The "interactive film" genre is probably the most shunned genre in the world of video games. What's the point of playing if it's just to watch? However, the genre accumulates new works and finds more and more its audience. Erica, available exclusively on PlayStation Store, seems to be part of them. Is it a good game then? Answer in these lines. Erica is a young girl who has experienced many traumas, including the brutal death of her father killed by a psychopathic killer when she was little. Receiving a mysterious package containing a medallion bearing a symbol that will plunge her back into her anxieties, the girl will agree to be placed in Delphi Manor, a strange psychiatric institution while the case progresses slowly. But nothing will go as planned… A story that we could have already seen several times in the cinema, but which has the merit of proposing this time the point of view of a young girl. Let's not sulk our pleasure… 
A cinematographic work above all!
When we mention "investigation" and "psychiatry", it is impossible not to refer to Shutter Island, the literary work of Dennis Lehane adapted by Martin Scorsese and from which Erica seems to be well inspired. Yet Erica 's direction seems to act as a direct response to Black Mirror: Bandersnatch which brought the interactive thriller to Netflix for the first time. Because what differentiates Erica from other interactive films is its staging: it is truly a film for the cinema! Erica is therefore a Full Motion Video, the genre of video games that is severely criticized for its poor acting and convoluted scenarios. Few have managed like Phantasmagoria and The Bunker to create a real atmosphere despite their flaws. The Flavourworks "game" is fortunately part of them! All the interest of the game is based on its atmosphere that alternates nightmarish sequences and investigation phases. To put it simply, the realization of the game is very successful! The actors are very convincing, especially Holly Earl in the title role. The colorimetry, editing and framing are very neat, further reinforcing this permanent tension and this omnipresent feeling of danger for the girl. The atmosphere is then a real masterstroke in this establishment made up of young women among others. When we discover the game, the shadow of Dario Argento's Suspiria seems to hover. To write, however, that Erica 's script borders on the masterpiece would only be utopia. All this is not very original too. Nevertheless, the story is well crafted and promises a very convincing experience to the player. We are really in the script of a film in the smallest of its structures. The discovery of the main character, the presentation of the protagonists and the arrival of the emblematic place as an initiatory journey towards dementia and the supernatural. 
So what about the gameplay?
Is Erica perfect? Not really because he finally forgets what he is above all: a video game. By offering herself in the catalog of Play Link games of the PS4, Erica completely impoverishes her gameplay. Like Supermassive Games' Hidden Agenda , the game is played entirely on a mobile phone with the application offered by Sony. For those who do not have one, it can still be played with the controller but only using the touchpad. The lack of using all the possibilities of the controller is sorely felt. You slide your finger to clean an object, open a box or interact with a character. Some of these interactions even end up slowing down the pace of the game, due to the sensitivity of a touch screen. It is true that the interactive film has always been the subject of debate around its very limited gameplay. However, many games still offered a little bit to remind that it is a video game above all. Hidden Agenda never left any downtime and forced you to think and choose at the same time, without immediately understanding the consequences. Late Shift ran on a choice system reminiscent of multiple-choice questions that never slowed down the game. The Delphi Manor pushes so much to exploration as its atmosphere is deliciously unhealthy that we are quickly frustrated. Neither puzzles, nor collectibles, nor explorations to reinforce the history of the place while we really want to dive back into it. Unfortunately Erica has to live in one go. One to two hours of play are enough to see the end. And don't expect to change any of your choices. If you quit the game, you will resume immediately the second you stopped! 
Once but not twice?
This is precisely what is quite paradoxical in the work of Flavourworks: to live in one go while the plot reveals all its secrets in several parts. To explain, the game sometimes offers you to choose sequences in which you will spend time with patients of the institution. You will not be able to know all the subtlety of the other characters or answer some questions around the Delphi Manor if you only do one course. It is regrettable that there is no selection of chapters. Another detail: everything is linked so quickly that the game rushes into some scripted facilities and does not avoid certain clichés. The situations then seem to be telephoned and can be quite inconsistent. Especially since we are forced to undergo certain events of history without really knowing how since the chosen route has told us nothing. For example, a character becomes more or less nice to you as the story progresses. But how can we attach ourselves to him if we have not really exploited him? 
Erica is only experienced during your first and last game. The first for the discovery and the second for the finality! The other parts feeding the pieces of the puzzle can quickly become boring… Of course, you are free to dive back into the investigation a second time. The real problem with the game is that it forgets to be a video game. With its limited gameplay, the charm of the game lies in its atmosphere, its story and its very clean realization. So not everything is to be thrown away. Erica will surely attract moviegoers and movie lovers but will scare away real gamers. Why not offer it in streaming in the manner of Black Mirror ? Let's not sulk our pleasure especially for the price of a cinema ticket. Nevertheless, we wish him success.
Trailer: Erica
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XiO8fFbmVg
