Note: Review copy was generously provided by the developer

Platform: PC

Luna is an interactive puzzle game developed by San Fransisco based independent studio, Funomena, members of which have worked on the massively successful and critically acclaimed title, Journey. A beautifully crafted game with origami-styled animation and absolutely gorgeous critters, Luna is a fairytale brought to life, which you can experience entirely in VR. Check out the Luna Review below

Story

Discover hidden creatures, help the Bird reunite the fragmented Moon

The premise of Luna involves two pivotal characters, a cheery Songbird and an ominous Owl that interact with each other on multiple occasions during the game. The game’s narrative is given exactly as you would be in a children’s fairytale book, however, due to the interactive nature of the game, the experience itself is something only VR can deliver, even though a 2D version of the game is available, the game is meant to be experienced primarily in VR.

The premise is quite simple, the Owl tricks the protagonist of the story, the cheerful Songbird into swallowing the last pieces of a waning moon, the songbird is blown away from its home by a storm and has lost its way, from there on the player guides the songbird which is confused by solving celestial puzzles, creating terrariums, bringing life to hollow little worlds and creating music as the memory of the songbird is brought back by singing life itself into whatever terrarium it visits. Each world the songbird travels to is basically the habitat of an animal, that like the Songbird has been affected by the Owl, the songbird with the help of the player, helps rebuild the habitat.

Themes

The songbird represents a guide that ironically has lost its way, but by helping all the critters in these habitats, the songbird eventually find’s its way home.

Each character is hand-drawn and the animations are gorgeous, while each interaction is similar, there are subtle differences that depend on the animal itself and how it would react to a songbird approaching it. The story is hopeful, motivating and sweet.

Pacing

The pacing is perfect for the game’s length but you can easily miss out on some of the best aspects if you rush it, it is highly encouraged that you take your time with it and absorb the beautiful details of each world. Spending time and making the terrarium alive is very rewarding and essentially the most important aspect of the game itself.

Gameplay

Re-awaken shadowy forests and bring life back to sparkling lakes.

While the gameplay itself is quite simplistic in design, the visual and sound design forces you to give time and take every part of the game slowly. Each world you visit in Luna, have you solving constellation puzzles, where you have to join star lines and create shapes that you would plant in the world after you’ve finished gathering all the pieces that are usually flowers, trees, mushrooms, and bushes.

https://www.thenerdmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Luna-Gameplay.mp4?_=1

The constellation combinations fit only one way, so a little trial and error will eventually get you the shape they represent. After you’re done collecting all the shapes you’ll be presented with a terrarium that feels dead and empty, the shapes you gather are given to you in a toolbox, where you can pick any shape and plant it in the dead and barren world below, you can shape the way your tree looks, you can change the size of the plant, the direction it’s facing and it feels like you’re bringing life back to the said world. This process is truly special and unique because the more time you take with it, the more beautiful and rewarding the world will look like when the songbird has an interactive cutscene at the end of each world with the habitat of the said world.

https://www.thenerdmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Luna-Gameplay-2.mp4?_=2

The puzzles mentioned above aren’t difficult at all, make no mistake, this game is no headscratcher, it’s an interactive experience where you feel like an entity that is carefully leading the bird back where it came from, helping it remember what was taken from it by the Owl. While the game lacks any sort of complexity in how it works, the way it is presented to the user is unique and reminds me of God video games like From Dust developed by Ubisoft.

Controls

The controls of this game are quite simplistic, responsive and don’t take the immersion away, you’re guided how to interact at the start of the game and you can take off from there without putting much thought into it. Its simplistic nature is where the charm comes in, with minimal movement, it’s a meditative experience where even doing less is rewarding enough for you to continue. Especially in VR where you’re essentially playing God and literally gather stardust to create life.

Visuals

From a visual standpoint, the game is absolutely gorgeous, the hand-drawn origami style structures, the blooming animations, the feeling of space when you’re solving celestial puzzles, the interaction between all the critters as you finish beautifying terrariums and the interactive cutscenes that progress the story of this simple but unique fairytale, make Luna a very meditating and refreshing experience which feels alive and organic that can be enjoyed by any age group.

When you’re done beautifying the terrarium, the camera zooms out and you can see the world you created in the form of a snowglobe. Even the level selection menu is beautiful, where you’re presented with the terrariums you have completed and the ones you’ve yet to visit.

Score

The music of this game plays an important role in presenting the world thanks to the composer Austin Wintory, every time you join a star to solve a celestial puzzle, acapella notes are chanted, each small terrarium has it’s own music and interacting with its different structures produce more musical notes. The music progresses, gains momentum every time you’re close to solving a puzzle and you’re rewarded with a beautiful musical section when you’re done with it.

There’s very little I didn’t particularly like about this game, it should be noted that Luna isn’t a gameplay experience but more of a narrative-driven visual experience that puts more focus on you observing and spending time on the world unfolding in front you rather than presenting head-scratching puzzles that have you ignoring everything around you, the game wants you to be immersed in its hand-drawn world, rather than making you want to beat the game as fast as you can. That said, I would’ve liked if there was more variety in puzzles, what you do in the first terrarium is basically what you’re going to do in every terrarium that comes after, it loses it’s impact and becomes slightly repetitive despite being executed so well. While the story itself is sweet, the length could’ve been increased to at least an hour more, but as mentioned earlier, due to a lack of puzzle variety, solving the same puzzles at a slightly harder difficulty would’ve become an absolute chore, it makes sense but I definitely would have liked spending a little more time in the gorgeous world of Luna.

Verdict

Despite its slight shortcomings, Luna is a gorgeous experience filled with cute origami critters, relaxing puzzles and a splendid soundtrack, if you want to live a fairytale in VR or just want to experience a good story, definitely check out Luna.