The Persistence is a VR game that has been ported to consoles and Steam to be experienced by a wider audience and its reception has been quite good to say the least. Despite not being as long as a AAA game, it is very impressive with the limited capacity it was working on and definitely wowed me from the start. This game knows exactly what it is and the developer, Firesprite Limited, kept it true to the launch version to a tee and it shows. After you get over the first few hurdles of it being a port, the game will certainly surprise most gamers who come in with an open mind.
Graphics/Music
The music exudes a sci-fi feel, not unlike many games in its genre. The graphics give off a Mass Effect vibe, along with the soundtrack. It is very bass-heavy through headphones, with helped give it a strong sense of discomfort. The graphics were very good for a game of its caliber and given that the game was originally available on PSVR, I can see how the atmosphere of the game would translate very well in that style of gameplay. The music is expertly crafted to make the player feel a foreboding sense of horror and imminent terror with every move. I was thoroughly paranoid while playing the game in the dark with headphones on, dreading walking into every new room, as I have a fear that something was going to come up from behind me or was watching me from the shadows.
Story
The game starts with a brief narration from the creator of The Persistence and drops you right into the game. You start off with a brief tutorial on controls. You have the creator, Serena, providing an almost Cortana-like narration while you play, guiding you to objectives. It seems a black hole ripped your ship off course and is threatening your safety. It would seem that you, Zimri, are playing as a clone of yourself after you died mysteriously. Serena explains that the auxiliary is printing bodies after the ship got damaged from the flawed jump. However, the bodies aren’t human. So, you are on a mission to save yourself and Serena.
Interface
The game has a barebones menu, with options only for subtitles, volume, vibration and credits. The new game option features an option for the base campaign with 3 extra difficulties that are progressively harder, though they do require a story completion to unlock. When paused, all the controls are listed for you to see. There is a conversation log, which is handy if you missed key dialogue and also an Assist Mode. This is basically akin to a god mode in other games. It disables earning achievements with the benefit of unlimited teleportation and weaker enemies for players who want to enjoy the game but aren’t necessarily capable of surviving it on normal difficulties.
Mechanics
The game’s movement is the major concern I had. I don’t necessarily love it when my character feels unnecessarily slow, but I can give The Persistence a pass as the game was originally intended for PSVR. The teleport mechanic is very helpful for getting around and there are multiple weapons at your disposal as you unlock them for defeating the different types of enemies. At the beginning of thegame, you are given a harvester device, which enables you to gather the DNA of your fallen crew members along the way and when you die (which you will, a lot), you are granted to ability to create your next clone out of DNA from one of them, which enables you to utilize their abilities. These abilities can range from superior weapon usage, crafting, etc.
However, for much of the early portions of the game, you are not meant to openly attack your enemies, as you are weaker in every sense of the word. This, for me, increased my sense of dread and actually aided in my experience. I got a Dead Space vibe from the early game, forcing me to think on my toes. Early in, Zimri is only able to utilize her suits’ brief shield ability to parry attacks whilst timing her melee attack correctly to counter. However, Serena herself confirms that stealth would be the best course of action while Zimri is vulnerable, stating in-game, “There’s a lot of them out there, so don’t be afraid to use stealth – you can’t fight them all, you know.” This weakness of my character dissolves as you discover better weapons and superior methods of defeating enemies and this helped me feel much more triumphant as I progressed further in the campaign.
The most useful ability for me was the Supersense. This ability is powered by dark matter, much like Mana in Skyrim, that recharges over time, and allows you to sense what is around you in a close vicinity. This was extremely helpful for me to figure out where enemies were in order for me to avoid them, as for me in horror titles, stealth is the name of the game. If I can avoid a scary fight, you can bet your bottom dollar I will.
When it comes to door and consoles, they all operate with the character looking at them, but this is also due to the fact that the game was originally a VR title and the player should get used to it within a few minutes of playing. The controls are simple, but not dumbed-down. I appreciated that the game was not too complicated, as it was already scary and with my character movement being so stifled, as long as the mechanics were easy to remember, I wasn’t overwhelmed.
Fabricators allow you to upgrade your armor to allow you to steal health, gain store discounts, increase armor protection, increase speed, etc. It also allows you to unlock and upgrade weapons, your forcefield shield, supersense and teleporter. You do this with currency you find; Erebus tokens and fab chips.
The map also provides a great relief from the foreboding atmosphere and allows you to get your bearings as to where you are on the current deck.
Conclusion
Overall, The Persistence is a solid console port from VR. It has the scare factor and utilizes environmental sound and music in a way that I’ve not seen in a lot of horror games as of late. I would highly recommend it to any horror fans or those who like a good scare. However, do note that it is a port from VR, so the movement isn’t like it would be if it was a true console game. Go into it knowing that and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided