"I want to express something. It must come from the heart and the gut. If I have nothing to say, I prefer to do nothing." - Éric Chahi
Being a paper creature has its disadvantages.
Whilst it wouldn't be right to paint Another World, Heart of Darkness, From Dust, and Paper Beast as being solely products of the genius mind of game designer Éric Chahi (there's enough of a problematic auteur narrative in tech/games as it is), I'll be damned if he's not a common thread.
In 2011 my favourite 'god game' of all time was released. From Dust understood that the power of the elements and natural forces were scarier than anything fictional. Eric's passion for volcanology gave us From Dust's volcano eruptions, something that still struggles to find equal in how truly awe-inspiring those moments proved. Leaning on influencing the elements and environmental simulation for its mechanics, there's really nothing quite like it - even now. Except for Paper Beast that is.
I think we all sometimes feel in life like we're stuck in an impossible grind of rolling sand balls to reach an unreachable luminous goal.
Paper Beast conserves a lot of that DNA: puzzle-like manipulation of the elements, environment, and physics to your advantage; levels like meticulously-crafted diorama simulations to experiment with; and a focus on the frightening power of nature in its mini ecosystems. Only now we have better tech and the immersive power of VR that places you squarely inside these living ecosystems. Still... From Dust VR please?
If From Dust had one deficit, it was its tribe AI that, in full fairness to it, had to adapt to any kind of terrain deformation you exposed them to. Paper Beast takes that one negative and turns it into its single greatest strength.
Despite their namesake, these 'paper beasts,' these stunning origami organisms are nothing less than living things. What they lack in typically empathy-stirring features like eyes they more than make up for in their movements and behaviours. Simply sitting and co-existing with these creatures in their habitat as they go about their routines is worth the price of admission.
The moment your desert island mixtape gives up on you.
More embedded in the world as you are, you're typically tasked with light physics and environmental puzzles, be it escorting certain creatures past predators, over a slippery hill, or through strong winds, etc. It's all very clever stuff, a smart adaptation of From Dust's god game manipulations rendered smaller, more intimate, and without the frustrating life or death urgency.
It similarly carries over the principle of freeform solutions to puzzles by dint of these being mini simulation sandboxes. You know you have to sand over the slippery rocks so the beasts can overcome the hill, but there's a lovely element of play between the idea of what you need to do and realising it. There's chaos in sand not quite perfectly being applied and the beasts needing that last helping hand up as you grab their feet to tug them up at the last stretch. What was made frustrating in From Dust because of punishing failure states works in Paper Beast's favour.
Labelling the game a progression of puzzles rather undersells the transcendent experience of occupying these small slices of virtual worlds, though. There's a magic to sitting with and observing each one. I would just sit and throw balls for the dog-like beasts for much too long before floating away in my paper hot air balloon. Did I mention this game is magical?
It's definitely a light-simulation, though. On top of the 'adventure' mode is the 'immersive playground sandbox' mode. Whilst this should be all the more magical for the greater freedom and tools at your disposal, I found the lack of impetus exposed the smoke and mirrors of the game a bit too much. These creatures are living and breathing in passing, but in a sandbox wherein there's no real life cycle or in-depth simulations to their existence to speak of, it wears a little (paper-)thin.
With its numeric clouds, I'd love to see this world's weather broadcast.
How well the non-VR version realises the tactile nature of the world - the element of play and simulation without Vive wands or their equivalent - I look forward to seeing. As usual with anything related to the legendary designer, however, Paper Beast is a different kind of beast. A truly transcendent and affecting piece of media that deserves to be experienced and not just played.
