Perfect

Publisher – nDreams Ltd.
Price – US $9.99 / EU €N/A  / UK £N/A / AU $N/A
Release date – December 13th 2016
Move Support – No
Pro Patch – Yes
Digital only – Yes
Reviewed on – Standard PS4

This isn’t nDreams 1^st foray into VR relaxation experiences as earlier this year they released Perfect Beach (review here) and this seems to be the next step up to that experience.  If you are interested in a relaxing, non gaming experience in VR than be prepared to sit back and enjoy the view.

The scenes are beauitful and serene.

The experience before you starts off with the choice of 3 different environments in either day or night mode.  After that you basically just stand or sit and relax.  Each stage is comprised of 3 different viewpoints and since the PS4 can track a small area you can actually walk around a bit.  At each area you are given a few items to interact with; throw some snowballs, put some wood in a fire or toss some rocks in the water.  These little touches are nice.  The other option is to turn on a nearby radio and listen to some light tracks while taking in the scenery around you.  That’s about it, which I suppose is the point.

Visually this game looks fine.  The environments themselves look good though certain details (or lack thereof) stand out.  Trees look a little unrealistic, snowflakes hitting the ground act as if they are having a seizure before disappearing and so on and so forth.  These little quirks don’t wreck the experience, but considering you are supposed to sit back and take in the view, anything that detracts from that is noticeable.  That said the positives here are the physical effects.  Your lantern at night lights up your nearby surroundings.  The ripples and light splashes that occur when you throw objects in water are nice touches too.  Drop a piece of wood in a nearby canoe and watch it wobble in the water.  These little effects add to realism presented here.

The night sky offers a very different view and some great lighting effects

Walking around in a few spots reveals nice view (look over the edge of cliff, it’s pretty cool) and the differences between night and day viewing offer some unique additions to the scenery around you.  The winter level, for instance, offer a view of the Northern Lights.  While walking is nice, you’d much rather sit down and enjoy the surrounding around you.  A big misstep in my opinion is a lack of body and option just sit or lie back with a visible body in that position.  Given the limited amount of motion here, giving the viewer a body would have gone a long way toward full immersion.

With all of that said if you don’t want to put on your headset and just look around at stuff this may not be for you no matter how good it looks.   It’s a nice get away and a different way to use VR, but it’s just not going to appeal to everybody.

What would I pay? $2.  It’s a tough sell as I am one of those guys that really isn’t interested in this type of VR experience.  What’s here works, no question about it, but I’m not one to just sit back and relax in VR.  That said, if the idea of just chilling in VR appeals to you, you may enjoy this for little bit