Shootin’ and Collectin’
I’ve been a creature collector since Monster Rancher on the PS1 in the game players would use their normal CDs to summon monsters based on the discs meta data. A year later Pokémon Blue dropped in NA and I was hooked, the varied monsters, the strategies they can be used with the various types and of course evolutions. Voidling Bound is a creature collector as well, not really Pokémon though; instead, it plays more like a shooter with creatures, which isn’t a bad thing.
In Voidling Bound players aren’t trying to be the very best, that no one ever was; instead, players are a space wrangler aboard a ship fighting a parasite that threatens all life in the universe. This is where the game loses some points with me though, the gameplay loop feels repetitive until endgame. You sit in your space chair, choose a Voidling, drop in to clean up some of the parasite, collect resources, fight boss. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. The narrative is there but it’s just a reason to push players into the real reason for this game, and that’s hatching and evolving Voidlings.
MSRP: $24.99
Platforms: PC
Price I’d Pay: $24.99
There are eight species of Voidlings that can be found which sound small until you realize that each has their own upgrade paths, mutations and more. Some feel more subtle for a tank class while others are quick attackers, but they all have a ranged attack and so I just used that for 95% of the gameplay. Which honestly is a shame because there is a deep system for evolution at play in Voidling Bound. By collecting mutagens players are able to evolve each Voidling down a different elemental path. This works so well in fact that Voidlings from the same species can end up feeling completely different. The game leans heavily into elemental attacks and weaknesses, which is great because so does Pokémon and the special attacks that each Voildling has will change based on the element that they are imbued with.
When it comes to acquiring these creatures, players will mainly find eggs during missions that they can bring back to the ship to hatch. Each egg hatch has a degree of RNG involved just like in Pokémon, each of the stats can be buffed or the creature can get a special mutation. Players can also breed there Voidlings which will ensure that strong attributes can carry over when players are trying to breed the perfect looking Voidling.
The combat in Voidling Bound is solid, I just was hoping for more. As I said above there is a ranged attack and outside of a few very specific scenarios, I didn’t need to use any other attacks other than the ranged. Mission objectives are simple and repetitive; clear this, gather this, find this, I wish it was a tad deeper, but the gameplay is fun enough to keep me playing. The Endgame brings what is called The Abyss and here players can take their souped up Voidlings in an increasing gauntlet of enemies. I appreciate a reason to really take these powered up Voidlings into battle because the narrative is weak, so it’s good to have the combat to fall back on.
Voidling Bound isn’t a game that anyone is going to play for a deep and powerful narrative. What’s here is enough of a reason to push things forward, a reason for players to be finding all these Voidlings. Fans of the creature collecting games may want to jump on this right way but just know that it’s more of a 3rd person shooter than it is Pokémon in execution. That doesn’t make it bad either, I quite enjoyed the game; much like some of the Voidlings I found, Voidling Bound just wasn’t what I thought it was at first glance.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
