Do you remember when you were younger and when it was story time and as the story was being told, your imagination begins to show the story in new ways? Virtual Reality can show these stories in ways we didn’t think possible and can do wonders from the tales being told and make the characters come to life. But does Developer Funomena allow us to see the story that is truly being told in a new and exciting way? Let’s find out with Luna for the PlayStation VR.
Now before I get into the review, I want everyone to know that spoilers will not be had as I do not want to take away from the experience. With that said, let’s continue. Of course, before you begin, you do have a choice to make. Do you want to use a DualShock 4 controller or both Move controllers? If you have the Move controllers, I would suggest using them as it does give you that freedom compared to the DualShock 4 cursor type movement. Another choice is if you want to play in VR or non-VR. I would strongly suggest that you play in VR as the art style and the story being told shines in VR.
So you may be wondering what do you do in Luna and what’s it really about? Luna is a storybook come to life in a way that only Virtual Reality can do. But a story being told is only part of it as there are some puzzle aspects to this tale as well. In Luna, you are playing as a little bird who is just content on building and putting the final touches on his home. A bird who appears to be alone, but really just enjoys the peace. That is until a mysterious creature shows up and has you further from home than you would have liked, but to add to things, your memories are not all intact. So your journey begins to hopefully regain those memories and possibly learn some things along the way.
But what I found interesting is that the approach Developer Funomena went with. Each part of the story that is being told with Luna has three parts. The first is the narration, the second is how you get to interact with the environment by planting trees, leaves or some other parts of natures which include changing the color as well as increasing and decreasing the sizes, but also entering that part of the story and seeing what you did from the first view come alive in this newer view, and the third part will be the puzzles that include completing the constellation puzzles or playing the sounds in the right order, which neither one really is that hard and that’s not a bad thing.
If your time in Virtual Reality is enjoyed by some peaceful music and sounds, then Luna has you covered. I honestly felt more relaxed once I started experiencing Luna just from the soundtrack, sounds, and narration then I did before the experience. Hearing the animals sing in interaction just helped bring the story alive. Graphics are also really well presented here. Colors pop when they should and the art that is being used makes you really appreciate what can be accomplished in Virtual Reality. Some of the scenes looked like they would be amazing to have in a room in your house that would come alive in a glow in the dark art collection.
Luna brings a storytelling experience that I hope going forward, story book tales are to be experienced. A way of bringing the characters to life as well as the innocence that is sometimes forgotten while trying to tell the story. If Funomena can somehow bring all the storybook stories to life in this way, maybe like a chose your own adventure for example, it would be something special and just shows that with Virtual Reality things can be magical.
Luna is out now on PlayStation VR and is also available on the Oculus Store, Steam, and the Microsoft Store. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Funomena, please visit their site, follow them on Twitter, follow them on Instagram, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I am going to enjoy more magic.
Mr. PSVR, June 22, 2019, theplaystationbrahs.com
