Seattle got reeyocked with snow, I got reeyocked with a stomach ache, and all that meant it was prime time for crime time. The thing that sucks about VR is that your screens as you read this post can't translate the experience (though the SHARE button on PS4 is similarly limited to 2d). I'm also appreciative that VR Games range from 20-50% the cost of average AAA games, and the experience is equally short. Every game doesn't need to be an 80-hour slog, and with increased concerns about epilepsy and general dizziness, it's good that the developers know their products.
My wife and I got the platinum for Astro Bot Rescue Mission, the gold standard for VR platforming. It felt like the Mario Galaxy people made a game for Playstation and that is a good thing. Studio Japan doesn't disappoint. 5 Worlds, 4 levels and a separate boss level each, and it's clever, but easy enough to avoid major frustration. The boss fights feel really good, too. My favorite experience was watching my wife overcome the second boss over roughly an hour of dying and getting better each time. Every level has an abundance of coins that also show you where to go. You can spend coins unlocking figurines for a virtual room via a claw grabber machine. Once the toys are retrieved, you can hold them on your controller in full-3D, as well as load virtual playgrounds to display the models.
Tetris Effect had a free weekend Feb 8-11 and it was tooootally awesome. The demo had three levels, and I played through it 5 times. Tetris Effect took copious notes from Lumines and incorporated rhythm, a dope soundtrack and flashy visuals. The game is still about clearing lines, and by 'rhythm,' I mean that the sound effects for moving pieces around are delayed to fit the BPM of the music. The effects themselves layer with the music, and this together puts you into a calming trance as the experience locks you in for some sleek piece matching and VFX. I can't bring myself to spend $40 on Tetris, but a long term rental is in the cards!
Moss was a slower-paced platforming game with some simple puzzles and an overt story that I forgot. Quill is a sword-wielding mouse. You are The Reader, who can manipulate objects and enemies while Quill does the dirty work. The player definitely controls both, and the VR perspective makes you out to be a giant watching mini figures put on a play, of sorts. Granted, you're controlling both the actor and the singular audience member, but the game is a well-done, short experience.
The Playroom VR, that free collection of mini games from Japan Studio, is a pretty cool way to do party games. Most of the games involve people outside of the headset looking at the TV and participating to help the player. In one game, ghosts are invisible on the headset and the TV players need to describe where the VR player is supposed to aim his ghost-vaccuum. In another game, you're a VR sheriff who rolls into a saloon and has to bust a cap in the varmint that matches the TV players' description. "Shoot the guy with a hat, red eyepatch, and scar on his right face." Every time you do this, the ragtime music stops and everyone in the bar freezes before the game judges if you shot the right person. It's a really cute way to dress up the grim reality of the police bru---okay, I'll let that slide.
Next up is Batman Arkham VR. This was the first VR experience that got me dizzy. In the first minute of gameplay, you're on an elevator that descends for a good 15 seconds, on the game's recommendation to stand while playing. Thankfully the rest of the game isn't too motion-intense. In VR, you get to do all the detective stuff that's taken a backseat to the feel-so-good combat system of the last 10+ years of Batman games. My first playthrough was about an hour as I chased Joker around Gotham. After you beat it, you get introduced to Riddler collectibles that have been scattered throughout the quest, encouraging a handful more playthroughs. The collectibles themselves are minigames, from assembling a 3d puzzle to hucking Batarangs at moving targets. Once again: mercifully short.
Back on the horse with Final Fantasy XV. I bought the Royal Pack - a massive expansion - a year ago, and started over. The game still looks great and the soundtrack is categorically amazing. Yoko Shimamura knocked it out of the park with 5 battle themes!
Motion Twin released a huge update for Dead Cells that improved most things, but really screwed over people who were in the mid-difficulty parts. Hard mode is REALLY hard, now.
Lastly, I spent half an hour playing the hot new (and free!) Apex Legends, and look forward to putting more time into that. Good stuff!
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