to do perfectly. Highly recommend giving this game a shot if you like simulation and pet games, or even Stardew valley type games. This is a lot like them, but with a bit of combat action thrown in.

Written by: Adam Brasher