Virtual Reality Reviews

[Surefoot]

I believe that games like HL: Alyx, Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice (mind blowingly beautiful game !! And excellent VR port !) will push the limits enough to warrant a beefier GPU, and DCS, FS 2020 will make me fork out the cash for a 3090 when it's out. 2k x 2k per eye arent going to play nice with lower cards, and to maintain 90fps at that resolution means having the best possible setup.
(edit) that also means the 2080Ti will come down in price... This one is still a beast.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

I'll leave this here... Reverb 2 certainly really looks like the VR 2.0 for my needs.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1277610633106788353

 

[Surefoot]

Cant wait for it.. Think the vid above will not fairly represent the sharpness of a 2Kx2K screen.

 

[VR Golgot]

Review: Quanero 2 - System Release

This is a very neat freebie. It features 4 scenes which you can rewind, replay, and move amongst, tagging possible clues in an emerging future crime as you go.

Much prettier than the previous one, with a more obvious narrative backdrop (it’s an unfinished larger project ultimately). The dialogue, voice overs, animations, and nefarious plot are all a major step up, if still punching above their budget roots rather than totally hitting top quality. Very cool to ghost around these living scuzzy and shiny scenarios though.

I liked the detective system and the summaries back at your base, but it did feel like some of the time windows for the incident tags were a bit off, or eccentric at points, leading to some "this is really suspicious, let me tag it!" moments as you wrestled with the system. (Not sure if I’ll 100% it on those grounds). Very cool to move amongst and play around with though.

Can only really recommend it as an experience ultimately, due to the unfinished nature of it, but it's a pretty damn fine one for a free student project!

Source: https://youtu.be/JNl48j_3A7I


3.5 ++

--

Ok so I did good with my 'big money' buys in the Steam sale

First Look: The Under Presents

What to say. Eclectic mix of a shared puzzle space (with Journey style online), and a 'rewind time' / 'hear all the conversations' mystery in a bottle similar to the Invisible Hours at the heart of it.

Think I enjoyed the shared puzzle solving (and mutual confusing) the most, with its magical masks. The mystery is pretty slickly done too though. (I just wasn't totally sold on how they used their finger-clicking mechanic to force you to zone in on the mystery-world conversations. It was effective, but slightly annoying in practice).

Ironically the 'distend the world' teleportation technique was borderline nauseous, but it was trippy too, so I stuck with it. Damn difficult to get around tight corners with though...

On balance, I enjoyed Virtual Virtual Reality by the same guys, and this is a fresh twist with similar experimental beats.

And as others have said, best to go in knowing as little as possible. That said, one of their mysteries won't be supported for much longer, so here's a SPOILER

SPOILER

Source: https://youtu.be/Z_HrOkZYbtQ

Source: https://youtu.be/jvTQo_4EujA

Spoiler

There are live actors in certain shared shards, nudging you towards certain realisations about the game mechanics

First Look: Windlands 2

Source: https://youtu.be/bzjZtxlAeUw


Enjoying this more than the first one. Partially because I've got my VR legs these days, and could spend the time getting the 'swoosh around things' (rather than swoosh into things) going, and get my momentum up. And partially because there's a bit more shape and direction to it. But mainly because of the boss battles. (The fact that you could die but keep your hits felt a bit odd, but also welcome, given you're trying to score aerial bow hits )

If nothing else, even the basic act of low-gravity jumping to a new spot feels grand in VR. Still not totally sold on the 'find 10 things' areas, but when I actually chained some decent paths around the green grabby-bits, or figured out a way to path to a tricky area, it all felt pretty ace. Nailing an air shot in the boss battles, having done a momentum-switch spin, is the best bit though

---

EDIT: I've hit a killer 'tree climbing' bit that's got me rage-quitting now tho

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzbQKQXX4N4&t=1m12s

 

[VR Golgot]

First Look: Djinni & Thaco

Source: https://youtu.be/-7q3IobK_Qs


Enjoyed this tower defence demo, with its daft medieval sports commentary, and 4 gestural spells to ward off the oncoming knights and elves.

The sandstorm slow-spell seems like the most tactical of the earlier ones. (Even though all of them seem to have pretty weak-sauce impacts compared to the towers. But they do allow you to chip away at tanky types, and shield-bearing dwarf mages and such).

Breezed through the 2 free levels, but it was on normal difficulty. And I was still figuring out how to make fire come out of my finger...

Pretty slickly presented on the whole. If a bit too in love with its own comedy narrative. But hey you can skip it



Review: Extreme Escape

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5uCloku-pM


Very short, but nicely done, 'escape the descending weather balloon' scenario. I really don't know what to say about it. It was £5. I got 45 minutes of minor puzzling and minor peril out of it.

I enjoyed the vertigo of clambering outside the balloon to identify issues for sure. But ultimately, I spent the first 5 minutes not getting the teleport to work, and just mooching around looking at tools, and still survived. There's not really much challenge to it, or much replay value. But yeah... the setting and the dangling around outside. That was all cool. The experience being this short just means 25% of it was spent placing tools in and out of holsters. Robs it of a fair bit of impact...

3.5--

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

I just preordered a Reverb G2. Rift will be sold pretty soon...

 

[VR Golgot]

Review: Red Matter

The biggest selling point here is that the game looks absolutely spectacular at points. This almost can't be over-emphasized. The Soviet-era architecture is a wonderful setting (and even turning over tiny wooden astronauts in your future claws is all good too). There were times when I was gawping around, as I adjusted some laser puzzle, genuinely feeling like I was in some Bond villain's lair

Every other gravity-defying hop it takes falls short though unfortunately.

The setting is undercut by the woeful pastiche of oppressive Soviet culture throughout, which was never witty or insightful, just fired out of a blunderbuss at you. (In pellet form, via the tortuously-slow text of your translation device)

The locomotion system fitted well enough with the lugubrious tone, with its 'low gravity leap' version of teleportation. And when deployed for minor puzzles it was effective. The walking scheme felt like a late addition though, and although preferable for getting about, was remarkably slowwwwww.

This may be a personal thing, but I also find walking sims with simmering danger in the background kind of annoying. If there's a hanging menace, give me occasional action sequences to actually tackle or dodge the danger. Without that catharsis all those ominous musical scores and sudden sound effects, no matter how effective, just get a bit wearing. I did find tracing the stories of some of the protagonists, to explain parts of the environmental ire, effective on that score, and the game did build towards some slightly active sequences. But earlier sections were a trial on that front.

The biggest negative of this game though is that the majority of the puzzles just... weren't... great. There were a few highlights towards the end, with some grand sets and a few neat wrinkles. But the vast majority were of a 'find tab A for slot B' tier. With one notable wild leap in difficulty (some form of number substitution puzzle that I had to cheat on).

The 'horrer-esque' twist in the storyline, and the powerful aesthetic, mean it's worth pushing on through. But really at points, it was more a case of 'let's get this done and see the next bit', rather than a challenging search for a eureka moment, which is what you really want from puzzle scenarios.

Worth the ride ultimately at 3hrs. But if you visit this planet, go mainly for the views...

3_5---

 

[VR Golgot]

Review: The Under Presents

This is a pretty magical use of VR.


Story Time:

I've now finished the 'murder mystery' storyline at the heart of it. This bit is really easy to explain...

You're a ghostly presence on a boat journey, listening in on all the conversations, trying to piece together what's happening. Occasionally able to steer events through witnessing them, and capable of the odd intangible act, you eventually start taking jaunts into the protagonists' minds...

Although the first act was pretty prosaic initially (and the act of 'clicking' to make characters coalesce more like busy-work than fun), it proved to be full of onion layers to peel back, rewarding return visits once you've reached the 'end' of the tale.

There's a fey-ness to the overall story arcs that won't be to everyone's taste, but as the magic-realism stepped up, and you suddenly found yourself in someone's distant memory of Cuba, it become a very diverting nest of worlds indeed...

There's some repetition here, as you make sure a conversation is definitely relevant (the 'witness list' can be a bit glitchy), or re-tackle a dream-sequence puzzle. And if I was to aim a real barb at the whole thing, it's that the puzzles themselves are pretty uneven, and the opaqueness of the weaker ones can be more frustrating than challenging. This is exacerbated by failure dumping you out of the whole story mode, a 'loop of shame' which isn't ideal.

The sheer wonder and whimsy of the better transitions washes a warm sunshine glow over the experience as a whole though.


A Journey With Strangers:

When not in the story realm, you pace around a mysterious multiplayer zone. There's a structured introduction, as a grand compère leads you into its grubby cabaret folds. And he'll pop up again at unexpected moments. But you're left foraging through its abandoned sand dunes with other players... trying to figure out its many mysteries.

I've spent hours in this bit, and I like it a lot, but I'm no closer to understanding what the hell is going on . Echoes of the story mode are buried like fossils, cabaret acts serenade you, while silent online companions tutor you in the flexible magic system for summoning items. (I'm very good at producing salt cellars...)

I'm not sure if I'll pursue it all the way to its conclusion, but I have enjoyed the free-flow co-op, and pursuing personal lines of investigation. (And refreshingly there's some silly physics 'sandboxing' potential here too, which the storymode denies you in the main, as its 'jellified' interactions with props have no real impact on the whole).

I find some of the more end-game recipe memorisation a bit much. But I'll see if I can't have a proper session of unlocking some of its more perplexing aspects. Or at least figure out what the cheese mask is for...


What's the Secret Sauce?

There's a blend of successful techniques from other games here. From the miniaturised diorama prodding, to the Journey-style multiplayer (with bonus hand gestures and body language emoting), to the magic realism twist on the 'rewind time' murder mystery.

Not all experiments can work. Ironically the 'distend the world' teleportation technique was borderline nauseous at first, but it was trippy too, so I stuck with it. And other downsides are familiar from their prior game, Virtual Virtual Reality. Circling back to retry an impenetrable section is not always that ideal...

At its heart though, I think these guys just understand VR's power to transport...

4-

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Review: Red Matter

The biggest selling point here is that the game looks absolutely spectacular at points. This almost can't be over-emphasized. The Soviet-era architecture is a wonderful setting (and even turning over tiny wooden astronauts in your future claws is all good too). There were times when I was gawping around, as I adjusted some laser puzzle, genuinely feeling like I was in some Bond villain's lair

Every other gravity-defying hop it takes falls short though unfortunately.

The setting is undercut by the woeful pastiche of oppressive Soviet culture throughout, which was never witty or insightful, just fired out of a blunderbuss at you. (In pellet form, via the tortuously-slow text of your translation device)

The locomotion system fitted well enough with the lugubrious tone, with its 'low gravity leap' version of teleportation. And when deployed for minor puzzles it was effective. The walking scheme felt like a late addition though, and although preferable for getting about, was remarkably slowwwwww.

This may be a personal thing, but I also find walking sims with simmering danger in the background kind of annoying. If there's a hanging menace, give me occasional action sequences to actually tackle or dodge the danger. Without that catharsis all those ominous musical scores and sudden sound effects, no matter how effective, just get a bit wearing. I did find tracing the stories of some of the protagonists, to explain parts of the environmental ire, effective on that score, and the game did build towards some slightly active sequences. But earlier sections were a trial on that front.

The biggest negative of this game though is that the majority of the puzzles just... weren't... great. There were a few highlights towards the end, with some grand sets and a few neat wrinkles. But the vast majority were of a 'find tab A for slot B' tier. With one notable wild leap in difficulty (some form of number substitution puzzle that I had to cheat on).

The 'horrer-esque' twist in the storyline, and the powerful aesthetic, mean it's worth pushing on through. But really at points, it was more a case of 'let's get this done and see the next bit', rather than a challenging search for a eureka moment, which is what you really want from puzzle scenarios.

Worth the ride ultimately at 3hrs. But if you visit this planet, go mainly for the views...

3_5---

I think the cold war and the 60s are one of the most underutilized themes these days. When executed right, I do really love such games and it is a shame we don't get more of it.

This below is to this day is my favorite indie title and I played it through at least twice, not only because of its gameplay (was good), but because of its great art. I wish this was released on PC.

 

[VR Golgot]

I think the cold war and the 60s are one of the most underutilized themes these days. When executed right, I do really love such games and it is a shame we don't get more of it.

This below is to this day is my favorite indie title and I played it through at least twice, not only because of its gameplay (was good), but because of its great art. I wish this was released on PC.

Definitely an era rich in tone

What I liked a lot about Red Matter was I felt like I was in Buzludzha...

Some fun VR titles touch on some of the Cold War aspects, if not the Soviet art-style as such, are these guys:

Source: https://youtu.be/2wtVrEyZWcA

Source: https://youtu.be/vedFA8yXr2Y

Source: https://youtu.be/2_xfSeEbXi0


I’d imagine you know IEYTD (and damn is that Saul Bass intro it has something else...), but the other two are hidden indie gems

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Definitely an era rich in tone

What I liked a lot about Red Matter was I felt like I was in Buzludzha...

Some fun VR titles touch on some of the Cold War aspects, if not the Soviet art-style as such, are these guys:

Source: https://youtu.be/2wtVrEyZWcA

Source: https://youtu.be/vedFA8yXr2Y

Source: https://youtu.be/2_xfSeEbXi0


I’d imagine you know IEYTD (and damn is that Saul Bass intro it has something else...), but the other two are hidden indie gems

Interkosmos, I have it in library but saving it, like all my VR backlog, once I get my hands on the Reverb G2.

 

[VR Golgot]

Interkosmos, I have it in library but saving it, like all my VR backlog, once I get my hands on the Reverb G2.

It’s super short & indie, but nicely done. Definitely play with the tips off! (Much more fun trying to figure out how to save yourself by deciphering what all the modules are. Plus you get more playtime out of it if you die a bit )

 

[Bantha]

Creed VR.
It’s a proper workout!!!

 

[VR Golgot]

Creed VR.
It’s a proper workout!!!

Sweet, got that in the sales. Looking forward to it

 

[Bantha]

Sweet, got that in the sales. Looking forward to it

The harder you hit, the harder he hits.
2 fights in and I’m sweating cobs!

 

[VR Golgot]

First Looks:

Scanner Sombre

Picked up an old save half way through. (I'd stopped because I was OCD-inching my way along, painting in every cavern, and not much was happening...). Wasn't expecting the particularly beautiful moment of repose they throw at you in the middle, after some prolonged building unease. Absolutely badass in VR. Something about the way you can appreciate the scale of a giant cavern, cast in rainbow scan lines. That and the locomotion technique changing, and a few other tweaks, at that point.

Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son

The set up works here (grumpy groundhog son as nihilistic vlogger). It's a bit of mixed bag though. Lovely art style in many ways, but pretty basic face animations etc. The little puzzle moments are pretty straight-forward, but teasing out details from characters to unlock more options is appealing. The dialogue shortcuts you unlock do pare down the repetition, and the scenes evolve a bit as a result... but I am feeling the loops never the less. Only 4 real locations to toy with at the moment.

Creed: Rise to Glory

I’m still sweating!

I can see why some don’t like the stamina limit, but the training 'montage' that sets the level for each fight is a fun warm up at least . Generally just liking the effort that’s gone into making each fight a step up the 'story' rung.

Just playing on the standard difficulty, and finding the overhand punch a bit OP since the guy in the 3rd match showed me its utility. (Basically they never really block their crown). Just breezy sweaty fun for now.

Only thing I don’t really like is the standard natural locomotion, which makes back-peddling tricky. (You have to put your hands behind you to start a reverse motion. Not ideal in the middle of a fight!)



Consta-Covid-Purchases:

Source: https://youtu.be/5cmFlAKwoV8

 

[Bantha]

Ha ha enjoy!!!

 

[VR Golgot]

Review: Scanner Sombre

A strange, and indeed sombre, experience, but a great fit for VR in many ways. As you delve into the bowels of a cave network you reveal your environment by layering up data from your hand-held scanner. It's both eerie and hypnotic.

If in practice often just a mix of busy work and anticipation. Which is why I eventually put it down for a bit. But I'm glad I went on one more spelunk...

Although the caves are periodically littered with the remnants of prior cultures, very little happens for large swathes of your progress, and you're often left with nothing but the expanding emptiness in front of you, which your mind rushes ahead to populate with dangers and designs...

There's the odd jump scare in there, and some of the more overt horror prompts occasionally lean towards the hokey. But on the whole the reliance on sound and anticipation can be very evocative, and blends with the claustrophobia of the cave setting and its unseen expanses. The stalactite droplets hitting depths to your right, the sudden shift of material underfoot, the whistling of a tighter passage up ahead...

As narrative elements start to accrue, they lean towards telling by showing, with occasional inner thoughts providing historical steers and glimpses of protagonist’s state of mind.

Once they unlock the overview map you can see the wonderful sculpted world, with the areas you paid most attention to in stark relief. Like a storified version of your journey. Even if not much happened beyond eerie tension for long passages

Although I wasn't sold on the story arc by the end, or on all of my time spent rustling around in the noisiest raincoat in the world, there are some wonderful highlights along the way. One section right in the middle, after a build of eerie tension, used a shift in locomotion and the scanner rules to great effect, providing a fairly awesome sequence. It felt like discovery. And felt pretty damn amazing in VR.

It's worth noting that is is an experimental build, and very buggy at points. I had to tab in and out to even get the opening sequence working, it was possible to teleport out of the map at certain points, and it failed to load & black-screened on me on about 6 other occasions.

Overall though, worth the struggles. An intriguing trek through the unknown.

3.5 (+-)

 

[VR Golgot]

First Look: Paper Beast

Oh wow, I think I'm going to like this!

I was not expecting the absurd meta opening, featuring interactive J-pop.

I was more expecting the arid repose of the digital sandlands I found myself in afterwards, with oasis spots of paper life. The creatures are realised, and narratively introduced, in some great ways. They're also slightly unsettling as they snuffle past you, or lunge, or just mark their presence by the strands of web they leave behind. Or are they roots? Or whiskers? I guess I'll find out...

I seem to be in some kind of staged world introduction, where you puzzle your way through objectives by figuring out and manipulating the creature's various tendencies and abilities.

Promising stuff

 

[[VR] M4st0d0n]

That's a fine list.

If you're a bit nostalgic about dungeon crawlers you should check A mage's tale out.

GNOG is also very trippy in VR.

Trovers saves the Universe was excellent.

Serious Sam 3 I didnt play in pancake at the time so it's great in VR.