I especially looked forward to post-boss fight encounters with the mysterious astral figure named Echo.

The promise of new suits initially convinced me to hunt for Voidrunner caches, but as I found newer suits more and more forgettable – I'll stick with the better boost, thanks – it was the diary entries, enlivened by some excellent voice work, that kept me searching. Traces of Rei's fellow Voidrunners also frame some of the most interesting snippets. It's one thing to gawk incredulously at the loss of an entire civilization, but another to personally witness and unpick the looping sorrow of a widow lost to time. So it's often the smaller stories buried here that cut deepest. The tragedy of the Ultravoid is enormous – as the diary of one traveler puts it, it's something a god would struggle to process, let alone one person. Later, you explore a planet which was ruined by corporate pollution long before it was devoured by the void. Rei herself laments that the leaders of her homeworld wasted valuable time arguing about how to address the Ultravoid problem until the only option they had was the worst-case scenario. The Ultravoid is an unfathomable pit where time and space go to die, but as you explore the fractured worlds spat out by this vortex of dark matter, you find that a black hole wasn't the only danger these planets and their people faced. The backdrop to this thrill ride is contrastingly somber, and at times sharply relevant. It just feels correct, and it feels good. It's magic – doubly so given this is Heart Machine's first 3D game. The visual language is so strong that it dyes your neurons. The timing, the tricks, the openings – you learn to see the lines without being told. By the time you reach the boss of each area, you'll find you've already learned how to take it down after exploring the environment. It's hard to oversell the rush of a breakneck sprint along a titan's body, nimbly piercing weak points as you jump between plates of bone. You skewer void marks all over the landscape to weaken them, then scale them to attack exposed nerves with Rei's needle-like lance, each assault a tight time trial of its own. This clean design shines in fights with the Remnants, towering behemoths reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus, that stalk each world. The core verbs are emphasized, never muddled. Mechanics and hazards combine and elevate each other without overcomplicating things. Slow time mid-air to extend your grapple range, deliver these color-coded spores before they time out, don't touch the green acid for too long, don't touch the lava at all. New challenges are introduced smartly – first in a controlled environment, then with ramping complexity and stakes. There are no intrusive markers telling you where to go, and there's next to no tutorializing.

Shadow fight 3 review