▷Déraciné: the first PSVR game from From Software

From Software he gives himself to VR with this first and unusual adventure called déraciné, a story full of mystery and with a deep lore just like the Japanese developer has accustomed us to. When we talk about the software house of Hidetaka Miyazaki the sagas of Dark Souls e Bloodborne, but From Software doesn't just create soulslike and proves it with their first title for PlayStation VR realized in collaboration with Japan studio.

Déraciné: the melancholy of a spirit

Déraciné is a particular and mysterious story, which sees us in the shoes of one spirit inside a college of an indefinite era. Within this college they live you're guys together with the director, intent on living their daily life. Our role will be like that of a protective spirit, a sort of fairy who watches over and helps the boys as she can, who will soon become aware of her presence. We will not be able to interact directly with living characters, because in the spirit world il tempo remains motionless. When it's our turn to act, therefore, we will move in fragments crystallized over time, where, however, we will be able to interact with some objects by moving them and relocating them where needed, or by listening to the memories of the other characters, visible in the form of shadows, which will often provide us with useful clues.

History by Déraciné has a rather light beginning, with the aim of demonstrating the existence of the spirit to the children, but slowly the plot changes becoming more and more particular and interesting, at times disturbing, making us think of a thousand questions. Although it is clearer and more direct than what is narrated in the Dark Souls, the plot still has a lot of parts interpretable, with clues scattered throughout the boarding school not always so obvious to prove. Losing some traces of history provided by documents or thoughts that have remained suspended in time, could leave the player a bit confused about certain passages, sometimes even blocking him in the continuation of the story.

All in all the narrative part has convinced us, some twists are unexpected and effective, and the epilogue is intriguing and in line with what has been told for about 7 hours of play that are used to complete this adventure.

With the eyes of a spirit

From the point of view of the gameplay we can say that Déraciné is closer to a walking simulator than to a real adventure. The game confronts us with some rather simple puzzles that, if not for carelessness in finding a clue, will hardly put us in difficulty. The focus of the title is in fact focused on the narrative part, even the movement is made with a teleportation system used with the two breakdance move (required to play), which also eliminates the problem of motion sickness, never felt by us during our test, thanks to movements that are never too fast or sudden. However, we would have appreciated the presence of some more elaborate playful element, especially for the puzzles.

From the point of view artistic Déraciné has several graphic limits imposed by VR, with textures and models not always well defined, especially in outdoor environments. Despite this we see the touch of From Software in the atmospheres and in the details, which make the title very immersive. Also there colonna sonora manages to recreate the melancholy atmosphere that the title wants to convey to the players.

Déraciné is a good first try by From Software on VSFR: There are still several points to polish and improve, but the willingness to bring something new to this fledgling technology is seen and felt, wishing us to see further steps forward in their next game. If you love adventures and want to experience them from one different perspective then Déraciné is a title to keep an eye on, definitely one of the most interesting PlayStation VR experiences.