It's that time again for a new episode of Chichuki Views, the show where I go hands-on with upcoming games and show them off. Usually it's about an hour or so but I don't want to spoil too much of the game for you. Today, we're checking out VOIN on Steam. VOIN is a hack and slash action game that is shown in a first person perspective.
The demo build has you play the introduction stage as well as the first main stage in the game. You learn the basics in the intro stage and get the gist of exploring the locations. You'll find all kinds of items that you can use to upgrade your weapons, if it wasn't the demo build of the game. You'll learn the ropes of the game such as how to dodge enemy attacks.When you see that the enemy has a yellow glow, you better prepare to dodge. The attacks are similar to Dark Souls logic where you have heavy and light attacks. You can also use light attacks to charge up for heavy attacks with special abilities. One issue I had was with the fact that you move with one control stick and aim/move the camera with the other. I'm not really a fan of games that have the dual stick option and I would love to see an enemy lock on in the later builds of the game. One of the special attacks I had during the demo was a heavy attack with homing lightning bolts that hit near by enemies. Enemies appear in large groups so this attack was very helpful to have.
There were times where it was tough to see where you were supposed to travel to in the levels. I found myself wondering in the introduction cave level with no idea where to go next. I thought I was supposed to follow the torches that were in the cave or the enemy clusters. However, it wasn't until I found the orb that allowed for boosted jumps/attachments that I was able to find the way out and the boss encounter. After the intro level, you are shown the hub location where you'll be able to go to different levels, upgrade skills, and heal. I like the fact that you can attack enemies in stages for health drops. Getting health drops is always nice and not usually seen in games like this. Another nice touch was running faster when you have your sword put away. You can also draw your weapon quickly in the mode and use it for addition damage. A map of some kind would be a nice addition in a build closer to the final product but exploration is key in VOIN so I doubt that will happen.
To sum up, VOIN is a hack and slash adventure game combined with the first person genre. This is an early demo build and has some issues but are fixable for later builds. You don't usually see a FPS hack and slash but VOIN is an interesting idea and I'm looking forward to seeing it later in development.