In contrast, the mysterious narrative is in no hurry to reveal itself and unfolds at a very slow pace. Several hours into the game the player is still learning - and only just beginning to receive a glimmer of enlightenment about his predicament. This juxtaposition of heightened pressure and leisurely plot progression is a strange mix, but the latter serves to boost the former. Had progress been swift and easy, the suffocating tension of survival would not have been nearly so effective.

Things get even more complex with the knowledge that all colour spent in The Void has a lasting effect. On a simple level it encourages the appearance of predators - nasty beasties that can rob the player of colour. These can be fought and defeated with glyphs, but doing so expends even more colour and perpetuates a troubling cycle. The colour itself is mindful to remind you of this fact, whispering at your every excess: 'drop by drop, that's how your life slips away ...'

From further eerie whispers to an exceptional soundtrack that has of echoes Toru Takemitsu's "Rain Tree Sketch" and the work of 'slowcore' band Low, the atmosphere in The Void is note-perfect. Voice-acting is largely strong, and the translation (which was rather botched on Ice-Pick Lodge's last title) has this time been handled in-house. The result is lyrical, but intentionally so - any obtuse sections are down to the plot rather than sloppy linguistics. Elsewhere, the dying, foggy lands of The Void contrast perfectly with bursts of colour, and each Sister has her own beautifully designed chamber. A particular favourite finds the lady reclining in a barge within an moonlit cove, as droplets of blue and green rain fall silently from above.

It is perhaps worth mentioning that the Sisters tend to be strangers to clothing, and it doesn't take a genius to work out the parallels when they writhe in artful delight at receiving donations of colour. Whether their portrayal - as manipulative, needy and often submissive - would withstand a rigorous close-reading by feminist scholars, I'm not sure. That said, the Brothers are also manipulative and paranoid, unsure whether to trust this new addition to their realm or slay him immediately. They appear to represent greed, fear of 'the other' and a retention of the status quo; and this inherent conservatism means their portrayal is also far from sympathetic. The fact that The Void invites the player to consider these themes at all is a demonstration of how far it can burrow its way into the mind.

The game's only major misstep is a tendency to suddenly force the player backwards after allowing a certain amount of progression. There are many occasions where, due to recently acquired knowledge, the player will do much better by reloading a save from an earlier cycle. In fact, sometimes a point will be reached where reloading an earlier save is the only possible option. This seems to have been a deliberate design choice on the part of the developers, but it's one that I can't really agree with. It's one thing for a player to discover that their long-term strategy has not come to fruition, but quite another for them to discover this through new information gained at a point where it is too late to change course. Playing through without having to resort to several reloads may be possible, but only through blind luck.

Other minor problems can crop up too. The key 'donor' glyph is drawn in a slightly different (and in fact more accurate) fashion in its accompanying example video than the way it is otherwise presented - which is somewhat puzzling. At times the game will even say 'you should have drawn the donor glyph' - perhaps thinking you have failed to do so, despite the tree in front of you springing to life with colour. In certain Sisterly chambers there are some odd frame-rate dips, though these are not catastrophic. Also, it pays to read through the manual, because there is information in there about how to spot when the Brothers are vulnerable to specific colours that does not appear to be offered in-game.

Overall, The Void is a terrific achievement. It will not be to everybody's tastes by any means. The atmosphere - though perfectly captured - is tense, bleak and at times oppressive. In itself this opens a gigantic can of worms about the degree to which a game needs to offer conventional modes of fun to be considered a success. A similar dilemma is present in literature and film. Reading a Kafka novel or watching Bergman films for pure 'fun' seems perverse; but the experience can clearly be rewarding and enjoyable. Be under no illusions - The Void is tough going. The extent to which it can make the player backtrack and reload, at times to the point of excess, is what prevents it getting a higher score. Persevere though, and you'll be rewarded with a tremendous (if unsettling) experience.

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