Datura

Datura is a game, but most of all an experience. Like a boy scout you walk around in a very peaceful forest which is relaxing. But as you walk along you'll discover that this forest might not be as peaceful as you thought. It does depend on your choices how the game will end, but unfortunately Datura is not very clear about that, so it seems to be a very short game, while there actually are more than ten endings to it.

Datura deserves credit for its refreshing energy and courage to rethink how a game should look and play, but it's difficult to shake the feeling of an extended PlayStation Move demo.

A unique and mysterious experience everyone should give a chance. Its short length and the rather limited Move controls keep it from reaching lofty heights.

Datura suffers from some obvious mechanical issues but remains a very interesting and even unique title. It's short, a little too abstract in some ways, and a tad slow at times, but the quest itself, while not exactly memorable, is always intriguing and even oddly relaxing.

You get the feeling Datura's elusive narrative and moral ambiguity was intended to be the subject of rampant speculation. If only it were complimented by proper tactile feedback, or if the whole detached hand mechanism managed a legitimate grasp of Datura's nebulous constructs, we'd be talking more about Datura as a great game and less as an atrophied experience.

Despite being woefully short and lacking some genuinely challenging puzzles, Datura is still a captivating and unique experience worth checking out.

Despite having this replayability, the two-hour length makes Datura a hard sell at $9.99. Still, I do recommend trying this unusual, unique psychological experience, if only to see what it's all about and to try and figure out what I means to you-even if it is accompanied by overly frustrating, cumbersome controls.

If this sort of game doesn't sound appealing, no one can blame you. Datura is arty, a tad obtuse, and the clumsy Move controls don't make it any more accessible. For more methodical, curious gamers, we recommend you download Datura, and play it with a DualShock. Moments from the game have a way sticking in your mind, calling you in for a replay.

Still, Datura should be celebrated for exploring the immersive, psychological boundaries of video games. Even though it doesn't have a high production value and it's short even for a $9.99 game, its core message is that this is an artform that has the power to have players experience something that other artforms can only dream of.

Every time we solved a puzzle we found ourselves in a totally different locale. Behind the wheel of a car, on a barren surface of ice or right in the middle of an ongoing war. Are they memories? Fantasies? Or is the forest a dream world? And who is that guy with the shotgun?. [June 2012, p.104]

Datura will satisfy those gamers eager and open to new experiences. It is a strange, twisted game, but also a very original one, although only recommended for those wanting to experience something really different that won't necessarily satisfy them.

Datura only takes you about two hours to complete, which starts off by twenty minutes of yelling at the Move controller and fiddling with the unfortunate control scheme. It is then followed by a stroll through an absurd and amazing world, that will create an experience you won't soon forget. An experience, however, filled with non-challenging puzzles.

More of an 'interactive experience' than a game but some shortcomings make Datura hard to really sink into. [July 2012, p.73]

Team Plastic's latest effort is a fine, though flawed, experience for what it is – but it isn't a game. Even played the right way, from your heart, Datura will be for most people a slow journey through a quiet wood.

Just like an oniric experience, new PSN indie's Datura take us in an astonishing journey through beautiful, twisted Lynch, Burton & Poe's forest of different playable experiencies, emotions and sounds. It's a shame that an unfortunate control scheme through PS Move and a really short gameplay ruin what it could've been one of the most surreal and striking games of PlayStation 3.

Undeniably original, but control clumsiness makes this slow-burning curio hard to recommend. [July 2012, p.111]

Short and puzzling in more ways than one. A clunky oddity. [August 2012, p81]

Those with a taste for the unusual will likely enjoy Datura, as it's contemplative and slow and builds surprising tension at times. But ultimately, it's just an interesting yet flawed experiment. [Aug 2012, p.86]

Ultimately, Datura comes across as more of a fragmented, artsy homage to Sony's magic wand, rather than a genuine source of entertainment... and for most gamers, entertainment is boss.

Datura is an interesting experiment in game design. Not quite sure whether it wants to be a piece of interactive art, or an adventure game, Datura stands on the fence in-between. Lofty, gorgeous and almost Lynchian in its narrative and exposition, it slightly fails at actually being a good game. Whether Datura will be judged as proof that games are art, or that arty games can be created, it's worth taking a look at, at least for its uniqueness.

This very much makes Datura a game of two halves; on the one hand it's imaginative, beautifully rendered, and strives for a rare degree of uniqueness. On the other, it's an experience marred by mechanical shortcomings and over-ambition, with Move implementation that frustrates as much as it inspires awe.

Datura's premise is fascinating, but the game fails to deliver because of some poor controls (both with Move or Dual Shock), lack of content and lots of invisible walls to deal with.

I would really like to say that Datura is an exceptional game. An experiment that will unleash a storm showing a new way for story evolution in gaming. That's not the case - the game misses it's goal. But still it's an interesting take on the adventure genre, games in general and narration.

Datura holds very little challenge and has technical issues, but even in the face of these problems it's a title that is worth experiencing for its distorted narrative alone. It may not be an entirely great game, but it is at the least a push in a different direction and a breath of fresh air that makes you think – and for that, as more and more games fall victim to conformity, it deserves praise.

An hallucinating trip between life and death, reality and the darkest reaches of mind. Similar to Myst or Riven, Datura puts the player in a strange silent world where the only way to escape is interacting and learning with the environment. With only two hours of gameplay, control issues and some rude mechanics, this game is what we call a missed opportunity.

Datura just doesn't seem to go far enough, offering just a quick dip into occasional oddity instead of a full-on baptism in the truly peculiar. Even its most attention-grabbing moments can come across as a little dull. With gimmicky motion elements, threadbare puzzles, and a ghost's whisper of a narrative, Datura ends up as an underwhelming experiment.

While it's short there is some interesting imagery (although visually the polish varies between adequate and woefully poor) and with an open mind it's a fascinating experience you'll mull over for a while.

It truly is a shame that Datura doesn't have stronger gameplay. In this medium, gameplay is and always will be king, and no matter how awesome everything else is about a title like Datura, if it doesn't control well, you have to question whether it's worth playing at all.

Datura demonstrates that the surreal can be just as frustrating as the real world.

Datura is very special, but not a successful experiment. The award-worthy concept falls prey to problems with the controls and the absence of a clear line in the experience. The game obviously wants to be placed among games like Flower and Journey, but simply doesn't do enough well to live up to those experiences.

Reasonably solid Move implementation will appeal to those desperate to try to justify a purchase of the hardware, but nobody else should bother with it.

We have to praise the artistic enterprise and the search for something different, even if the execution is poor.

Extremely short, and despite the existence of choices that shape the forest, Datura isn't gripping enough for a replay.

It's better with Move because it was made for it. It's not, though, reason enough to buy one. But if you do have Sony's under-supported device stuffed in a drawer, Datura is a flawed experiment that's worth a look if only because it reaches towards - and occasionally touches - something that feels genuinely fresh.

Datura fails in a lot of areas: The world is small, the interaction limited, playing time is rather short and controls are sloppy. Nonetheless the game paints some interesting pictures.

Truly a bad trip.

Neat arty ideas but terrible controls and a lazy narrative undermine the gameplay. [Aug 2012, p.79]

Datura reeks of under-utilised and squandered potential, making the end result even more disappointing. If you're looking for a moving and immersive title to add to your collection Datura isn't it. Spend your money on Journey instead.

Sony, again, proves itself as a publisher willing to treat itself to some unconventional and outright anti-commercial games. In this regard I would love offer the best of compliments to Datura and Plastic – too bad that I can´t think of a single one.

A short, confusing, and unfulfilling adventure.

Datura seems like your typical, interesting indie experience. But the truth is : it's as painful to play as it is unsatifying in terms of story and puzzle-solving. The two hours of puzzle solving and unbelievably slow walks in the forest are mainly spent on trying to make sense of the PS Move horrible gameplay than the game itself.

Datura wanted to be an adventure, but its control prevents it from succeeding.

The visuals are amazing but the game's moral quandaries are impossible to care about without any context, let alone any decent gameplay or controls.