#digitalmania

VR, what is this?

VR is a set of technologies giving you as a spectator the impression to be immersed in real or imaginary environments.

With this technology, you are no longer required to be in front of a screen but plunged inside it.

In order to live this experience you must acquire a VR headset  allowing you to view the contents. A whole new world welcomes then the user.                                     

Why VR ?

VR has been developed in order to offer 360° experiences, which may be used in different ways such as videogames, watching movies, viewing pictures…etc.                                

 Is this technology useful?

In my opinion I’ll say yes ! VR gives you the ability to explore the world while sitting on a sofa in your house, also it allows you to live experiences that you may not have the chance to live in your everyday life.

                                       Is it safe ?

Well that depends. As a user you have to use it with moderation so that you find a perfect balance between reality and virtuality. Also I advise you to have a person with you so that you do not fall or walk into a wall.

                           How can we make it more useful ?

If we want to make this technology useful in real life, we have to develop more educational applications. Imagine a history course with a teacher talking about the World War and being able to show his students the experience.

To quote our CEO, Walid Sultan Midani in an interview he gave to Wamda a platform of integrated programs that aims to accelerate entrepreneurship ecosystems throughout the MENA region :

“ We can use VR to revitalize something we already have. And for Tunisia this is definitely tourism. So, if you come to Carthage and you put a headset on, with VR or mixed reality, I can make you feel the life of a Carthaginian guy 2,000 years ago. As well as for educational purposes there is also the training of those in various fields, from medical to military. ”

Nowadays, we see more and more games known as “Walking Simulators”, like Homesick, Dear Esther or The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. In my opinion, this designation of “Walking Simulator” is a little bit incorrect. But it is not our main subject. So, welcome to the world of Story Telling Games!

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

It’s true that these kind of games are based on exploration more than anything. We have some interaction with the environment to resolve riddles and puzzles. But the story told by the narrator is extremly immersive. We are dropped somewhere where we have to understand what’s happening to us. And there is this little voices talking to us and helping us to have an overview of the situation. Let’s take the case of The Talos Principle : We are dropped on an island alone, lost and without any indication. And there is this voice that sounds like Zeus’s voice calling us “child”. With its help and with the multiple clues we found all along our adventure, we start building the story and understanding the why and how of things.

The Talos Principle

The Stanley Parable

But what makes such games really immersive and really attractive ? In fact, what I call story games are based on ambiance. Every detail has been designed to make the player be in someone else’s shoes. Video games have this role! And story games perfectly succeed in that. Of course, the game must be a quality game to create such an immersion, and if mastered, the narration can take us far far away from where we are. That’s why generally narrative games are FPS. It increase the immersion and the sensation of what we are in reality : HEROES! (I explained the concept in my previous paper called “What Game should I play Tonight” ).

Everybody’s Gone to Rapture

After every story game (or call it what do you want) I played, I feel reborn! I feel like I’ve never played a game before. That’s the goal for such games. The achievement is not finish the game, but to live it. You need to be focused with every detail, every leaf floating, every note of musique played… Just because it’s in the order of things!

Story games are a new fresh air for the video game industry (most of them are indie games). I urge you to try these kind of games, you’ll not be despointed!

Homesick

Dear Esther

Gone Home

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The Stanley Parable

Finally, our new mobile game came out. Funky Shooter is a success considering the development time. We had hundreds of downloads with the first release in just few days, but what happens after the game release?

We always try to listen to our players’ feedback, and take those feedbacks into consideration to improve the game. We are working on a second release to enhance the game experience. The first release of Funky Shooter was simple with only one rule; kill as many robbers as possible without being shot and without killing hostages. We are aware that’s not enough!

So after the release, the DigiCrew continued working on other projects like Bagra or Belote. But 2 members of our team were focusing on game enhancement by adding some nice game content like a leader board, an achievement board and many other small surprises.

However, Google play is filled with shooter games but what makes us different from other game developers, is the hardcore and addictive aspect of Funky Shooter. Hardcore because of its one death shot concept and addictive by its funky ambiance. The mixture of these two components, created a balance that motivates the player to accept the challenge. And even if the game is addictive, we need to improve it as much as possible to attract a larger number of players.

Enough from Funky Shooter, what about our other indie games?

Bagra is almost ready and the teaser is on its way, this game benefited from a graphical overhaul. As you can see in the picture below, the new homeland is full of colors and environmental details.

Beat The Beats is knowing a huge success. Our Virtual Reality experience is invading all the country, allowing users to be immersed in a new digital world.

As promised, here we are for the our first review of the indie game Ori & The Blind Forest. And what a game! It have been a while that I did not enjoyed such experience. It was a wonderful journey full of emotions. On this, let's detail different aspects of the game.

Graphics

The first thing you say when you start playing is… WAOWWW! how did they manage to create such an atmosphere full of life, colors and animations! And the lighting is just… perfect!!! I’ve never seen such an optimisation for a 3D game… What? It’s a 2D game? Impossible!! It could not be a 2D game!! Nevertheless, and after some researches, it has proved that the game is a 2D game. One of the most wonderful 2D game I’ve ever played. Various environments, each one with a different theme, different flora and fauna.

Music

The music, composed and orchestred by Gareth Coker, fit exactly the context of the game. It reveals the magic all along Ori’s journey. Even in the most stressful moments of gameplay, the music is here to increase the immersion and to remind you that you have done right… you are a hero which has a mission to accomplish. The complexity of the composition is delicious, I felt like the small boy waiting for Santa Claus. Just listen to that preview!

Gameplay

The game is a standard platform game with some innovative gameplay mechanics. It has the same scheme than all the MetroidVania-like. Some locations on the map are unreachable until we unlock a certain skill. That’s why we have many round trips to do to completely finish the game.  

The gameplay mechanics are little bit complex. We have many competences that provide many possibilities to pass the obstacles. We can use the different skills of Ori to make our way. However, once you finish mastering the competences, the gameplay become very nervous and provide a real pleasure with a huge flexibility.

The puzzles and the obstacles are very well thought. The solutions are simple but your dexterity will make the difference. That’s why Moon Studio made Ori really reactive.

The boss fights (which are in reality Ori vs mother nature) are very impressive and very stressful where your reflex are severely tested. The slightest misstep causes death and you have to restart the course from the beginning. Which is, for me, one of the few disadvantages of the game. Sometime you will have to restart the entire course from the beginning again and again just because you missed the last jump.

Story

The story is simple: bad vs good. But the atmosphere, the music and the story telling make you falling in love with Ori. That cute little white fox is endearing. Like all the good people of this world, they have friends and friends are very helpful. I will not spoil the story, but you will enjoy the small story from the beginning.

Game lifetime

To finish Ori & The Blind Forest at 100%, estimate playing 10h. However, you can finish the game without unlocking all the competences and without taking all the orbs (what I’ve done :p). It took me 8h to reach the final cinematic. 8h of pure pleasure!

Global review

Ori & The Blind Forest is magical, is wonderful and it’s a real a breath of fresh air for the 2D games. Moon Studio worked very hard to provide a game with an innovative gameplay and a wonderful level design. All the components fit perfectly with the spirit of the game. The few disadvantages of the game are the difficulties of some passages (you play normally for 1 hour then you spend 30min to pass one obstacle). The other remark is concerning the absence of checkpoint in the “boss fights”. They are very short but repeating the same thing several times just because a small jump makes me hysteric.

Anyway, I recommend Ori & The Blind Forest. You will not regret the journey ;)

Challenge collage by gr8plunder