SAGE ‘08: “Nothing” Demo Review

It’s awesome! It’s beautiful! It’s… not a fangame?

I’ve been staring at Notepad now for probably over an hour trying to put in to words how I feel about “ Nothing“, a game called as such simply because it doesn’t have a name yet. Over the course of my SAGE demo reviews, I’m becoming increasingly worried that I am not spending enough time with these games to really give them a fair enough shake – the demo in question gets played two or three times over the span of maybe twenty minutes (minimum) and then I write about it. “Nothing” deserves a great deal of thought and care, because, as the person who founded SAGE 8 years ago, I can’t help but feel we’re on the edge of something great, here.

“Nothing” is not related to Sonic. “Nothing” is not even a fangame – it’s an original game, and I don’t mean that in the sense that somebody made a game about their Sonic fanart character. This is totally original software, and not only is it totally original, it’s totally awesome, too. The website for the game claims it was started through inspiration gained by legendary freeware game Cave Story (Doukutsu Monogatari), and it shows through in many ways – simple colors, classic Metroid-esque “adventure platformer”-style gameplay, and charming character designs. The gist is that you play as this cute little wolf guy who then proceeds to explore the fairly expansive demo location, making your way to the demo’s halfway point: a boss encounter, offering the player a brand new skill upon defeat. In typical “Adventure Platformer”-style, this new skill allows you to reach previously unreachable areas, eventually leading you to a new area – where the demo promptly ends.

From start to finish, this demo has all the makings of games like Cave Story and Knytt – fantastic and beloved independant games with wonderful art and gameplay. Never once does the game show the shortcomings typical of Multimedia Fusion games (outside of perhaps a choppy framerate). Just relaxing gameplay and a sense of wonder in what seems to be a lonely world. I have but one complaint, and that is the area provided in the demo started to feel a little repetitive despite the infrequent and subtle changes to color palette – but if you are worried of becoming lost, the game provides a minimap (a requirement in these types of games), and the screenshots and videos on the game’s website show a greater variety of locations.

Speaking as the founder of the Sonic Amateur Games Expo, I am honored to have a game like “Nothing” on display – it is a game with massive potential, and I am greatly anticipating its finish.