Déraciné tested

VR games have adopted almost every genre in recent years: Shooter, Horror, Puzzle, Platformer and many more. One genre, that was emotionally even less served than others, are purely story-focused games, so without any shock moments that VR primarily uses to make the narrative as immersive as possible. Déraciné now strikes exactly into this niche and tells us an atmospherically prepared modern fairy tale about fairies and time travel.

Welcome to the fairy kingdom

Immersion is the A and O par excellence for VR games – and what fits better to immersive gameplay than immersive storytelling? In Déraciné you start your story with as much knowledge as your character and discover the game world and its inhabitants together. As the new fairy just came into being, you will be guided through a short tutorial, already integrated into the story, which introduces you to the most important mechanics of the game: Using Move Controllers (the Dualshock Controller can’t be used here – to the detriment of all those who don’t own the additional controllers) you can move through the world in short jumps, duck to see and reach things near the ground, save all kinds of things to look at or add to your inventory, or touch people and objects to interact with them.

One thing you absolutely never lack in the game is time: As a newly born fairy you walk in the land where time stands still – a kind of parallel dimension of human reality in which the common laws of time and space play no role. Thus, the beings of our world you encounter seem to be frozen in time, while their earlier positions are represented by yellow silhouettes that often give you clues as to what actions and actions followed next. The yellow silhouette of a dog walking towards the terrace helps you to find its actual shape in a hiding place under the said terrace.

Fees can not only walk in the country where time stands still, they also have some other tricks in store: First there would be the ability to read people’s thoughts at certain moments. In the game you have to find small glowing balls hidden around the person. If you touch them, you’ll hear what was going on in the mind of the person affected, and you’ll be able to gather more clues for progress in the story. And then, of course, there are your two main skills: Each fairy receives two rings at birth, a red one for her right hand, which allows her to transfer life energy from living beings to similar living beings – for example from human to human or from small animal to small animal – and a blue one for her left hand, with which she can travel between different epochs.

The kingdom of children

If you’ve learned all the game mechanics in the tutorial, you’ll start into the episodically structured story: The girl Yuliya summons you to come to her at first sight idyllic boarding school and be her friend – why, you don’t know that yet. So first of all you start to make your presence known by means of a small miracle – a flower is brought back to life by the life energy of grapes. Very pleased that the good fairy she longed for has actually appeared, she asks you in succession, but also her friends – five more children attending the small school – to convince of your actual existence.

At this point I’d like to stop telling you more about the story, because that’s where Déraciné’s real appeal lies: In the game you explore the school and the surrounding area, get to know its inhabitants better, and learn more about why Yuliya called you now, and what she expects from your work . Refreshingly, the story is neither creepy nor designed for shocking moments, but instead takes you into a fairytale world with a focus on the characters and the exciting mystery surrounding the events at the boarding school and their connection to the world of fairies.

Fairlike presentation

The setting of the game, the school, the gardens and the region around it, looks like a mixture of Oliver Twist and Anime: environments that are clearly reminiscent of Victorian England, with characters who cannot deny their Japanese roots. Déraciné is one of the most beautiful VR titles I have played recently, with clear textures, varied environments and detailed location and character design.

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The soundtrack may not offer a pompous score with lots of pieces, but it accompanies the mood appropriately at all times; and what has been particularly positive is the harmonious and continuous voice dubbing of the game (in English).

Either way I give you plus points for the control , which was kept simple and therefore works perfectly, even if you have to do without an alternative Dualshock control with Déraciné.

FAZIT:

As a huge VR fan I have teleported myself through many an immersive world in the last few months, but so far no virtual reality adventure has fascinated me as much as Déraciné. The game doesn’t just score with a thrilling story, which brings some lengths in between, but also makes you want to find out more. The title can also inspire with its wonderful presentation. So if you don’t primarily focus on massive action moments while playing and instead like to hear atmospheric stories about sympathetic characters and mysteries that want to be uncovered, you shouldn’t miss Déraciné and immerse yourself in the world of fairies and time travel for almost six hours.

What is Déraciné? Atmospheric VR adventure with focus on the mysterious story and its characters
Platforms: PS4 (PSVR)
Tested: Retail version
Developer / Publisher: YOU Japan, FromSoftware / Sony
Release: November 6, 2018
Link: Official Website