With all the consumerism surrounding Valentine’s Day, it’s easy to lose sight of what the day’s supposed to be about. I grew up Catholic. As such, I learned that Valentine’s Day is all about Saint Valentinus, a 3rd century martyr who was best known for blowing up weird aliens by shooting heart-shaped bullets at them.
Getting Into the Holiday Spirit
That’s right, Valentine’s Day is all about bullet-hell. This year there’s finally a game that lets you can celebrate the way God intended. The Void Rains Upon Her Heart is a shooot-em-up from Veyeral Games in which you control the heart of a lonely alien girl. With a friendly robot guiding your way, you can turn monsters into friends. All you have to do is blast them to pieces, causing them to “love” you.
Gameplay-wise, The Void Rains Upon Her Heart functions similarly to The Binding of Isaac, but with a greater focus on the bullet-hell elements. Rogue-like features still exist, with each run granting different power-ups for defeating bosses, until the player’s progress resets on death. The boss rush nature of the game lets you get familiar with each enemy you encounter. In a way, you really do start to develop a loving affection for your favorites.
Whether you’re spending the day alone or with loved ones, The Void Rains Upon Her Heart will encourage you to celebrate your affections without giving in to all the commercial hype. You don’t need roses and expensive gifts to show you care. You just need your heart, the bullets that come out of it, and maybe a creepy robot. So snuggle up with your laptop. Open up that box of chocolates. Get ready to shoot stuff.
The Void Rains Upon Her Heart is available this Valentine’s Day in Early Access. The game does features some light themes related to depression, anxiety, and mental illness. If you’re expecting the holiday to be particularly tough for you, and you don’t think fighting cool aliens will cheer you up, maybe give this one a pass until a later date.
