Upon first seeing Paper Beast it certainly got our attention given the unique art style and the mystery of exactly it was going to be. We have finally had the chance to sit down and play through Paper Beast, so, what did we think about it?
Story
Where we feel Paper Beast was trying to tell a story, we are not one hundred percent on exactly what story it was trying to tell. Where we are a fan of games that can tell a story without having to use any dialogue, I feel this game could have maybe some dialogue or even just text to give you feel of what tale the game is trying to tell.
I thought I would investigate and see what the games store page says the story is, and this is described with the following;
Somewhere deep down in the vast memory of a data server, an ecosystem has emerged. Decades of lost code and forgotten algorithms have accumulated in the eddies and flows of the internet. A small bubble of life has blossomed. Paper Beast is born.
Where I think some explanation would be useful in the game this does not take from what the game is doing, but at times I just felt like my attention drifted as I did not know why I was doing what I was.
Gameplay
The whole element of the gameplay in Paper Beast is exploration and solving puzzles. But it is how Paper Beast does this that makes the game so special. In each area of the game you are going to be joined by wildlife that as the title suggests is going to be made out off paper. The aim of each area is to either to aid these animals to get them to point needed to continue your story and of course this means navigating objects, predators and environmental elements to help them out.
All of these puzzles are based around either physics, altering the terrain or a bit of both. In order to get through these puzzles you might need to explore to find something to help with the puzzles, for example; a fire block to melt some ice. Then where you are trying to help out the paper animals in each area, these are also needed to do the aforementioned terrain editing for the puzzles – be it worms helping you move dirt or turtles that shake out sand.
One thing we found and liked with Paper Beast is each puzzle felt unique. However, these are not going to be complex and I found I was only stumped a couple of the puzzles. Meaning you will find it quite easy to keep moving through the scenes, but, this is good for the experience of what the game is offering as each scene is not overly vast – so not being stuck in the one area for a long time is a good thing.
Presentation
What grabbed my interest the most in the first reveal of Paper Beast was the visual style shown off in the trailer, and getting into the world in person did not let me down. Even the opening scene had me in awe, as you start in what looks like a tent, remove the fabric from around you and see this big Paper Beast above you. Then from there on it’s hard not to stop and take in both the designs of the creatures and the beauty of the settings in each scene – that even know there all very vast and open the world and the paper animals just come together perfectly. There’s many parts of the world design I could speak about, but it really is something you need to experience for yourself.
Then there are some beautiful touches you see and just think wow, one thing you get the idea of in the game is this is some sort of simulation you are in. Then as parts open like a tear in the scenery you will see numbers and letters come pouring out, you will see numbers in the sky made of clouds and even on closer inspection of the turtles, you will see the sand they shake out is all made up numbers. It’s little touches like this that shows the amount of thought the team at Pixel Reef have put into the art and design of their title.
When it comes to audio, the team have done a fantastic job of bringing the feeling of scene to life. This is done by using more cheerful background music for the lighter scenes and either just the environmental sounds or more intense music for the darker scene. This is mixed together with each sound for the creatures in this scene, that also sound quite musical – like some of the bugs sounding like maracas. What the team have done is matched the sounds the visuals and this helps bring each scene and the world to life while keeping that artistic design in place.
Comfort /Controls
Paper Beast can be played either seated or standing and with either two PlayStation Move controllers or the DualShock 4, leaving it open to the player’s preference on what they wish to do. For the purpose of this review I tried all combinations and never mind what you chose it still tracks and performs well. But, if I had to pick a preferred option for playing it, if possible I would recommend standing with the Move controllers.
The only options for the movement in the game is teleport with snap turning, which were this would usually put me off a little as I like free locomotion and smooth turning, for what Paper Beast does this locomotion system works and also opens it up for anyone despite the level of their VR legs.
Longevity
The story mode in Paper Beast took me around three to four hours to complete, and once it is complete you can choose to replay any of the scenes from the main menu. You might find yourself wanting to replay them as well because on completing the story mode you will unlock Sandbox mode, which will let you build your own little worlds in Paper Beast. The reason this might make you revisit scenes because you need to find collectables in the story mode to unlock all the elements for Sandbox mode, which will give you a reason to return to it. Meaning if you take to Sandbox mode and like building your own little world in Paper Beast it could add hours on to the three to four hours of story mode.
reviewed using playstation 4 pro & psvr (2.0)
For the purposes of transparency, this review was created using a code provided by the company or their respective PR company. The use of a review code does not affect my judgement of the game.
Review Overview
When first going into Paper Beast I thought I am not sure what the game is doing or trying to do. However, as I got through the first few puzzles I saw the beauty in not only the design and feel of the game, but also the way the puzzles work. With the only issue being even at the end of it you are wondering what sort of story the game was telling, and this made it feel like it suddenly just ended and you are missing something. But, this is easy to look past when you take in all the moments the leave you awe and seeing all the little touches of detail added to the game making for breathtaking experience. If you have a PlayStation VR this is certainly a game that should be high on your purchases list.
