It’s hard to know what to expect from VR games. Some are little more than glorified tech demos. Others are complex, immersive games, or small side stories that barely warrant release. The VR marketplace is a hodgepodge of random games, many of which are barely worth notice. The almost complete lack of marketing for VR titles has contributed to a library of oddball titles available for Playstation VR that’s difficult to quantify. You might find yourself utterly enthralled with a game like Moss, or completely bored by a title such as Robinson, which looks like it could be fascinating but ends up tedious.
In this weird, eclectic marketplace, it’s hard to be noticed. But there’s no question that Paper Beast, a PSVR exclusive from Pixel Reef and Eric Chahi, creator of Out Of This World (aka Another World), stands out. The design elements are clearly unique, even in the static images and video clips available and once you start playing, there’s no doubt that Paper Beast is something special.
It’s difficult to explain how interesting Paper Beast feels. It draws you into its world slowly, first tossing you into a load screen that turns out to be a musical smorgasbord, booting up thematic music that you can interact with and then quite literally pulling the curtain away to reveal the world beneath. The concept is that our data has taken on a life of its own, deep below the human level of perception and we are sneaking a peek at that burgeoning ecosystem. But if you go in cold, piecing that together can take most of the game to figure out.
Finding yourself in a desert wasteland with no instruction, no direction, you simply have to look around and be patient, determining the rules of your environment and what to do. You can look down at your controller virtually to see what button functions are available, but nothing else. Eventually, in each area, you’ll figure out what the different beasts do, what they’re looking for, and what you can do to progress. It sounds a bit slow, but be assured, it’s fascinating!
The entire world of Paper Beast is utterly immersive and compelling. Everywhere you look, there are gorgeous vistas surrounding you, weird creatures, and interactive environments. Sure, not everything is interactive, but there’s plenty to do. One of the jewelled scintillating crabs in a cave stage of the game was so compelling that you might even expect a Vogon to come barrelling out of a passage and crack its shell for no reason at all. And guiding that crab and his friends around is just as entertaining as progressing into the next area. Everywhere you go, it’s the same. Interaction in Paper Beast is simply fun.
Once you get the hang of grabbing what you need with the controller and manipulating your environment, it’s purely up to intuition to figure out what to do next. Just when you might think you’re stumped, Paper Beast gives you exactly what you need to progress and usually you can figure it out fairly simply. Hours fly by in full immersion as you slowly drift from area to area, sometimes literally, and experiment with the ferocity of the native fauna. Levels become increasingly complex and the beasts match the complexity, spawning from a host of unlikely environs. Strange messages and letters start to appear here and there to illustrate that this isn’t just a tech demo, but telling an underlying story, one without a narrative, but still a story, leading you to at least a semblance of understanding.
Paper Beast is an incredibly artistic game, one that compels your attention. The only thing that remotely compares to it are games like Flower and Journey. But in many ways, Paper Beast manages to surpass those titles by forcing you to think for yourself and come to your own conclusions in a way that feels wholly unguided, an amazing accomplishment. Make no mistake, this is purely artistic game, with no significant combat, no stats, no weapons, just you and the environment and nothing to break the illusion that you’re standing in a different world aside from the controller when you look down and the grab line used to manipulate the world around you.
Visually, Paper Beast is absolutely stunning, with wildly creative creatures, backgrounds and environments that feel functional and alive rather than simply artistic. But what also manages to make it stand out is the sound design. Sound features prominently in Paper Beasts, with the wind’s direction being audible and the sound of creatures moving about in a three dimensional aural construct. While playing, you’ll find that you’re suddenly listening for creatures or cues as much as looking for them, and it feels completely natural. It’s easy to forget you’re wearing a VR helmet while playing, even though the PSVR is fairly bulky. Everything is structured and mixed just right to seamlessly blend sound and visuals so that the world feels realistic. The soundtrack itself is excellent as well, and suits each situation perfectly, creating and releasing tension as needed to manipulate the psychological impact of the game perfectly.
Progress is straightforward in Paper Beast and each level blends into the next with no distinction other than the changes in scenery. It’s easy to get distracted just gazing around the world too, especially in the throes of a paper storm or investigating the reaches of an area. There is a low-poly approach to background design but that doesn’t lessen the majesty of the landscape. The real focus is all on the characters though, with each major creation standing out for its detail levels in whichever section of the game you happen to be in. Simply follow the most detailed thing around and you’ll have a good idea of where to go.
Creature AI is interesting too, with unique reactions and behaviors for every single beast that appears. Some stare quizzically at you, following you, or expecting you to follow them. Others move in for a closer, almost predatory look at you, or come uncomfortably near, almost forcing you to back away. Interacting with the background lures beasts toward or away from you as well, creating a variety of ancillary behaviors for the surrounding beasts. While the game isn’t always densely populated with beasts, it still manages to feel alive no matter where you go.
Physics plays an important part in Paper Beast as well. Your interactions with creatures and objects are directly physical and different objects and creatures move in different ways. You must pull, push, and shift various objects and creatures, but you can’t affect everything. For example, the huge skeletal creature in the beginning of the game can be tugged at but not really moved, while the small crabs can be tossed about easily. Some beasts resist, pulling against your machinations, while others are strewn wildly across the landscape with a grab, tossed like the paper creations they are. While there’s no tactile interface, each interaction still manages to feel different, solidifying the unique physics of the game and each level bit by bit. Even the environment itself is malleable, but in ways that are often quite unexpected. The entire physics engine of the game is excellent in VR. It’s smooth, uncomplicated, and not glitchy at all. There were no bugs or visual hitches from tossing beasts and objects wildly about, the mark of a well-designed physics system.
You’ll get out of Paper Beast what you put into it. Solutions to progress are never just handed to you, but they’re there for the taking if you pay attention. Area after area reveals new wonders and ideas, some relaxing, some vicious and predatory, but all of them are fascinating. The world of Paper Beast will likely take you a few play sessions, as it’s somewhere roughly around 5-6 hours long, but it’s hard to play VR for more than a couple hours at a go. As with all VR games, gameplay length depends on your skills and ability to withstand eyestrain. But for the few sessions it takes to wind your way through this unique world, it’ll be worth the time you spent!
This review was based on a digital copy of Paper Beast provided by the publisher. It was played with on a PSVR system using a PS4 Pro. All screenshots are of actual gameplay. Paper Beast is a PS4 exclusive and is enhanced for the PS4 Pro.