Post Void Steelbook Collection review: An excellent, but pricey, physical release

It’s always great news to see indie titles land in the physical realm, but in the current gaming landscape, there’s a problem.

Owning a physical game nowadays is the most tangible way to prove you own a game, as in an era where the likes of Ubisoft and even Netflix can wipe a piece of art from digital storefronts without any legal way of accessing them anymore, having it in your hands is the last way to own something definitively - but damn, it can be expensive sometimes.

Picking up a disc can often be more pricey than a simple download, of course, but the matter gets even worse with Nintendo titles, as their affinity for cartridges over discs in recent years (and even the older ones) has made physical game production immeasurably expensive for some, leaving many indie darlings hanging in a scary limbo.

Thankfully, many games are rescued, but it comes at one hell of a cost to the consumer more often than not. It’s this exact case that has struck Post Void, a game so bizarre, creative, and break-neck exciting that it had to be preserved in some way - but as it sits on the Steam store for a measly £1.99, can the latest appearance of the game on Super Rare Games’ store for as little as £36.99 justify itself?

Into the void

There’s little denying it - Post Void is a masterpiece painted across a canvas of its own design. There are truly no games in the world like it, taking a roguelike stance to level design before streaking it with migraine-inducing oranges and reds and filling it with a full clip of pistol rounds, flashes blasting into the players as it goes. The gameplay is frenetic, fast-paced, and fuelled almost entirely by insanity and a hallucinogenic bite.

Post Void feels at home on the Switch for almost as many reasons as it doesn’t - it’s a pick-up-and-play blast of fun and energy that benefits from being handheld. Still, its unabashed violence and horrifying, indulgent taste for carnage couldn’t put it any further away from comfortable on the same console that launched Kirby’s Dream Buffet. The game’s appearance on here is a dichotomy and one that Post Void seems to relish.

The game is one of the most cerebral and kaleidoscopic in the wider gaming world, which makes its appearance in physical form a real treat - even if production costs have made it difficult to justify, almost by default.

Shifting perspective

The very fact that Super Rare has brought Post Void to the world of the living is deserving of commemoration in itself, almost serving as a ribbon of approval to be welcomed into the old-timer’s gaming collection - but the very fact that the game’s price has such a stark contrast to its physical appearance is a serious problem.

There’s little denying that holding the game in your hands is incredibly special, with the steelbook collection coming with the gorgeous metal case, a regular case for the game, its cartridge, a packet of trading cards, a postcard, and a Super Rare sticker - but all in all, when it advertises itself in total for £45 on Switch and £39 on PS5, how can it stand up in the face of a couple of bob on the Steam store? Super Rare does an awful lot to sweeten the pot, and by selling the metal case alone for £9 they make things as easy as can be for those who merely want to commemorate the game, but the entire package is an expensive one, although the physical cartridge alone has been sold out for some time now on the site.

Ultimately, fans are proving that owning the game physically is a far more important deal than simply picking up the game on an online store and supporting its creator presumably more than with mere online sales, but its appearance as a full bundle is hard to sell, in quite a literal way.

The Verdict

Post Void is a game that exists in a league of its own, and in many ways, Super Rare’s steelbook collection does an awful lot to reflect the value that the game actually holds. It’s a wonder to hold the game in your hands as ever if you’re a huge fan of the Post Void, but even so, it’s hard to argue that paying such a privilege when the alternative is so wallet-friendly in comparison.

We’re certainly not ones to encourage players to go digital rather than physical - in fact, we’d much rather do the opposite - but to buy the game on a digital storefront and treat yourself to the steelbook without its cartridge is probably a more financially friendly option.

Post Void absolutely deserves the treatment given here, but the cost of it all doesn’t do much but drag it down. If you’re a super-fan, take the plunge - but if not, take the path of least financial resistance. Either way, play Post Void.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch. Review copy provided by the publisher.