Happy Birthday to Toraware no Palm (囚われのパルマ)! This mobile adventure by Capcom had its first birthday on 30th August. To celebrate the occasion and to reward all supporters, it offers fans the handsome protagonists’ palms in the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2017 exclusive VR experience!
The experience lasted about ten minutes, but it took two hours to queue. The number of person waiting is limited. Whoever couldn’t get in the line have to wait outside the queuing area and slip in once the staff announces there are a few vacancies. Toraware no Palm is undoubtedly the busiest, most crowded otome franchise at the venue.
For a small booth that accommodates only two players and hidden at the back of Capcom, it is even far better than some of the sizeable booth located in the middle of the venue. The setting mimics an isolated prison, which is exactly the setting of the game. One can tell that this game does not get ignored even it is just a small mobile title in the developer’s line up. It has the recognition it deserves.
After the staff invited us to sit in front of this big prison window, she helped us with putting on the headset and getting everything ready. She also gave a brief introduction as to what to do and how to control during the experience. Overseas comers have no need to worry about not understanding Japanese. Most people there are able to speak simple English. However, the experience is in Japanese only.
Players, aka the heroine, still take the role of the only person who can help the protagonists, Haruto and Aoi, whom suffer from amnesia but somehow get locked up for mysterious reasons. Each trial only allows players to chat with either one of the guy. Their stories and lines are, like before, totally different in this VR adventure. Those who want to chat with both have to queue twice, which is actually extremely time consuming considering the average hours people have to spend on queuing.
We randomly chose Haruto, and he certainly did not disappoint. He started off saying how we haven’t seen each other for a long time and how happy he was to see us again. Although he had a good voice and talked in a soft yet attractive manner, we were instead stunned by how good the graphics were. First, his eyes follow wherever we move our heads. Second, there was fog on the glass when he spoke closely to the glass. These details do make it the most outstanding VR product in the otome game universe.
Interaction-wise, it was TOTALLY not enough. Perhaps it is a short experience made specially for the audience of TGS. Perhaps the producer has never thought about it. It could have been much better if the interactional part is not limited to the occasional three choices for a response in a dialogue. Plus, an in-game character sitting in the same environment listening to someone talking for 10 minutes is quite plain for a VR experience.
VR has made a lot of things possible, like physical movement recognition. Wouldn’t it be nice if they give us the option to show emotion through different actions, such as putting our hands on the glass to show Haruto we miss him, or even handing him presents? The only point where we got to really move our controller was where he asked us to put our hands on his hand. What a waste for a beautifully designed VR game.
To conclude, if Toraware no Palm has to be made into a VR game, it should have been a full game that is almost identical to the original one on mobile, where the players are required to go around places collecting hints, take the initiative to talk with the boys, and touch the boys when dreaming. These contents with high interactionality can truly bring out the fun of VR.
In the promotional trailer below, it says that the VR experience will be officially launched (not sold) on HTC Vive soon. Not much detail has been released so far. Since this game has a large fan base worldwide, Capcom, you should take this profitable chance to perfect the VR port and make it commercial, accessible by the mass public!
