The Void

[Zixinus]

This game peaked my attention with its weird trailer and of course, naked women. A friend got it for me and I've installed it.

I've just played the game. Man, is it weird yet beautiful.

Without spoiling the story: you appear to have died yet you somehow ended up in a place called the Void, rather than in some infinite darkness. A female voice tells you that you need a heart and that you need to collect Colour. You find a woman in a tree, who calls herself Sister and introduces you to the game world.

From there on, its a story about what is the Void, possibly more artistic statements than I can care to count and collecting and getting Colour. You can use Colour for Glyphs, spells essentially.
You also need to "feed" the Sisters with Colour (give them some essentially). The Void is split into chambers and it is implied that Sisters can't travel freely between them. By "feeding" the sisters to a certain point, you'll be given a Heart and a new Glyph.

You interact with a colour-pallet if the game's theme wasn't obvious enough. Otherwise, control is your typical FPS. The game's environment is pretty bleak but there is no instant-death: you "merely" have to make sure that you always have Colour in at least one Heart.

There is the "issue" of naked women, but as far as I played the game, it doesn't appear to be mindless pandering but the first time I have seen nudity used with an artistic license. While I only saw with the first Sister, I can't say that it's anything more than mildly erotic. Yes, she has erect nipples, but that seems to be the limit. When you give her Colour, she does a bit of a dance, but her movements are meant to invoke beauty rather than erection. For one, you can't see her privates and she doesn't touch herself much: she doesn't fondle with her breasts, make seductive gestures, touch herself, etc. These dances seem to be made purely for their aesthetic value. At least, with the first Sister.

Interestingly, the developers are releasing their bonus stuff freely available, including the soundtrack and interviews in Russian (and poems and stuff like that).

Check the game out. It's definitely one of the first games I can truly call artistic, even if it may be a bit obscure.

[Feil]

I've been planning to get this since the Russian version was released twoish years ago. I'll probably buy it for myself for christmas, or ask somebody to give it to me. I wish there was a demo, though.

[Zixinus]

Some advice for the beginning:

1. Don't waste gold (the colour, sorry, Colour), as maxing up yourself to 100% before you talk to a Sister, you'll get a bonus to the Colour you donate. Instead of 32, you can get double for that. Likewise, do the same with violet (or was it azur or inspiration or whatever?) before planting trees. Blue and silver colour is best suited for travelling in the Void, blue especially because it will save you some trouble.
2. Only have one or maximum two hearts full any one time you enter the Void. You'll lose more colour if you use multiple hearts. Only use more than one heart once your within a stage or chamber.
3. Give a lot to a few trees, but remember: tress only recycle your Nerva. Don't give more than what they health can take (if you see their health bar flashing, stop!).

The game seems to try and create a deeper and deeper metaphor. How well it works, I can't say.
I like how each Sister has a personality and a theme.

[Feil]

Well, I was going to wait until Christmas, but all that bonus material...

Ordered a copy yesterday

[Zixinus]

Be prepared for a hard game but quite interesting game. If nothing else, but the fantasy world shown to us is actually interesting, as it is actually fantastic rather than a Tolkien ripoff with the author's version of D&D. No, the game takes place in a genuine, psychedelic, unique universe different from the one we live in, with its own sets of rules and laws.