Perfect

What is Perfect? Perfect is a relaxation sim that allows you to escape to the peace and quiet of an empty beach, the snowy Arctic, or a mountain lake. During the day, you can watch the trees swaying, the snow falling, or a school of fish swirling in the water. At night, you can stare at the moon and the northern lights or look deeply into the fire crackling nearby. From time to time you might see a hang glider taking flight or a shooting star crossing the sky. You can choose day or night for each of the three environments, and each location has three vantage points to visit. Some spots have a camp fire; some are down by the water. Each place has a few interactables, such as snowballs, sticks, rocks, or a lantern. You can pick up and throw all of these items, and the sticks will light on fire for a short period, but that’s about it. While I was tethered to my PC and could not move very far, other reviewers mentioned that only a small space can be explored before a boundary pops up anyway. The simulation is visually stunning. The boulders are mossy, the sun casts shadows of palm leaves onto the sand, and that hot air balloon really stands out. However, trees and mountains in the distance are static, and a fiery stick looks “video gamey” up close. The splashes and ripples the rocks make when you throw them into the water aren’t quite “perfect” either. I didn’t notice any sun or moon movement or a rolling tide, something which you might think would be included here. You will hear a short list of expected sounds across the different environments, like wolves howling in the distance, birds and crickets chirping, and a gentle breeze blowing. You can also turn on a small radio with about 10 very mellow soundtracks to listen to. Other reviewers noted that the swooshing sound when you throw something is comically out of place, but I just expect it in a gaming experience. Since the goal of Perfect is to help you relax, there is not much to actually do. You can’t feed the fish, ride the hot air balloon, take the boats out on the water, or explore the nearby paths and tents. There are some good moments, though, like holding a lit lantern and watching three moths flutter around and land on it. (Perfect was developed with the HTC Vive in mind, and I had some difficulty figuring out the controls for my Oculus Quest. The loading screen does provide one detail at a time about the experience, but it took me at least an hour before I figured out exactly how picking up objects worked. How to teleport to the other vantage points was also not intuitive for me.) While I see more to this experience than you can get in just 10 minutes, Perfect does not offer a robust package; it is more like a good start. Unless what I’ve described is exactly what you are looking for, I could only recommend it at a discount for the short time you might spend with it. Someone else in the Steam reviews recommended Nature Treks VR instead, which does look promising and is at the same price.