PAPER BEAST
These creatures welcome you into the fold
Chances are, if you were to design your own game, your first thought wouldn’t be “Jurassic Park meets Salvador Dalí, crossed with The Matrix and origami”. This poetic setup seems to have been what Pixel Reef was going for, though. Just as well; it’s resulted in an unforgettable PS VR experience that will make you glad you invested in a headset.
A lot of the appeal leans heavily on surprise. All we’ll say about the beginning is that after a surreal (and excellent) intro, which is a taste of things to come, you find yourself in a strange land populated by creatures which are, simply put, living origami. The very first such beast we meet is huge, towering above us with intricate twists and folds throughout its body. Once we grab an item from it which allows us to teleport around, it lumbers off. We follow, immediately learning that observing the creatures of this land is how we learn where to go and what to do.
The object of the game is to… well. We find that in a sense, we don’t approach this as a traditional videogame. It is a traditional game, really – there’s a beginning and an end, a linear experience split into chapters and checkpoints – but it doesn’t often feel like it. Instead, full of wonder and awe as we observe and help the weird and wonderful creatures in the odd environments, we eagerly look for the way to open up the next unpredictable scene. Which makes the rare occasions that the way forward isn’t clear a little frustrating.
PAPERBACK RIDER
Paper Beast has an ecosystem. There are predators and prey, and weather and creatures that affect the landscape itself. This becomes especially obvious in Sandbox mode, where you can simply drop in whatever elements you like, have a play around, and relax. Items for this must be unlocked through the story, though.
We can grab and manipulate items from a distance. We can even lift lighter creatures off the ground, which induces a little guilt as they flap around in panic – yet sometimes, we have no choice. Indeed, there seems to be a message here regarding humanity’s disregard for nature in the name of progress. It’s a message well communicated in the sort of strange and beautiful world that videogames were made for, and PS VR excels in.
VERDICT
With a sense of being transported to another world that many games struggle to achieve, this is a beautifully surreal journey. Luke Kemp