Conscious Existence - A Journey Within
- June 15, 2019
- Marc Zimmermann
Get on Steam"Conscious Existence - A Journey Within" is an introspective, atmospheric exploration game. The player journeys through a series of abstract landscapes, reflecting on existential questions and exploring the depths of their own consciousness. The game features minimalist design and a contemplative pace, encouraging players to ponder their own place in the universe.
Reviews
- Visually stunning and immersive experience that showcases the potential of VR as an art medium.
- The narration, while polarizing, can be turned off, allowing for a more personal and serene experience.
- A great introduction to VR for newcomers, providing a relaxing and thought-provoking journey through beautiful landscapes.
- The experience is very short (around 12-15 minutes) and lacks interactivity, which may not justify the price for some users.
- Technical issues, particularly with AMD GPUs, can hinder the experience, leading to glitches and poor performance.
- The quality of the narration has been criticized as overly simplistic or annoying, detracting from the overall experience for some viewers.
- graphics74 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The graphics in this VR experience are widely praised for their stunning quality and immersive beauty, often described as breathtaking and on a new level compared to other VR content. While some users noted that certain visuals showed signs of age or lacked depth, the overall consensus is that the visuals are a highlight, effectively complementing the audio and narrative to create a powerful emotional experience. However, a few critiques mention issues with the audio quality and the simplicity of some graphic elements.
“The visuals are stunning and take you elsewhere.”
“The graphics are incredible, the video is really well done, and I have enjoyed showing it off to family and friends.”
“Visuals are epic and awe-inspiring, runs silky smooth even with supersampling cranked up.”
“It's a short stereoscopic movie, or rather a sequence of pre-rendered 3D visuals with added narration.”
“There was no 'journey within' -- graphics are simple, repetitive, and the audio didn't appeal to me.”
“Just a VR movie, not that good in terms of visuals; too bad there's no info about stroboscope-like effects in-game.”
- music26 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as a mixed bag, with some praising its emotional depth and suitability to the visuals, creating an immersive experience, while others find it generic and unremarkable. Many users appreciate the combination of music, narration, and visuals, highlighting it as a key element of the overall artistic presentation, though some suggest improvements like varied soundtracks and better audio balancing. Overall, the music enhances the experience for many, but opinions vary on its memorability and impact.
“The narration is amazing, and when mixed with the visuals and music, it leads you to some heightened emotional states.”
“This is an absolutely masterful combination of beautiful visuals and emotional music for a deeply meaningful VR experience.”
“The music and voice are perfect, and this is a true artistic gift from the creator.”
“Meh music.”
“Music is very generic, and you won't ever want to retry the experience again, because the music is ok, but nothing special like 'Transition VR' or 'Chocolate VR'.”
“It's like a music video for VR, except with mostly this woman, who sounds like a little girl, talking some gibberish.”
- emotional17 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is widely praised for its powerful combination of narration, visuals, and music, which evoke deep feelings and meaningful reflections. Many players report experiencing strong emotional reactions, including tears, and describe the journey as beautiful and touching. However, some reviewers note that the emotional impact may vary depending on individual perspectives and openness to the experience.
“The narration is amazing, and when mixed with the visuals and music, it leads you to some heightened emotional states.”
“Simply beautiful and touching with a meaningful message.”
“This is an absolutely masterful combination of beautiful visuals and emotional music for a deeply meaningful VR experience.”
- replayability7 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is considered to have good replayability, particularly due to its engaging experience and low price point. While some users note its short length, they appreciate features like the option to turn off voice guidance, which enhances replay value. However, there are suggestions for additional tweaks to further improve replayability.
“This experience is infinitely replayable.”
“This is polished but remains rather short, but this doesn't take away from its worth and replay value.”
“They also give you the ability to turn off the voice, so it has some replay value as an unguided meditation.”
“This is polished but remains rather short; however, this doesn't take away from its worth and replay value.”
“The future will reveal the hidden titles that will gain replay value once everyone catches up and experiences them.”
“They also give you the ability to turn off the voice, which adds some replay value as an unguided meditation.”
- story5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Users note that while the audio effectively enhances the storytelling experience, the visuals fall short due to low resolution and pixelation, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the narrative. The interplay between visuals and audio raises questions about which element drives the story more effectively.
“The worst part is that it simply is too low-res to be enjoyable on modern headsets; even on the puny Quest 2, I could see pixelation and notable compression artifacts.”
“The audio portions of this film do very well to round out the storytelling that the visuals are going for.”
“Or do the visuals tell the story?”
- stability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The stability of the app is notably problematic, with users experiencing frequent glitches, stutters, and freezing issues, even on high-end devices. While some users managed to find workarounds, the overall experience remains marred by these technical difficulties, detracting from the enjoyment of the content.
“After spending hours troubleshooting this peculiar problem, I could get the lowest resolution to work inside the app.”
“None of them, even the 2021 flagship, runs the experience without glitches and stutters.”
“I wish I could have been able to show it to my friends and family without ruining it with black box glitches and stutters.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The optimization of the audio-visual performance is highly praised, with users noting that the combination of poetry, music, and visuals is executed seamlessly. The audio alone is considered to push the limits of spatial performance, indicating a well-optimized experience overall.
“Great optimization.”
“The audio alone would have tested the index spatial performance to the max.”
“It's an audio-visual performance piece: a combination of a poem being read aloud with accompanying music and visuals.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers consistently praise the game's atmosphere, highlighting it as a standout feature that enhances the overall experience. The immersive environment contributes significantly to the game's appeal, drawing players into its world.
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is initially amusing, but opinions suggest that it may lose its charm over time.
- gameplay1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The gameplay has been showcased in a full playthrough, although the video was later removed due to a copyright strike. This indicates that the gameplay experience was significant enough to warrant a detailed presentation, despite the subsequent issues with content rights.
