It’s hiding around the corner.
You don’t know yet.
But something is there.
It’s waiting for you, waiting as you peek into the gloom, waiting to pounce.
Later games from FromSoftware then played with those expectations, all to prolong the sense of anxiety and unease.
Void Sols, from Finite Reflection Studios, achieves the same effect but with a shift in perspective.
It achieves this with simplified, abstract visuals.
Lit torches gradually illuminate the safety behind, marking your route and contrasting with the darkness beyond.
Lighting - and the lack of it - is everything in Void Sols.
Beyond that, the game has all the typical hallmarks of a Soulslike.
Currency is lost upon death but regained through careful play.
Your triangle can level up various attributes, which weapons are attuned to.
And bosses put up a formidable challenge.
As many Soulslikes can attest to, it’s nigh on impossible to outdo FromSoftware.
It’s not enough to tick the genre boxes.
Perhaps the dawn of the Sols-like is upon us.
