Everything (Playstation 4)

Geoffrey Wright | March 21, 2017 | Review | No Comments

Ever wanted to see the world from a different point of view? How about as a grain of sand or even a space probe billions of miles away? Well, in Everything you can because you can be everything there ever was or is. As bonkers as it sounds, Everything is an experience like no other.

With a plasticine like world and soothing audio, Everything is an experience that you could easily get lost in, if you just give it a chance. Let me take you on a journey through my first few hours in Everything.

Everything is a life simulator that takes place is a procedural, AI driven world that allows players to experience how the systems of nature work. More importantly, you see the systems from the points of view of different things within the world. Before beginning my journey in Everything I honestly had no idea what I was expecting, so when I started as a cow I must admit I was lost from the go. I continued my journey rolling around the world speaking to things that inhabited it. This ranged from rocks to trees and it was very surreal but that was just the beginning.

The game has not set goals for you but in the beginning there are some markers in the world that you must seek out as these help you advance the mechanics of the game. This is when the game becomes interesting. You are introduced to the idea that you can move from one thing to another going from our visible world all the way down to that of an atom. The same happens going the other way with interesting results when you reach the maximum ascension.

To move from thing to thing requires a little work prior to it happening and this is done through singing. Everything has a voice even the smallest of rocks and as you communicate in the world, more and more things become unlocked allowing you to move around freely. As you reach either highest or lowest point of the current viewpoint you can move up or down a level to a new magnification. This is strange to experience as, for example you can go as low as a ladybug then move on below it. You could be a pollen molecule and see a giant ladybug above you! Everything is in perspective of what you are.

And that is pretty much it for Everything. From here the game just turns into a task of collecting everything. Scattered through the vast galaxies are many planets filled with even more things to find but the great thing is that it doesn’t matter what you are, you all come from the same things & that there are worlds within worlds. I believe this is what everything wants to teach you especially when you start finding talks from the British American Philosopher Alan Watts. His talks discuss many ideas about life, nature, existence and how we interpret the world. These are scattered throughout Everything and as you listen to them you can start to make sense of what is going on in this interactive experience. It is very absorbing and I did feel trapped within Everything but I did not want to let go. And even though this is a relaxing experience you do get a sense of excitement when you discover a new world to explore. At time you feel silly rolling around as a cow or gliding the oceans as an island but you do feel yourself getting wiser as you play. I would not call myself a deep thinker but Everything does a great job at drawing you into the philosophy of life.

This may be a downfall of Everything as some gamers like everything on a silver platter served to them throughout the game. Everything is a deep experience that makes you ask questions about life and even your existence to be honest.

Everything is going to appeal to two types of people. Deep thinkers and obsessive collectors. For me it is the latter but I do enjoy listening to the talk whilst floating around as star dust as they are very relative to what I am doing. It is an experience like none other and can be hard to explain. Seriously, did you look up confused when I said I started as a cow rolling around the world? I am sure you did but if you give the experience a little time you may find something that is strangely satisfying that you will keep on coming back too.