It doesn’t sound like Dark Souls developer From Software will be making another PSVR game. At least on the current headset, that is.
Speaking to Destructoid at E3, producer Masanori Takeuchi said From Software has no plans for another VR game. Last year the team released Deracine, a PSVR exclusive that was very different to its other titles. We were quite fond of it, but Takeuchi said the team actually found working with the headset “more limiting than expected.”
PSVR Problems
“It’s because when we did Déraciné, the hardware was actually a little more limiting than we expected,” Takeuchi explained. “We couldn’t quite render and depict the things we wanted to using PSVR – just the hardware and the know-how we had at the time.
It’s true that the PS4’s limited horsepower has been a strain for some VR developers. The console just isn’t as powerful as the PCs that run Rift and Vive headsets. Other developers like Gran Turismo’s Polyphony Digital have also spoken out to similar effect. But From is hopeful the upcoming PS4 successor fixes that.
“So perhaps we’ll wait a little bit and see what happens with the PS5 or the next-gen hardware, and then see what sort of performance we can get from that, what we can render on that hardware, and then make a decision,” Takeuchi said. He added that From does have ideas for new VR games, but they’re essentially best saved for future hardware.
While it’s a shame to hear that From won’t be making another PSVR title in the immediate future, we might not have too long to wait for the next headset. Sony is already talking about PS5, which will support the original PSVR. But there’s also several hints that the company is working on a new headset too. We’re hoping that might release in the next two or three years. Maybe Dark Souls VR could still happen.
While CES 2019 this week tends to focus more on the hardware side of things when it comes virtual reality (VR), for gamers and videogame developers the first big show of the year is the 2019 Game Developers Conference in March. As per usual the event will host the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA), honouring titles across the breadth of the industry. All the nominees have now been announced, with several VR titles managing to find their way out of the dedicated VR/AR category.
To be honest there aren’t really any surprises when it comes to those VR titles who have made the nomination grade as you can see below.
Honorable Mentions: Jurassic World Alive (Ludia), In Death (Sólfar Studios), Tendar (Tender Claws), Firewall Zero Hour (First Contact Entertainment / Sony Interactive Entertainment), Deracine (FromSoftware / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
What’s far more promising for the industry as a whole is the inclusion of several titles in other categories, showcasing the reach VR experiences are starting to have. For example, Polyarc’s Moss also features in the Best Debut category with an honourable mention in the Innovation Award category. Tetris Effect shows up in Best Audio, Innovation Award, Best Visual Art (honourable mention) and Game of the Year (honourable mention.
Others worth noting are:
Beat Saber (Best Games) – Best Audio (honourable mention), Best Debut (honourable mention)
Astro Bot Rescue Mission (SIE Japan Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment) – Best Design (honourable mention), Innovation Award (honourable mention)
This will be the 19th annual Game Developers Choice Awards and will be hosted once again by Tim Schafer, LucasArts industry veteran and founder of Double Fine Productions (Psychonauts 2). The ceremony will take place on Wednesday, 20th March, 2019 at 6:30pm at the San Francisco Moscone Center, and held in conjunction with the Independent Games Festival Awards (IGF).
Just like CES 2019, VRFocus will be at GDC 2019 to bring you all the very latest news and announcements relating to VR and AR as they happen.
Deracine, From Software’s VR debut, came out last week and I really, really like it. For From, it’s a typically weird but also fascinatingly experimental game. Most importantly, though, it feels like something that’s genuinely enhanced by VR, scratching at substance that will one day separate this medium from the rest. In my review, I tried to articulate that in the hopes that people might look past that most mundane of complaints: that the game doesn’t have smooth locomotion.
No such luck.
If there’s been one trend that’s been bothering me since the rise of consumer VR, it’s the increasingly dismissive attitude of a strand of ‘elite’ VR gamers that stubbornly refuse to buy anything that doesn’t include the ability to freely walk around. Many VR games feature a teleportation system that helps people who get motion sickness keep their food in their stomachs, but it admittedly doesn’t always provide the most immersive experience. Some games also offer a movement mode more recognizable to traditional gamers which probably won’t be comfortable for a lot of players. For some, it’s the closest some can get to being fully immersed in home-based VR right now, though it’s far from seamless.
It doesn’t matter how much spit n’ shine you’ve put into the rest of the game; if you haven’t included this one feature, your guaranteed online reaction is going to be a brick wall of navel-gazing snobbery.
This is, quite frankly, laughably counterproductive. I understand the desire for smooth locomotion in VR gaming; it’s my preferred choice when made available, but it’s rarely been a deal-breaker. In fact, I’d argue that only allowing you to visit set points makes Deracine a more focused, concise experience. There are instances where the opposite is true (I think PSVR’s Blood & Truth could definitely benefit from free movement, for example), but that doesn’t instantly outweigh all of the other positives that a game has going for it. We need to start honing in more on a developer’s successes irrespective of how we move around in their worlds.
Put yourself in From’s shoes. This is the developer of one of the most acclaimed action series in the gaming industry. It didn’t have to make Deracine; it could have just as easily devoted those efforts to speeding up the development of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and there’s a good chance it could have been better off for it. But you take a risk and you make something for this niche community that’s constantly calling out for bigger developers to make richer experiences on the platform.
You polish the game to a level of visuals rarely seen in VR and you work on engaging interactions with characters that just wouldn’t have the same impact on a standard screen. You might have even broken a little new ground. But the people that ‘care’ about VR don’t care about all of that, and they don’t care your game because you didn’t include this one feature. How silly are you?
If that was me? I wouldn’t exactly be in a rush to return to VR. Deracine brings innovation in connection and storytelling to the table in some really interesting ways. It’s upon that which it should be judged, not on if it lets you stand in every corner of the room or not.
Now put yourself in the shoes of an indie developer that doesn’t have the financial security of a big publishing deal. You’ve broken your back to get your VR game out there and spent your last dime on the bet that you might have the next Beat Saber on your hands. And, hey, maybe you do, but most people won’t know because, sorry, you didn’t include smooth locomotion. And now you don’t have to money to continue working on your game or a new project because everyone has their noses turned up until you’ve corrected this grievous error. Sorry; VR may be the future but not for you.
As is so often the case, there needs to be greater tolerance and understanding of developer-made decisions in the nascent VR industry. The demand for smooth locomotion in VR games may not need to change, but the attitude towards communicating that to developers definitely does. I’m not saying you need to flock to the store and buy every non-smooth locomotion game in sight, but perhaps take more time to weigh up the actual product in question. Do you love the mystique and ambiguity of a Souls game? Are you interested in how VR can connect you to NPCs in new, more powerful ways? Then you should absolutely be checking out Deracine, and you shouldn’t let a lack of freedom of movement stop you. If you decide you’d rather wait for a possible patch? Then fine; let the developers know in a respectful, appreciative fashion. That’s far more likely to yield better results than slamming the door in their face.
VR is a small industry and it needs all the help it can get. Blanket rejections of games from those bold enough to support it now based on the lack of semi-trivial features aren’t helping anyone.
Oh my. It’s a very good week to be a VR owner. Whether you like puzzles, horror, story, creativity or more, there’s something that’s got you covered this week.
Tetris Effect, from Enhance Games
Price: $39.99 (PSVR)
Yes, we know, it’s just Tetris in VR. But Tetris Effect brings the visual splendor of Enhance Game’s Rez Infinite to a timeless classic, in the process creating a surprisingly seductive take on it. New twists are there to satisfy hardcore fans, and different themes for each of the levels give you something amazing to discover around every corner.
Dark Souls developer From Software’s PSVR debut has proved to be a divisive one this week, but we loved it. You play as a faerie that befriends the children of a boarding school, playing games with them and generally causing mischief. It’s weird, ham-fisted and somewhat archaic, but there is magic to Deracine’s mysticism.
Transpose, from Secret Location
Price: $19.99 (Rift, Vive, Windows, PSVR)
The developers of Blasters of the Universe and The Great C return with an entirely different experience. Transpose is a brilliant puzzle game in which you create echoes of yourself to strategically solve challenges together. It’s a great twist and it makes for one of VR’s better brain teasers.
Syren, from Hammerhead VR
Price: $19.99 (now on PSVR)
A humble horror experience that released on PC VR last year finally makes its way to PSVR. Syren is undoubtedly an indie experience, but its short story in which you trek through an underwater facility trying to avoid detection from mechanical monstrosities has some highlights that are definitely worth seeing.
Tin Hearts, from Rogue Sun
Price: $19.99 (Rift, Vive)
Described as VR’s very own Lemmings, Tin Hearts has you clearing and creating paths for toy soldiers that march around the rooms of a house. You have to use your wits to find objects that will help them clear gaps and safely navigate other perils. It’s in Early Access right now with more levels on the way.
A fantastic VR experience to commemorate the 100th year anniversary of the end of WW1 this week. It shines a spotlight on the field postcard, an automated means for troops to send quick messages home when out in the trenches, producing some memorable and harrowing visuals in the process. If you have a Go check this out.
Deracine, the new game from Dark Souls developer From Software, is a pretty straightforward puzzler. However, there is one ‘side quest’ in the game that tasks you with finding eight coins hidden in the nooks and crannies of the game’s secluded boarding school. Gather them all and you can put them in a special box that, when unlocked, gives you a reward.
Whilst the game does give away the location of the first coin, the rest are all pretty tricky to find. With that in mind, we’ve put together all of their locations in one place both in video and written format. Take note that these coins are missable. you can only get them in levels where their corresponding rooms are open and, if you reach a point where they aren’t, you’ll have to start over again. Also keep in mind that when you pick up a coin, make sure to go and drop it in the box there and then. If you transition to another level without doing so, you’ll have to find it again later on. The box can be found on the ground floor in the small room to the left of the bottom of the stairs.
As for what you get? Well, if you don’t mind spoilers we’ll tell you that it’s actually a third ring, one that signifies friendship between faerie and humans. You put it on your little finger on your left hand. Sorry, it’s not another Bloodborne 2 teaser, but it does add some interesting layers to the story if you look closely at other character’s hands.
Coin #1 – Head to the inner garden and take a left at the door. There’s a tree tucked away at this end of the garden. Warp to it and circle around to the back. You’ll find a coin hidden inside a hole in the tree.
Coin #2 – Find the library at one end of the bottom floor of the house (in front of the Headmaster’s office). Go to the wall lined with bookcases and ladders. You can warp to the top of the tallest ladder. Once there, lean to the right a bit and the coin can be found just behind the side of a shelf.
Coin #3 – Head up to the clocktower. Look up and you’ll find you can warp up to the beams. Circle around to the back of the beam connecting to the roof. The coin is resting on the floor there.
Coin #4 – On the library side of the second floor there’s an always-locked door with a note on it. The coin is nestled in the small gap between the door and the floor.
Coin #5 – Once you’ve completed the herbs quest and can return to the inner garden, head back to where you got the herb from the dog, under the deck to the far right. This coin can be found where the dog used to be.
Coin #6 – Once you can gain access to the roof head back to the stairs leading up to the clocktower. Take the window out here and head along the path to your right. Stop before you’re first meant to turn left and instead look right to find a little alcove. Warp to the end and search the ground for the coin near the wall.
Coin #7 – When the music hall is open, head to where the kids are in the main room but don’t join them yet. Stay on the raised platform and go left. The chair furthermost from you has a mallot sitting on it.
Pick it up and then head into the music hall’s lobby and go upstairs. There’s an open window at the far end of the room you can warp to. Head there and crouch. A tiny door slides open revealing a note. It tells you the order in which you need to hit notes on the Xylophone directly behind you. Go and hit the numbers in the right order (2, 3, 1, 4) and pick up the coin that drops upon completion.
Coin #8 – You’ll eventually gain access to the Infirmary on the second floor of the main building. There’s a bed there with someone in it. Go to the side of the bed closest to the entrance and crouch by the wall. The coin’s under the bed, though it’s slightly hidden by a blanket dangling off the side. Reach under and grab it.
Well, if nothing else, VR may one day be remembered as the platform used to tease Bloodborne 2.
Fans think that an easter egg found in From Software’s new PSVR exclusive game, Deracine, is, in fact, a hint about a possible sequel to its other PlayStation-published series, Bloodborne.
A doll next to Rozsa’s bed early on in the game can be seen doing the ‘Make Contact’ gesture that players can perform in the action RPG. Pick it up and hit the description button and you’ll get a paragraph that reads:
“A doll of the stone girl Fiona, who appears in the unfinished tale. When a person has a bad dream, Fiona appears and helps them flee.”
Fiona might not be a name we’re familiar with (though, notably, the NPC character used to level up in Bloodborne was a nameless female doll), but the mention of an ‘unfinished tale’ might suggest that Bloodborne 2 is on the way. From Software currently has Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice in the works, but it’s more than possible that a sequel to its PS4 hit is also on the way.
If true, it’s a pretty cool way to hint at a sequel, though we say Deracine itself is very much worth playing in its own right.
That said, we highly doubt any such sequel would offer VR support, though From producer Atsuo Yoshimura did once say he’d like to see another of the developer’s series, Dark Souls, come to VR. We can but keep dreaming for now.
Deracine, the debut VR title from Dark Souls developer From Software is out this week. It’s a bizarre little adventure in which you play as a mystical fairie that takes a liking to a group of kids in a boarding school. I absolutely think you should play it, though some of its puzzles are a little on the frustrating side.
With this in mind, here’s our handy spoiler-free guide to the entire story. Take note that, whilst this tells you everything you need to solve each puzzle, Deracine is really about exploring the world and listening to its characters. Make sure to spend a good amount of time simply breathing in each level before consulting this guide if you get really stuck.
Prove To Yuliya That You’re Real
– You’ll find yourself in Classroom 2. Inspect Yuliya to hear her request, then head into the back room. Under a basket on a table in the middle of the room are some grapes. Simply pick these up and then wait for the time to be fully drained from them. After that, head back to Yuliya and grab the flower in her hand. Wait for it to be restored, put it back in her hand and you’ll be able to travel to the next level.
Season The Soup
– You’re now given access to much more of the school. Find Yuliya just outside the kitchen and she’ll talk about wanting to play a game on the kids. You need to season the soup Lornic is cooking by finding five herbs.
– The first is found on Lornic himself. Just grab it from his hand and pour it into the soup.
– Head outside to the inner garden. Take a right out of the door and find the tree near the building. Take a look up and you’ll find Herman dozing on a branch. Warp your way up there, take his hat off, and grab the herbs from underneath.
– Get down from the tree and continue making your way right to the pond. To the right side of the water’s edge you’ll see a silhouette of Herman looking under some decking. Crouch and warp underneath it to find the dog with herbs fitted to his collar. Grab those.
– Back inside, you’ll need to find Nils in Classroom 1. First, swipe his bookmark sitting next to him so that he takes his hand out of his pocket. Once he’s moved, grab his key from the same pocket.
– Finally, you need to make your way to the top of the school. Climb the two flights of stairs to find Rozsa staring at a box in the clocktower. Open the box wiith the key and the two remaining herbs can be found within. Grab each, then head back to the kitchen and pour them all in the soup.
Visit The Headmaster
– Head into the lobby to find Rozsla waiting with a basket. Grab the grass from underneath and watch the scene.
– We need to get rid of that cat. Head through Classroom 1 to find Yuliya on the other side. Give her the grass to distract the cat.
– Before heading to the headmaster’s office, go upstairs one level. Marie can be found in the corridor to the right of the stairs. Grab what she’s carrying and something will fall out. Pick that up.
– Head back down the stairs and to the library at one end. Through a door there you’ll find the headmaster’s office. Fix what he’s holding with the item you picked up before, then pick up the completed item when he offers it.
Get Rozsa To Sleep
– Head upstairs. Lornic and Marie are talking at the top of the first flight. Swipe the candle that Marie is holding behind he back.
– Head into the boy’s dorm. Place the candle next to Nils’ bed, watch the scene and then grab the paper that Herman holds.
– Move over to the girl’s dorm and find Rozsa’s bed. Empty the contents of the paper into the candle next to her bed.
Select A Place To Sit
– Simply head down to Classroom 1, grab the chalk from Herman’s hand and make a selection on the chalkboard. Nils and Marie both have other suggestions, but as far as I can tell it doesn’t make any difference what you select.
Get Into The Music Room
– Find Nils outside Classroom 2. He’s holding a triangle in his right hand which you need, so swipe it. Then grab the case in his right arm and you’ll see something unfold out of the front. Grab that.
– Head up the first flight of stairs and take a right all the way over to the upper chapel. Marie is taking a nap but holds a key. Take it.
– Go up the second flight of stairs to the clock tower and use the key to open the box again. Grab the Birdie Beater from inside.
– Go down to the bottom floor and into the chapel. Rozsa is there with two free hands. In one goes the beater, in the other, the triangle. Give her both and then watch the scene.
– Head back up to the upper chapel and take Marie’s stick.
– There’s an open window in this room. Find it, head outside and along the rooftop to find Lornic and Herman. Use the twist of paper you got from Nils on Lornic’s nose (I don’t know why you need to do this but hey). Finally, hand the stick to Herman.
Fix The Music Box With Cogs
– Make your way back downstairs and into the music hall via the chapel. Before heading into the main room, take a right in the lobby and head up the stairs. Find where Herman and Lornic climbed into the room and find what Lornic is so afraid of. Grab it and take it’s time.
– Head back into the chapel to find Nil’s friend near the altar. Give that object the time you just stored and get a cog as a reward.
– Finally, join the kids in the music room. Herman and Rozsa are talking. Inspect Herman’s case by his feet. It’ll open and he’ll grab the second cog. Take it from him.
– Get on the stage and put both cogs in the music box. Job done.
Find The Kids
– For the first time, the storage door by the first flight of stairs is open. Go through it and travel along the linear path.
– You’ll eventually come to an elevator shaft. Nils has dropped his glasses down it, so make your way down and grab them on top of the elevator.
– Get back up, continue to follow the path until you find the real Nils. Put his glasses back on his head.
Help Herman Make A Distraction
– Lots of story here. Follow the path, don’t miss the turning on the left after seeing Lornic.
– Go around the left of house (don’t worry there’s no fail state) and up the mountain to find Herman.
– For now, make your way past him and down the hill. You’ll find a pile of clothes and a lamp next to them. Grab the candle from within. Return to Herman and light his torch.
Fetch The Blankets
– The door to the house is now open. Head in, go to the back room and grab the blankets.
– Head back into the main room and towards Rozsa and Marie. Watch the scene and then inspect the aftermath.
Return To The School
– A trap door has now opened in the main room. Head down until you reach a familiar scene.
– Retrace your steps and get back to the school. You’ll find Lornic sleeping in Classroom 1. Ring the bell to wake him up and then fulfill his request.
Change The Past
– Go into the lavatory to the left of Classroom 1’s back door. Grab Herman’s hat, grab the key inside and flush it down the toilet. The game will tell you can head back to the present now, but don’t do that just yet.
– Upstairs, Marie has another item hiding between laundry that will drop if you grab it. Take it.
– Head into the library to find Nils in front of the headmaster’s office. Switch the item he’s holding with the one you just got.
– Head into the back garden. Find Yuliya by the river with a flower in one hand. Put it in her other hand.
– You can also head to the chapel and steal Nil’s rat. After doing all of that, head back to the present.
– Still no luck, but this time Lornic is located up the stairs behind a previously locked door in the headmaster’s office. Repeat the same process as before.
– Head back down the stairs and fix the wand with the broken piece found on the table behind the headmaster. Head back in time again.
– This time you’ll find yourself back at the night where you had to put Rozsa to sleep. Go and find her in the girl’s dorm again.
– She’s holding a book you’ll need to take. Doing so reveals a key under her hand. Swipe it.
– Use the key to unlock the door to the back garden downstairs (where Rozsa was looking out at. Lornic is standing in front of the door).
– Head out into the garden and find what’s on the dock by the river. First take its collar then take the ring on its hand.
– Back in the later past (this is getting confusing) you’ll see the ring appear in front of you. Grab it, head upstairs and take a right after the first flight to head to Yuliya’s room. Put the ring on her finger.
Save The Kids (Again)
– Everything’s saved! Head downstairs. Ah. Go to the music room. Fulfill Yuliya’s request.
– Oh look, we’ve been here too. Head back to the girl’s dorm and find Yuliya.
– This time, when the ring appears, don’t put it on your hand. Put it on hers (if you put it on yours, you’ll have to repeat these last three steps).
Déraciné comes from FromSoftware, the studio best known in the West for its work on the Dark Souls franchise, though it’s also behind a lengtiether list of works including the Armored Core series. Déraciné is the studio’s VR debut, and it shows. While the game is technically functional, that’s just about the only thing it has going for it.
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Developer: SIE JAPAN Studio, FromSoftware Available On: PlayStation VR (PS4, PS4 Pro) [Exclusive] Reviewed On: PS4 Pro Release Date: November 6th, 2018
Gameplay
Déraciné is effectively a point and click simulator that walks you through a completely scripted fantasy tale of some children who live in a boarding school. In the story, the player is a Faerie, which is an unseen ghost-like entity which exists in a realm where time stands still. What that means in practice is that the game world is generally frozen, and you’ll wander around the same boarding school most of the game but at different moments in time, occasionally finding characters frozen mid-action, clicking on them to hear their thoughts.
Déraciné is one of the finest examples yet of someone setting out to create a VR game before actually finding out what’s fun or interesting to do when you have a headset on your head and motion tracked controllers in your hands (Move controllers are required). It feels a lot like someone wrote a story and then handed it to some developers and said “make this into a VR game.”
The game’s interactions (which are effectively all of the gameplay) are woefully boring. As time is always standing still, there’s zero gameplay conflict. You will wander around each chapter looking for the frozen characters, walk up to them, find something on their person to touch (generally whatever is in their hand), and then you’ll either see a little yellow orb pop out of them (which you can touch to hear a few lines of dialogue) or occasionally the character will play a lazy animation to accompany the dialogue.
Image courtesy Sony
Alongside that, you’ll occasionally take an item from one of the characters and go place it somewhere else (a key, a lamp, a bracelet, etc) in order to progress along the entirely scripted sequence of events. In order to succeed you’ll need to make regular use of the immersion-breaking pop-up dialog boxes, as essential information about items that’s otherwise unknown to you will be hidden therein. A watch that you hold also allows you to pop up an objectives/hints list, which you will need to reference on a constant basis because the game tells you what to do even when most of the time you have no idea why you’re doing it.
Let me give you just one example of just how arbitrary the interactions and gameplay of Déraciné can be:
At one point in the game I’m wandering around the halls and come across one of the children who is carrying some boxes. I click one box and hear some dialogue. I click another box and out pops a little twisted piece of paper no larger than a Q-tip. I grab the piece of paper (because game says I can, not because any normal person would expect it to be important), and it automatically goes into my inventory. I pull it back out of my inventory and use the ‘inspect’ button to see what it is and a dialogue box pops up: ‘A twist of paper used to clean instruments… or sometimes to tickle noses.’
“Um… ok,” I think to myself.
So I go about my way wandering around the halls looking for other characters and things I can click on. After not making any progress for a while, I check my objective list which says “Why not tickle the boy’s nose with a twist of paper?”
“Um… ok,” I think to myself.
So I walk back to the boy holding the instruments, get out the nose tickler, and try to tickle his nose. Nothing seems to be happening, so I try a few different ways. Eventually the boy makes a very subtle motion like he’s about to sneeze, but doesn’t. So I think maybe I’m just doing it wrong. I keep trying. At some point I hear a noise as I’m flicking this tiny piece of paper back and forth, and I feel some rumbling, so I think maybe the game is giving me a clue that I’ve almost got it.
After maybe five whole minutes of watching this boy look like he’s about to sneeze as I tickle his nose, I think maybe the game is bugged and not triggering the action correctly. I quit and reload the scene… walk back through to the point where I get the piece of paper and continue to hone my apparently inadequate nose tickling skills. I still get the almost-sneezing animation, but no technique seems to achieve a real sneeze.
I give up in frustration and leave to see what else I can do. I find another one of the children out on the grounds playing with a dog, and above her there’s two others on the roof leaning dangerously over the edge and around a corner trying to unlock a window that’s out of reach. In order to get to them I have to go back inside another building, and then happen to stumble across an open window that was never open before. I go out the window and walk along the roof over to the two boys trying to unlock the window. I click on them to hear their dialogue, which includes a seemingly random line “Oh god, what’s wrong with my nose?”
So I grab the piece of paper from my inventory and see a small highlighted version of it placed near the one boy’s nose. I place it there and let go (I’m not even asked to do a mock tickling motion). An animation plays out where the boy sneezes and almost drops his friend off the roof.
That’s what I was supposed to do the whole time—I was supposed to know that I should take a menial item like a piece of twisted paper from one character to a completely different part of the game to try to make these kids almost fall off the roof by way of sneezing.
These are the defining and memorable moments of Déraciné. The ones where you throw your hands up and say, “REALLY?!” The ones where you wonder, “why was that the answer?” Few things are worse, especially in VR, than inhabiting a character and not understanding why they (you) are doing what you’re doing, or sometimes, even what you’re supposed to do.
But this is the essence of Déraciné, born of an inane script where the player has zero agency, and often no understanding even of the intentions or reasoning employed by the character they inhabit.
Screenshot by Road to VR
To top off Déraciné’s, ‘gameplay’, there is never a pressing moment and no risk of failing or making a wrong choice. You could take your headset off at any point throughout the game without pausing it, and nothing even could go wrong.
On paper, that isn’t a bad thing by default; after all, there’s some pretty compelling VR works out there which are designed to be more story than game. But Déraciné is trying hard to be in the game end of the spectrum, but failing spectacularly.
It’s ultimate conceit is that even if they took out the inane interactions and just had you passively watch the events unfold without being part of it, the dull story is nearly as bad as the gameplay.
You know how they say ‘time flies when you’re having fun?’ The opposite must also be true, because Déraciné’s roughly four hours of playtime felt like double that because of how little it engages you.
Immersion & Comfort
Image courtesy Sony
The only compliment that Déraciné deserves is for its looks. The environments are fairly detailed, well lit, and consistently art directed. The characters in the game aren’t quite as well rendered, but are passable when still. The occasional animations aren’t terribly well done but at least don’t feel uncanney.
Screenshot by Road to VR
It’s when the characters start talking where things really start to grate on one’s patience. The voice acting is actually good, but the script and direction is terrible. From hearing their thoughts and dialogue, the children are entirely unbelievable as people (either as a child or an adult); it’s not clear why they want to do many of the things they do, or why they’re profoundly excited by the most menial tasks. That’s all made worse by the bumbling pace of delivery.
As you can imagine, not being able to understand the characters’ motivations or even their perception of the world around them, makes it difficult to care about them—a surefire way to make a story and character driven game fall flat.
In the world of Déraciné, Faeries apparently move using node-based teleportation (see the videos in the Gameplay section above for a look at how this works), occasionally seeing larger nodes around points of interest which means there’s something to interact with (be it a character or an item on a table). While the environment can often be quite richly detailed—a library full of books, a classroom full of plants and drawings, a kitchen with pots and pans—it’s all for naught as you rely entirely on the game to point you to the few select items that you’re allowed to interact with; the rest is pure set dressing.
Screenshot by Road to VR
The node-based movement and snap turning is comfortable at least, and generally node’s are placed frequently enough that it doesn’t feel terribly restrictive, but it’s not very fun or immersive to rapidly node-hop from one side of the boarding school to the other to get to some objective. Nothing short of rethinking the game’s fundamental design would fix this though (even smooth locomotion wouldn’t make the chore of running around more fun). Furthermore, when you do enter into ‘interaction mode’ your snap turning changes from rotating you in place to rotating you around a circular interaction area which is clunky at best and immersion breaking at worst.
When you move from one of the game’s scenes to the next, you’ll be greeted not only with a loading screen, but also a plain old game menu asking if you want to quit or continue to the next chapter. This even happens right between the story’s few key moments and ensures, along with the essential pop-up dialogue-boxes, that the world never feels very solid or constant around you.
Though to modern audiences From Software is best known for creating unforgiving action titles such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne, long before that the developer created some gentler fare, such as adventure title Echo Night. In some ways Déraciné is a throwback to those days, but with plenty of more modern twists along the way.
In Déraciné the player takes the role of a fairy, summoned to a stereotypical English boarding school. At first, you ‘mission’ is to make the children at the school believe in your existence, which involves adding a bitter herb to the meals, as well as causing some other mischief.
Interaction comes in the form of touching balls of light, that cause certain scenes from different times to play out. Your character is not constrained by the typical notions of ‘past, present a future’ and can flit between different eras to discover the history of the school and those who inhabit it.
Your main concern is with a group of children, and here is where we run into the first problem that Déraciné has. The children act and speak like characters from an Enid Blyton novel. They are flawlessly polite, sweet and gentle and as a result, don’t really feel like real people. For all that they have their own distinct personalities and history, they feel like caricatures in many ways.
The problems with characterisation adds to a feeling of disconnection. You are never truly ‘present’ at the same time as the children, and as a result its difficult to form proper attachment to them. Despite the attempts From Software has made to bring you closer to each of the characters, the time-shift makes it much harder than it ought to be.
The storytelling is good, there’s much to explore here, especially when things start to take on a darker turn. There are pieces of story scattered around everywhere, all of which have fascinating hints and implications. However, the fractured nature of the time periods you visit means it often feel like you’re listening to an audio book instead of playing a videogame.
The sweet nature of the children and the overall theme of childhood wonder and innocence is in sharp contrast to the eerie, vaguely sinister atmosphere that prevails throughout. You keep expecting a dark secret to come to light, but despite some tragedies and sadness, it really doesn’t. As a result, it feels tonally inconsistent.
The inconsistency of the tone is a shame for something that looks and feels so good. There are myriad details available to explore, and graphically From Software have done an excellent job, but its impossible not to feel like the setting would feel more appropriate for a horror title.
Travelling is done by fixed-point teleport that takes you to different fixed locations within the school, and from there you can explore the room using the PlayStation Move controllers. With few button presses needed, this works fine.
When not listening to historical conversations, gameplay is puzzle-based, and most of these follow fairly direct logic, but one or two might leave you scratching your head and you try and divine what you are meant to be doing.
Déraciné is beautiful and atmospheric and has a deep and absorbing story to tell, but its easy to question why this needs to be a VR title. The tonal inconsistency and node-based movement might also be off-putting, but for those who wish to be absorbed in a story, Déraciné is worth giving a look.
Long before it became ‘the maker of Dark Souls’, From Software created, among various other RPGs and action games, adventures title like Echo Night. A far cry from the mechanical masochism of the series it’s now famous for, these story-driven experiments stood out from the pack with dark fantasy tales that took the somber tone of a Souls game in an entirely different direction.
Deracine is very much a return to those roots, and it’s an utterly fascinating one.
Your first impressions of From’s VR debut (directed by Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki) are likely to be conflicted. You play as a mystical faerie that stalks the halls of a painfully traditional boarding school, interacting with its cast of impossibly polite children. Scenes are frozen in time, allowing you to play games with the kids, swiping items from their pockets, over-seasoning their meals with an especially bitter herb and causing all sorts of other mischief. It’s all so very quaint; the kids talk in excited whispers and live wholesome lives, napping in trees, sharing out chores and planning a classical music recital to welcome their invisible new friend. There’s not a bad bone in their bodies.
This is From Software by way of Enid Blyton. Puzzles are refreshingly light and encourage exploration of the meticulously-detailed boarding school, but it’s the interactions between the children that you’re really here for. From has done a great job giving each of the six kids their own identity; the snoozy Herman likes to steal a nap when no one’s looking and prides himself on the fedora he’s never seen without, whilst the rotund Lornic is clumsy, gentle but also something of a leader among the pack. Though they’re all so grotesquely whimsical, you can’t help but start to like them.
Conversely, other elements of the game are Souls to the core. Deracine’s melancholic soundtrack makes exploring the boarding school comparable to a visit to Dark Souls’ Firelink Shrine, as if From had built it on top of the sacred ground. It’s got a rich sense of authenticity to it, from the brass pot-littered shelves of the kitchen to the airy confines of the built-in chapel, but it’s also so curiously eerie, especially when you step outside to marvel at a river suspended between seconds. Character models, meanwhile, are misty-eyed and uniform, giving each a somewhat mystic aura. It’s an odd mix, and one that initially makes the game hard to pin down; during the first hour I couldn’t get the slightest sense of where it was going, nor what From was hoping to achieve with its slideshow of practical jokes and archaic dialogue.
But, if the thought of these pleasantries repels you, don’t let it; Deracine hides a darker, more memorable side.
As you begin to explore the deeper effects of your misadventures, which also include the odd bit of time traveling by literally sucking the ‘time’ out of other beings, Deracine heads in directions that no other VR game has yet charted. This is a game that wants you to feel for its characters as if they were living, breathing flesh and blood, right in front of you. It’s a little too creaky to pull this off all the time, but there are a handful of moments of incredibly concentrated connection between you and the students. At these points the game establishes a bond between player and NPC just as strong as those seen in titles like Lone Echo.
It’s in the eyes, I reckon. At times you can glimpse the pure desperation in them as they glare piercingly back at you. They call out to you in ways that words can’t, injecting you with an immediate sense of very human concern. Such instances are fleeting, but they’re quite remarkable, and a powerful expression of what VR can one day be.
There are limits to this, of course; you’re never given true agency in your interactions, but Deracine does have a wonderful way of letting you come to conclusions by yourself. Puzzles can occasionally bring you to a halt but, for the most part, the solutions are hinted and prodded at in natural ways, like overhearing two students talking about what you need to do next, or applying techniques you’ve already used to new problems. The dots don’t always connect quite like they should (one particular nose-tickling scene comes closer to attempted murder than it does a harmless joke), but for the most part it straddles that oh-so-fine line between too taxing and too easy better than a lot of VR puzzle games that have come before it.
All of this amounts to a story that, for once, feels comfortably told in its short running time. I played it through in one three-hour sitting which, early confusion aside, was well-paced with plenty of twists and, astonishingly, an ending that doesn’t feel abrupt. If it’s longer-form content you’re after then you’ll want to look elsewhere (as will those that don’t agree with the node-based locomotion), but Deracine builds a great case for making feature-length narratives the future of VR.
Final Score:8/10 – Great
Deracine’s initially dulcet tone certainly won’t be for everyone but scratch below the surface and you’ll discover a VR adventure that heads in some fascinating new directions. It’s a bizarre beast, placing the ambiguity From Software is known for in the front and center but, despite its often ham-fisted dialogue, it finds genuinely powerful moments of connection as it weaves a memorable yarn. Deracine might not be the game that truly breaks down the barriers between the player and the virtual characters and worlds they love, but it’s definitely a strong sign that VR is heading that way.
Deracine launches on PlayStation VR on November 6th for $29.99. Read our Game Review Guidelines for more information on how we arrived at this score.
