After a deafening silence that had almost made us forget about its existence - and after the change of the leading actress and other performers - on the stage of the Gamescom 2019 the final trailer for Erica, interactive film exclusive to PlayStation 4. However the boys of FlavourWorks e London Studio they wanted to surprise us definitively, and on the same stage in Cologne their immediate availability to the public was announced. Clearly we did not let the opportunity pass and we catapulted on this particular Sony experiment, finally finding ourselves pleasantly impressed. We are certainly not talking about the product of the year, but in any case we find ourselves talking about the umpteenth bet won by the Japanese company, which with the series of titles PlayLink it is gaining more and more acclaim from the public and critics. But let's proceed step by step, and immerse ourselves in the dark and enigmatic world of Erica.
Erica's story is also ours
The story of Erica is a continuous riot of connections with the girl from present and the little girl of past, where the latter suffered a strong trauma that marked her throughout her life. Without wanting to go into too much detail to avoid spoilers, since being an interactive film the real experience will lie in discovering the whole plot step by step, we only tell you that it seems that the young girl has some particular skills, inherited from his late mother. The story continues giving us the opportunity not only to make some choices by "guiding" our protagonist, but is also enriched with numerous interactive elements, in the true sense of the word: using the touchpad of the Dualshock 4 (which finally finds great use) or the Companion App "Erica App PS4”Downloadable for free from the stores of your smartphone, we will have to interact in some ways with our hands to carry out certain actions, as if we were inside the film. So here we are to give life to the flame of a lighter, to clean a fogged glass, or to turn a key with our fingers. Clearly the choices in style are predominant crossroads, on the basis of which we will choose one "way" inevitably precluding another, but also the choices concerning our responses and our actions, which are also decisive for the unfolding of the story (attention, silence is also an answer).
These branches in any case they don't seem overly branched (let's breathe a sigh of relief, it's not a smoothie of events like Bandersnatch ed.) and therefore the scrolling of all the events will be absolutely linear and free from heaviness, but above all without having to struggle too much to discover new paths during the runs following the first.
Mind you, this is a film in all respects, and consequently there is no single run that gives you all the answers. It will therefore be a pleasure to replay the title to discover the various facets of the plot that unfolds between doubts and tension. A single run and its duration is equivalent to watching a movie, therefore we advise you to play it all in one go (it will be possible to pause and go back to the main menu, but not select scenes, go back and things like that). We also remind you that the title also presents i trophies, so replaying Erica several times will also be fun not only to unlock all possible combinations, but also to add a platinum trophy to your board, without too much effort.
The Delphic Oracle
Erica's plot is based on dark and esoteric shades, without missing the standout dualism of many scenes that tend to communicate peace of mind, very colorful and peculiar (also thanks to the setting chosen to create the Delphi House founded by Erica's father). The thriller pace of the film is fluctuating, enough to leave the side uncovered to some flaw in the script. By force of circumstances, also due to the factor linked to choices and interaction, the tension arising from situations manages to weigh down the air, but never to establish real terror. The anguish, on the other hand, is palpable, and strong is the rendering of some scenes, even quite bloody. The nearly XNUMX-year-old English actress Holly Earl (Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands; Humans; Cuckoo) is the young woman who plays the protagonist Erica Mason. In his first appearance in a video game (even if, in actual fact, he has done nothing but act as always) he performs more than well, a very good interpretation that also bodes well for the future of his career. The entire cast performed discreetly, with only a few flaws in the approach shown by a couple of key characters (which we won't reveal).
We certainly do not cry out for a miracle, but the production in its entirety manages to hit the point: an all in all intriguing plot that runs smoothly (despite the changes of pace) up to the credits keeping us glued to the screen, a sense of belonging given by the interaction and our personal choices, and a really low price (only € 10) comparable easily to that of a movie night, but at home. The only drawback could lie in the effort, perhaps excessive, in creating empathy with the protagonist, a characteristic that would have taken this interactive film to an even higher level. After all, good the first.
