This is a very important question to answer not only for this experience but for every VR experience that I will hopefully design.
My story is comprised of three acts. The first one is located in Morty’s house, it is night time and the general mood is depression and frustration. The second act is located in Morty’s brain and it is a dream. The mood is adventurous with a touch of surrealism in the concept of time and the characters and the visuals. The final act is located in Morty’s house, it is day time and the mood is jolly – huge contrast with act1.
Act 2 – the Dream takes up most of the storytime even though dreams usually last a few seconds. The dream is very realistic, Morty thinks it is real, and therefore the depiction must be vivid. VR is a very good medium to depict dreams because the player is able to live the dream as vividly as the character dreaming of it. My story is written in 3rd person POV however the player only experiences the story from Morty’s point of view – just not through Morty’s eyes-. Therefore virtual reality allows the player to live the dream as vividly as Morty experiences it without needing the player to embody Morty.
VR also allows the change of scenes through portals and therefore allows the designer to make a big contrast between dreams and reality. The dreams are still able to feel “real” to the player without needing to be realistic.
VR also works very well with the concept of time in my story. The concept of portals in the experience allows the player to understand that there is not only a change of location but also a change in the speed of time. In other words, it makes the experience flexible in the flow of time. Portals allow for entering flashback scenes, they also allow for entering future scenes, they also allow for entering slow speed scenes in respect of time etc.
Portals also help in the concept of space. As mentioned previously space is a complicated concept in my story. We got space as in Morty’s house, space as in Morty’s subconscious/imagination, Space as in the actual locations in the dream, Space as in how the player understands the space around them, and more. Similar to the concept of time, portals make the concept of space flexible. The change of locations through portals is a transition that “makes sense” to use when the change of space/location is a big one. E.g. from Morty’s real room to Morty’s dream. Portals make the transition subtle.