Reaching for Petals: VR Edition

[h1]Experienced on the Oculus Quest 2[/h1] You can view my review & gameplay here: https://youtu.be/nlFnZoNEjww This is about a 1 hour long walking simulator that feels mostly like a nature walk. It is heavily narrated as you hear the narrator tell you about nature & how it relates to a past relationship. There are very few gameplay elements involved, most of it is just plain walking from point A to point B. You do have full locomotion and smooth turning. However, your motion controllers are used as a gamepad. I recommend just using a gamepad. I really liked the environments here as they are big & have nice little details like falling leaves or birds flying above you. However, the game is not well optimized. It ran poorly on my RTX 3080. Game is running on the Unreal Engine. I did like the VOs and also the musical soundtrack. The story did meander a bit and it had this twist ending that some may not find all that surprising. Overall, this is a budget title and it does feel like one. However, I do think people who enjoy walking simulators or nature walks in VR would enjoy this one. Anyone else should probably stay away. [b]Rate 5.5/10. I actually bought this on release and I on…

I wish I could remove the plot entirely. Some sick story about 2 adults and their relationship🤡 which looks even more infantile in many ways than my first relationships back in the kindergarten. Apart from that, the landscapes are wonderful. I recommend this only to those who can evade the story and enjoy the beauty 💞

Rare occasion to give a thumbs down. Resolution was low, framerate was extremely choppy.

Is this a game? can I recommend it to everyone? No to both; It is a narrative driven animated story - the only interaction is walking and listening with a few clicks to move the story along. I completed it in under 2 hours. The graphics are nice and it is slow moving but it is an emotionally deep experience. The VR version is a bit clunky and has some performance issues but it doesn't really enhance or take away from the experience. It's not just a nature walk. It has a plot twist in the end but this isn't about the graphics or slow moving action. It's 4 chapters of a short story of love and coping with loss while going through the stages of grievance. You have to be in the right mindset to get the "game" and show empathy to the story teller. The person who will understand and get this game experience the most is the one who is stuck in a broken emotional state after the loss of a loved one. If you are stuck in the middle of the grieving process this game experience will hit you the hardest. To those on the grievance path; Keep walking through your pain as you will heal as a new chapter is about to begin when you find yourself again. I can recom…

At first i was enjoying this game quite a bit, it had good narrations and some nice scenery. But then I got to the second tree, and after tipping it over i kept clipping through it. Eventually the movement of climbing up a tree, and then getting near the top, and then falling over made me severely nautious. Shortly after my characters movement got misaligned and holding forward made me go diagonally forward/sideways. So while the game itself looked nice, i think it needs to be reworked to function on VR properly.

I loved it. No, it's not a perfect VR experience and yes, it should have been better optimized, but regardless, I finished it in one sitting because I was truly moved by the story. Also one of the best narrations I've ever heard in a game.