Nature Treks VR
- May 4, 2017
- John Carline
Get on Steam"Nature Treks VR" is a virtual reality exploration game that allows players to discover and relax in various natural environments, such as islands, forests, and oceans. With a variety of wildlife and weather conditions, players can customize their experience and find tranquility in soothing surroundings. The game also includes a meditative soundtrack and interactive elements to enhance the immersive experience.
Reviews
- The game features beautifully crafted environments that provide a relaxing and immersive experience, perfect for meditation and unwinding.
- Players can interact with the environment by planting trees, changing the weather, and exploring various scenic locations, enhancing the sense of creativity and exploration.
- The developer is actively updating the game, adding new environments and improving existing features, which shows a commitment to enhancing the user experience.
- The graphics can be inconsistent, with some textures appearing low-resolution and animal animations feeling stiff and unrealistic, which detracts from immersion.
- The controls and locomotion options can be clunky and unintuitive, making navigation and interaction frustrating for some players.
- There is a lack of content and objectives, leading to a repetitive experience that may not hold players' interest for long periods.
- music44 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its soothing and relaxing qualities, while others criticize the lack of variety and appropriateness for different environments. Many users expressed a desire for more diverse soundtracks tailored to specific settings, as well as options to adjust volume levels or incorporate their own music. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the ambiance, improvements in sound design and customization options are highly requested.
“The music is soothing and not distracting, and if you simply want to hear the sounds of nature, the music can be turned off.”
“Beautiful selection of natural places, calm and relaxing music, tons of stuff to interact with.”
“The music is the cherry on top of the cake, really zen and perfect to just chill.”
“And each of the environments all get the same music... it's fine music but I was really hoping for more appropriate selections for each world, such as more oriental sounding music for Green Bamboo, etc. The sound design needs a lot of work; pretty much all the sounds need to be replaced with much better and longer loops that are more appropriate for the environment they are meant to emulate.”
“The sound design is pretty bad as well—the sound effects sound very stock and 'flat,' and the music gets too loud or annoying at times (I had to turn it off entirely).”
“The music soundtrack that is added can be toggled off - I would have preferred to have an option to reduce the music volume so that the other sounds of birds, etc. are more prominent - though if you wish you can always play your own music in the background at a different volume (via your PC music app, not related to this app).”
- graphics42 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the beautiful environments and immersive sound, while others criticize the poor animation quality and graphical glitches, particularly with animals. Many players note that while certain scenes are visually stunning, there are inconsistencies in texture quality and clarity, leading to a somewhat cartoonish or blurry appearance. Overall, the graphics are seen as a highlight for some, but a significant drawback for others, particularly in terms of realism and polish.
“Wonderful graphics, immersive sound.”
“The graphics are beautiful and there are many scenes to choose from.”
“The graphics: as I said before, they're breathtaking and some of the best in VR right now.”
“Graphics are terrible, animals are animated so badly they ruin it.”
“The graphics are either vague, coarse or just cartoonish and the animation is ridiculously crude and stuttery!”
“Far from immersing you in a realistic virtual environment, you are an observer of poorly imagined, badly animated graphical scenes that disappoint rather than amaze.”
- atmosphere7 mentions
- 71 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its calming and immersive qualities, allowing players to relax and enjoy the surrounding nature, animals, and high-quality sounds. The impressive modeling, animation, and customizable time and weather settings further enhance the experience, making it a recommended choice for those seeking a tranquil VR environment.
“If you build or grow a few things just right, it's an experience where you don't mind just sitting in one place for a few minutes and enjoying the atmosphere.”
“Relax and explore as you surround yourself with nature, observe animals, and take in the atmospheric sounds.”
“The atmosphere is so calming and truly feels like you're there.”
- story7 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game lacks a traditional story or quest-line, offering no clear objectives or narrative, which some players appreciate for its relaxing, chill experience. While the controls can be tricky initially, users eventually find them manageable, making it more of a casual VR space than a story-driven game.
“There is no goal, objective, or story, and I absolutely love that.”
“It is not a game in the story/quest-line sense.”
“It has no story and barely anything to do, but if you want to just chill in VR and relax, then you found your 'game'.”
“There is no goal, objective, or story and I absolutely love that.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the optimization of the game has received mixed reviews. While some players report smooth performance even on minimum spec PCs, others experience significant frame drops and critical performance issues on systems that meet the recommended specifications, indicating a need for further optimization.
“The graphics are well-optimized.”
“Firstly, for anyone concerned about comments that it is not smooth - I have a minimum spec PC (FX8350 CPU & R9 290 graphics) and so far I have seen no stuttering or audio issues.”
“If they could at least linger for a little while and 'fade' over time (as to not kill performance), it would help with immersion.”
“Critical performance issues (massive amount of dropped frames) on a computer that meets spec, badly needs optimization.”
“Critical performance issues (massive amount of dropped frames) on a computer that meets spec, badly needs optimization.”
“I found some posts that a developer put out about 2 years ago saying that this was done on purpose, but any performance drop would be worth being able to have a much more true nature experience.”
- gameplay5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The gameplay in Nature Treks VR is characterized by its focus on exploration and immersion in serene environments, lacking traditional game mechanics or objectives. Players appreciate the freedom of movement and the tranquil experience, though some feel it leans more towards a walking simulator than a conventional game. Overall, it offers a visually stunning experience that encourages appreciation of nature rather than structured gameplay.
“Nature Treks VR removes all the distractions of modern gameplay and allows me to enjoy serene worlds.”
“Love the new environments and free motion mechanics.”
“This isn't a game; there's no gameplay. It's just a bunch of maps you can walk around and say 'wow,' and you will say wow!”
“I mean, even World of Warcraft just put the same mechanic into its game, where there's an item you pick up that spawns butterflies which come land on you.”
- stability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is criticized for having numerous bugs and control issues, including graphic glitches and visual errors such as animals walking through trees. While there are some minor glitches, they do not significantly detract from the overall experience.
“Terrible controls that hardly work, very buggy.”
“There are some graphic glitches and slightly blurred areas.”
“I found a few glitches here and there (e.g. growing new trees in the autumn setting... you don't want green pines and getting stuck in rocks).”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization of the game is heavily criticized, with users feeling it resembles abandonware due to a lack of updates since 2018, leading to perceptions of the developer exploiting players for profit without delivering meaningful content.
“The last time this festering turd of an experience was updated was in 2018, so it's basically abandonware now, with the idle dev doing nothing more to earn the money he is scamming out of poor saps like me who got drawn in by the advertising hype.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers express a sense of emotional disconnect due to the unrealistic scale of animal representations in the game, particularly when compared to real-life experiences at a local zoo. This discrepancy diminishes the emotional impact and immersion for players familiar with the actual size and presence of these animals.
