Thank you Oasis Games for sending us this title to review!

Dying Reborn is playable with or without VR on the PS4 and can be experienced on the go with the Vita. Each version is priced differently and does not support crossplay. The PS4 and Vita versions have six chapters while the PSVR one has only three. The PSVR version has a Teen rating while the other two are rated Mature. There isn’t much of a story other than your poorly voice acted character named Matthew is looking for his sister, Shirley. After receiving a letter from her asking for help he finds himself trapped in a room with a killer headache. There are three escape room scenarios in the PSVR version with the first one requiring you to figure out how to leave your room/cell. The creepy atmosphere is done really well with dirty clothes and cockroaches on the floor, faded pictures and paintings on the wall, and the total absence of bright colors. By exploring your surroundings, you’ll find items like coins, keys, torn pieces of paper, and broken tools that can be used to open up stuck drawers and locked doors for even more clues.

Like any good adventure game, you’ll have to figure out various safe combinations and play a song (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) on a miniature piano. Some of the combinations were easier to figure out than others and I’m grateful for the various YouTube videos and written walkthroughs available online.

If you’re good at solving the riddles or following guides, you can complete this game in an hour or less. The story isn’t that great and upon completing this game I was left with more questions than answers. Other versions of the game have six sections so perhaps they flesh out the story better than the PSVR one.

Though the environment sets the stage, the game falls apart everywhere else. While exploring the rooms, I can’t help but feel like I’m a giant with the mixed sized proportions of the objects and doors. Finding items to take and interact with is easy to do and the interface works well enough. I did notice some incomplete puzzles since the PSVR version is a bit different than its counterparts.

Throughout the game the “guides” will communicate with Matthew via TV or radio. Their voice acting jobs are decent enough, but the main character’s lines are emotionless. Even the cussing isn’t very believable. The background music and loading music are drastically different and don’t mesh together very well.

Like many horror games, the purpose is to scare you. There are some weird and loud noises, bugs, mold, and grime everywhere. I don’t recall much blood, but there is a human heart that you have to interact with.

If you like adventure or survival/horror games, Dying Reborn may be worth checking out on a sale. For better story cohesion, I recommend getting the fuller and longer experience instead of the sliced and diced PSVR version. The regular version of the game is double the price, but I have seen it on sale for $8.