Encapsulating
Void* Trrlm2(); // or Void Terrarium 2 is a dungeon crawler set in a post-ended world and is a follow-up to the first game released in 2020. In a now-collapsed space system, the world is contaminated by toxic airs which are harmful to humanity. Void Terrarium 2 follows the story of Robbie a small functioning robot with a puppy-like appearance and Toriko who is a small girl resembling a human but with a fungus growing from her eye. The third character is a computer named factoryAI and is the guide of Robbie who ventures out into the ruins of the world to create a safe environment for Toriko.
The game starts off rather confusing as you make progress through some tutorial stages, this is because the game allows you to go through a dungeon up until the point where you will die whilst trying your hardest to stay alive, when you do die the game has an intentional glitch graphic and then provides some backstory to what happened. Before you know it you and your factoryAI companion must make an emergency move once more by transporting Toriko to somewhere slightly safer. As somebody who has not played the first Void Terrarium game, I am confused by the whole ordeal, who is Robbie and more importantly who is Toriko? I am sure this will become all more clear as the game progresses and the game gives me new story segments later.
The problem with Void Terrarium 2 is it takes a long time for the story to actually kick in, especially at the beginning of the game. While there is a clear emphasis on the story, to begin with, it took a good amount of dungeon crawling and farming for the Item I actually needed to progress forward meaning Toriko was stuck in a coffin for the longest time overall which ruined the pace of the game early on.
However, I can say the gameplay of Void Terrarium 2 is at its peak addicting. The first few hours will have you constantly back and forth in the first ruins you come to. It’s a good stepping stone to get used to its rogue-lite dungeon-crawling. At the start of each expedition, you start at Level 1 and will increase levels as you progress and defeat enemies. You will also pick up many items, some will recover your Health and Endurance, and others are important story items or blueprints which you can use to unlock new crafts for the Terrarium. Both Health and Endurance are equally as important during expeditions, there are other items such as Bombs that can deal big damage. Some Items can be equipped which will raise Robbie’s stats during the current run but at the same time will also eat up precious Inventory space so being aware of what you have in your inventory is a constant struggle. Traps are also a mechanic that you need to watch out for whilst exploring. When Robbie falls in battle you will lose your Levels gained, and dungeon progress and you will return to the Terrarium whilst all your current Items are converted into Resources which you need, it’s then a case of rinse and repeat. In theory, you could just run back into an expedition willy-nilly without thought of trying to stay alive as you will be making progress regardless, it’s also important that you need to make progress by collecting key items which sometimes are on certain floors and even then it isn’t a guarantee they will show up.
Combat is simple turn-based hitting your enemy with your basic attack, whilst levelling you do have the option to learn skills, again this is something you need to think about as levelling will allow you one upgrade out of 2 choices, most of the time which will be similar but sometimes they can be completely different. The procedurally generated dungeons mean that each visit during an expedition is different and while the dungeons look good they do outstay their welcome. Most of the time they still feel the same just down to the fact you will spend a lot of time in the same one, especially the first one, at least the Music does Void Terrarium a massive favour by being so good.
Eventually, you do unlock the ability to decorate Torikos small enclave with all the Items that you can craft. The blueprints that you find do have a first-time crafting Bonus which is a permanent upgrade to Robbie meaning the more blueprints you find the more you can increase Robbie’s stats meaning you can be in dungeons for longer. It’s a great system and even though you don’t keep permanent level upgrades you are still making small but significant progress in the game just by crafting and playing through the story.
I have enjoyed my time with Void Terrarium 2. While trying to get past the bad pacing issue, the game did open up for me eventually. Dungeons can also feel tedious at the best of times but the charming graphics, dark story and tough-as-nails gameplay work overall to deliver a great experience.
A PlayStation 4 Review Code was provided by NIS America
