At its heart, Fujii is a game about exploring and gardening in equal places. It rotates a loop that allows players to experience different plant life forms in all three different biomes, and then they return to their home garden to plant the different seeds they found there. The experience takes players on a serene adventure through a series of green biomes; it is designed as a quiet, musical experience, making them available to performers of all kinds.
We have a strong passion for cathartic energy and healing for the medieval experience, and to achieve that one of our basic Fujii goals was to make a place for ourselves that incorporates these kinds of feelings. Fujii's areas rely heavily on the art of placing water – in fact, an underwater garden. The beautiful, free flowing life of aquatic plants became an invaluable foundation, and in time Fujii's land came to be somewhere between earth, sea and land, with plants growing and flowers blooming in different and exciting ways.
Fujii is set in a living world that is initially trapped in darkness, almost unhealthy and powerful. As the player comes out to find their way through this darkness, they bring light and color to the world as they always do. The bright gems, harvested from plants, allow the user to develop and explore three of their unique biomes.
One aspect that we are most proud of is Fujii's title match. While the VR experience often made users feel confused – or, worse, sick – our goal was to create a locomotion system that empowers players, while being the most terrifying in the world. The system that came up with it uses a physics-based teleportation system, using a ball-like parabola to highlight the user's intended location. It's something the team has spent a lot of time mimicking, and we think it makes the basic act of traveling the world of Fujii beautiful and fun.
The game also builds on the connection between music and the natural world, with the sound of a great sound embedded in the experience itself. Plants emit music sounds and notes as they grow, and they often require some kind of “music garden” to blossom fully. The songs respond to the player's actions, and blossom as the player improves with each biome.
In the end, Fujii's home garden is a possible destination for players to create their own, primarily by planting and growing seeds from plants they have found around the world. These anonymous characters can be planted almost anywhere in the user's home environment to create unique card gardens, which can be changed and updated at any time.
Fujii will be available tomorrow at the PlayStation Store for $ 14.99.
