@somnambulance not in active development that whole time, but yeah I think the initial announce was like 2011? 2012? Got re-announced last year or the year before, but it's just been right back to radio silence again since then haha. I could see that being a similar kind of letdown just by nature of how long I've been anticipating it! Hopefully in the next decade it does in fact come out haha
@somnambulance That's the exact same fear I have about Routine when (well, IF) it comes out if you're familiar with that one! Been following that game for what feels like nearly as long as I'd been following Scorn haha. Hopefully a different result on that one!
@The_Pixel_King The gameplay is a bit much to get through haha, it's...not the best. Some of the absolute best art I've ever seen in a game though! Just look up a gallery of screenshots if you don't wanna play it haha
@matekomlosi It's definitely a verrrrrry different kind of horror that's for sure haha. Leans more into the body horror/ biomechanical grotesquery of Giger's work, as opposed to the more "traditional" let's call it, horror.
@JayJ I tend to agree! Either that or go in the complete opposite direction and reduce the amount of traditional gameplay even further!
@Reptilio I would have much preferred if they just completely sidestepped combat haha. I think it would have worked a lot better as more of a pure walking sim, with some of the puzzle stuff intact.
@Loamy ALL the art is incredible! if you like the box art, buckle up haha
@Loamy Definitely agree that the setting is criminally under-utilized. That was the biggest reason I was excited for this honestly, and it's definitely the best part! There just isn't enough of it
@tameshiyaku Oh, Dustborn I wasn't even thinking about, I figured you meant a game that had come out already!
Read Only Memories was really good! That one I did play. Coffee Talk is pretty good too (Haven't played the 2nd one yet though) even if it's basically a Va-11 Hall-A knockoff haha. Red Strings Club is another one on my radar, I haven't played it yet, but I intend to!
@KAIRU But flipside, if it's something you wouldn't get on with, forcing yourself to play won't help either! If you find one that you're interested in, you'll know! Basically, it's just a matter of finding a visual novel type game that has an art style you like enough to try it out. That's partially where Va-11 Hall-A was definitely the one that sealed that for me!
@KAIRU I've played my share of them at this point, but only a couple have ever really stuck with me or been properly great. I would group this amongst those for sure. Va-11 Hall-A definitely as well. Beyond that though, it gets hard to think of examples haha
@Johnnycide BACK IN MY DAY THEY HAD NORMAL HUMAN SKIN, WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE
@FullMetalWesker Oh it absolutely disappeared for a while haha. Originally it was supposed to launch in 2021 I believe?
@Nyne11Tyme It works, I just don't particularly think it's executed as well as it could be. Percentage-wise, it's not a ton of the game where you're doing the rhythm stuff anyway. Primarily all about the visual novel elements.
@Jackpaza0508 @Kidfried I do what I can!
@Jaz007 Well, because it's not a negative. At worst, the anthropomorphized dinosaurs are a little distracting in the beginning, but as the characters start to do their thing, it's pretty much immaterial. At that point, they're just characters. Great ones at that!
@render Being a visual novel, with relatively little by way of camera movement, you're probably in the clear haha
@PixelDragon It's okay, it didn't read as vitriolic, it's just not one I was content with letting go by haha. I probably could have phrased it more strongly in the "pros" list though. In the body of the article I do call the price "impressively low" so it's a little more positive there at least!
And honestly, it's fine to leave the comment haha, it opened up a dialogue! So I don't personally have an issue with it staying.
@PixelDragon The Steam upgrade being free, awesome as it is, has no bearing on the PS5 review. Free PC upgrades are always incredibly welcome of course.
And that's why it's listed as a "pro"! Because it's a good price worth bringing up!
Suggesting I consciously wanted to dock it just because "it's old" would be morally reprehensible. I wouldn't be okay with myself if I had some agenda like that when I wrote any sort of review, Quake or not. AND retro shooters (and boomer shooters in general) are basically my favorite corner of gaming haha. Half the games I play in my free time these days fall under that category, you should see my Steam Deck list of installed games!
@JB_Whiting Definitely familiar with Quake. Been playing the series since the first one was considered "new" haha. And like I mentioned, more or less constantly playing a retro/boomer shooter of some sort basically at any point I'm gaming!
@Northern_munkey A Nightdive helmed remaster of Deus Ex sounds perfect! They seem to be the master of updating and re-invigorating life into titles (especially shooters it seems) from this era
@Olskeezy If you've never played it, please don't be scared away! You'd be doing a disservice to yourself (assuming you're interested in shooters of course.) That being said (and this might rile up even more people), I'd recommend starting with the updated PS5 version of Quake 1, I preferred that one haha
@themcnoisy To be fair to Goldeneye (or I guess to be more fair to Quake II) far more work has gone into this Quake II update than the Goldeneye one received haha. Goldeneye is more cool to revisit as a neat antiquity. Quake II plays on par (more or less) with contemporary "boomer shooters" I would say.
Ahhhh the OG Unreal! good times!
@Kidfried @Kanji-Tatsumi Noooo, stop defending me! I belong in a sanitarium for really liking this remaster, and liking the remaster of Quake 1 even more!
@JB_Whiting mentioned in the review, the hit detection is more a nuisance rather than a widespread systemic problem. Just seems like something that warrants mentioning considering the title in question happens to be a Quake game haha.
@KaijuKaiser $29.99 /£24.99 which is honestly a little steep, once it dips a bit, definitely worth it I'd say!
@Ken_Kaniff I've had a soft spot for these dating back to when I was a kid! If you love this, in addition to checking this game, I recommend Venineth, which is maybe the coolest marble game I've ever played.
@WaveBoy Gah, that whole demo is so cool. One of my earliest ever VR experiences (played Thumper and Fated: The Silent Oath at PAX East shortly before VR dropped, that was my first experience, but the shark demo was close behind!)
Right there with you about the ocean haha. I BIGTIME have thalassaphobia, and sharks I both love and am terrified by haha. VR worlds in general I quite liked and it' such a good package for showing non-gamers the tech! My mom screamed at the shark demo and tried ripping the headset off too haha
I've wanted a good tech demo or game to show PSVR2 off as well! My grandfather was asking about it actually haha, but there's just nothing I could put in front of him that he'd really have the feel for. The closest is probably Puzzling Places? but that's more because of the low stakes than anything. Requires a lot of item manipulation and awareness of your controllers and such. Those are the kind of experiences you would normally want to launch alongside the peripheral.
I don't disagree with any of those suggested improvements for the headset, but it's such a vast improvement over PSVR1 that I can stomach how it currently is. What I can't stomach is the almost complete absence of first party software outside of what, GT7 and Horizon? Synapse they marketed like a 1st party title, so let's include that too. But still, that's pretty underwhelming. Maybe as the sale numbers continue to improve they'll start sharing details on games that are (hopefully) in development. Because as it stands, there's a TON of incredible stuff to play on the headset, but almost all of it you can play on any headset.
An Astro Bot sequel seems like a no-brainer, even a remaster is acceptable though haha. Totally agreed on Half-Life: Alyx, I want it so much, but I'm skeptical of it ever happening. I've also desperately wanted a VR version of Alien: Isolation as well. And the original Outlast. A whole bunch of horror games haha
@Art_Vandelay I feel like I've seen a couple of trailers like that, but definitely not a ton. It'd be a lot more compelling at selling games to users who love the peripheral but are on the fence about individual games, but like you said, not super helpful, and bringing in those who are skeptical of VR or simply don't have it.
@Art_Vandelay I completely agree! Once you start playing VR games regularly, it's a lot easier to look at a trailer for a VR game, and be able to tell what the appeal and allure would be. But it's not a perfect way to experience, and for those that don't play VR at all, trailers usually look incredibly underwhelming, especially when held up alongside trailers for traditional gaming
@WaveBoy I would kill for a port of that Ocean Descent experience from VR Worlds! THat was always the very first thing I would use to show friends and family VR. Especially family who don't play any games. My grandfather was absolutely smitten with that demo, thought it was incredible, and he still has a tough time with Smart TV remotes haha
@Hoodie718 Tracking is very much not a problem now! I didn't a single tracking problem my whole time with the game. Not even a hiccup in fact!
As for room scale, yeah it won't start without messing around with your playspace parameters but it's a non-issue with telep[orting movement. I was worried at first as well, as I have a pretty cramped play space, but you can play the game wholly stationary and it won't be an issue one bit!
@StylesT Insofar as all rhythm gmases that use a note chart are similar to each other. But Beat Saber is a much more aggressive title that focuses on drum rhythms differently, so there's a lot more DNB/Dubstep kindsa music.
Synth Riders instead emphasizes synthwave, cyberpunk, and electro-swing. The game overall is a bit more "chill" but on higher difficulties, you'll still absolutely break a sweat! Synth Riders more than any of the other PSVR music games I've played so far is better at approximating actual dance moves too! Feels more like you're actually dancing while you play
@Fritz167 there's so much great synthwave in this game honestly. I've loved Staarcadian for years so seeing them on the list the first time I booted up the game was exciting! Lots of The Midnight and Scandroid too. I do wish there were more Gunship though!
@Voltan @ORO_ERICIUS It was free to coincide with the launch of PSVR2 sadly BUT I also think that's the best one haha. Definitely recommended @AdamNovice !
@HotGoomba I definitely hope so! The actual core gameplay is so fun, I'd gladly play more of it!
@NEStalgia Yeah, they're both very much games worth checking out! I might have had more issues with one than the other, but both are incredible fun! Even if Light Brigade outdoes itself haha
@Discol76 It very much is! Yeah, a 7 is in no way shape or form a bad thing haha
@NEStalgia I think they're both doing great stuff, but as an overall package, I'm definitely giving the edge to Light Brigade! More complete experience, and more unique gameplay encounters, but on the other hand Synapse does a fair number of things just as well, BUT it has its kinesis which is so good too!
@Wormwood23 If you liked Fracked, I think you'll still get a decent amount out of this! nDreams definitely seem like they're more comfortable working in the VR space than a lot of devs, so the games got a lot of strengths even as it currently is!
@thefourfoldroot1 @naruball @guitarpete987 @Dange @HotGoomba re: the game being too short. Normally I completely agree! I'd honestly prefer a VR game to be shorter, but so long as the game still feels complete. In this particular instance, it's a negative because it feels like the game launched missing half the levels it's supposed to have. It's brilliant fun still, but it just feels like a whole chunk of the game simply isn't there!
@Scottyy Yeah, some light puzzling, but in the absolute broadest sense, a walking sim!
@Bez87 As long as Anshar lends a hand with the Silent Hill remake, then....maybe haha.
@Danloaded Probably gonna be disappointed. Layers of Fear you make the argument as being Bloober's "scariest" game, but you could still be more effectively scared in other titles more if none of their other stuff really did it for you.
@Loamy Yeah I had my share of gripes with LoF2 back when it launched as well! It's still definitely weaker than what came before it in this version, but it's better than it was at least haha
@Ralizah I'd say that's worth it! Either that or the VR version! Wouldn't mind that getting brought over to PSVR2 come to think of it haha
@PegasusActual93 Yes and no. Layer of Fear 2 is still noticeably weaker than the first game, but this whole unification of the series that this remake is shooting for helps a bit. The whole package plays better now, but the sloggy bits are still overlong. So the answer is...sort of...hahaha.
@Bunchesopuppies Yeah, the Yar stuff made me especially happy to see haha. A definite standout!
@Amnesiac Love that era's look! That Lego set of the 2600 was so fun to make too!
@ztpayne7 It wouldn't hurt to have played the others for some of the context, but the game is good at filling you in as you go even if you didn't already know the information. I'd say you could jump right in with this one!
@thefourfoldroot1 $29.99 I believe, and no news that I've heard about the PSVR2 ports of the other 2. I'm pretty sure there was supposed to have been news by now. Maybe they were just waiting for the newest one to drop
@dschons It's nuts! There were a handful of spots in the game where if I didn't know I had the headset on, I would have thought I was looking at a regular TV game, that's how good the fidelity was! Mental!
@KaijuKaiser Too much to interact with in the sense that when you're trying to find items to solve puzzles with, there's too much extra, "flavor" stuff and it can make solving a puzzle more complicated than it needed to be. Although a lot of the extra stuff is fun to find!
@Jayvir Hahah, yeah, that rumble issue is maddening. It's so distracting! Hope that gets fixed soon
@Zeke68 Right?! It's wild how polished the PSVR1 version was in relation to this one, even if the experience on offer is still mostly what it was back then.
@NEStalgia Very possible haha. They both have better qualities to them for sure. There's no wrong answer, they're both incredible!
@SgtTruth It's still excellent in its current form, but yeah, honestly surprised at how many issues there were compared to the last time it launched on a PlayStation headset. Plenty of time for them to fix it, and the new patch already made some progress, but there's a ways to go!
@naruball It's less noticeable on Easy just by nature of there being fewer notes, though on Expert...oof. One of the hit detection or rumble problems can lead to a cascade of misses that result in a song fail if you're not careful!
@Critonic The saber location was one of the things they addressed with this latest patch! Try it again, you should find it a bit better now. THe sabers sit at a more organic spot now!
@Muttt Still present for me, though hit detection is definitely better. Frame drops and the rumble issues are just as prevalent though
@misak192 The patch definitely made it better, though the issues are still present, just less so!
@thefourfoldroot1 The score is a little different by nature of those issues are far less severe than they tend to be when they crop up on other games. But they're still present nonetheless!
As for Red Matter 2, I'm actually currently also working on the review for that! Should be up soon!
@EvenStephen7 Right?! I was completely shocked by it! Especially because of how flawless the game was when it launched on PSVR1! Completely unexpected to run into as many issues as I did!
@Stormageddon The Meta Quests should be able to have no problems with it! Plus you can play custom songs that way!
@Dobbos You could definitely spoof the camera to make it work. Long as there's enough room on the chair for your arms (no arm rests being the biggest issue). But if you held the headset super high or super low and resynced or manually adjusted the height, I think it could work pretty well!
@NEStalgia Synth Riders is dancier, and the gameplay is a bit less frenetic. Beat Saber is more about using a lightsaber to play the drums, whereas Synth Riders tries to approximate dancing a little more. Synth Riders has a broader tracklist too (definitely for the base tracklist "out of the box" and arguably including the DLC too. For what it's worth, I think Synth Riders has the best soundtrack of all the VR rhythm games. So much music in that game I listened to before I played the game. Can't say that as much with the other titles.
@Zeke68 It's less problematic than hit detection and frame stuff like that normally is, BUT it's still very much present and the core of the game is so good, that it still warrants a 7 there!. Less an extreme problem and more just a very noticeable annoyance if that makes sense
Yesssss, I will gladly play this again, maybe not the deepest experience, but it came out exactly when I was super in the mood to play Outrun, so it was perfect at the time!
@NeonPizza Honestly I don't know if I agree that flattening out Moss would make them not enjoyable. I think they would absolutely lose some of their impact, but I think if I were only ever privy to a non-VR version of those games, I would still love them. They're exceptional examples of what we're talking about in regards to VR though of course!
I think RE: Village it might just be some degree of being lost in translation since the game wasn't entirely built with VR in mind (even though I'm sure they knew they were gonna be making a VR version before the game launched). Incorporating a number of alternate control schemes seems like such an easy way to allow for people to be immersed in just the way that they choose
@Sanquine Yeah woozy sounds about right. Definitely sounds like pretty standard VR sickness, so I'd expect it to get at least a little better each subsequent time you play!
I haven't played the newest Saints And Sinners myself, but I played 1 on PSVR1 and was very impressed with it. Surprisingly immersive and detailed in how you can interact with the world. If the PSVR2 versions are anything to go by, I'd say they're very much worth your time! And yep Pistol Whip did indeed get ported over to PSVR2!
@NeonPizza Yeah, Astro Bot too! Oh I remember Star Child! That reveal trailer had an earworm of a song haha. Definitely wouldn't mind seeing more games experimenting in that particular region of gaming. Especially given how good some of the ones who have tried it have been
@Sanquine 1. So the calibration will be helpful only up to a point. Make sure to have the headset on the main menu of the PS5 (I find this the best place to mess around because there are so many more words on screen than normal. Easier to tell how in focus everything is!) and start messing around with basically all the knobs on the front of the headset haha. There's a "scroll wheel" that dictates the spacing of the lenses horizontally, move that around until it feels tight, but not painful on your head. And then after that, start moving the front of the headset up and down trying to find the "Sweet spot" where everything is more in focus. It's infamously a very narrow space where everything looks right with headsets, and PSVR2 seems to have an even smaller sweet spot than normal!
2. It SHOULD get better. VR sickness can be disorienting when it's brand new, but as the brain gets more comfortable with how it's being tricked, you should start to notice the nausea being less of a problem. For some people, it never goes away, but if it's something you intend to do basically every day, you should start noticing it get less problematic within like....2 weeks? Not completely gone, but at least better. I don't personally get motion sick much, and I was completely adapted to VR in about a week when I first started? It seems to vary quite a bit person to person! But once you've adjusted, it's so worth it! VR is marvelous, and I love it!
3. It varies from game to game, but isn't it awesome!? I use a lot of rhythm games intentionally as supplemental forms of exercise. If you like music games, Pistol Whip is incredible, and you'll be exhausted if you play it for a while haha. Same with Beat Saber once the PSVR2 upgrade is released!
@NeonPizza Hard agree! Definitely not enough experiences like that. The 2 Moss' definitely being the strongest examples of that for me
@ztpayne7 1. Some of it would be helpful sure, but the references are mostly just visual callbacks. I wouldn't say having not played the first is an issue.
2. Probably about 2 hours? It's not terribly long, just slightly longer than the first one!
3. Not that I know of, though I'd definitely play it if they did that!
@thefourfoldroot1 I don't I'd ever recommend it over Tetris Effect (obviously, wildly different games but still haha) but it was definitely surprisingly good still!
@Highlar It definitely shows up once in a while, but it's more of an acclimation kinda thing where it was really jarring and distracting during the tutorials and maybe the first couple of songs, but it was relatively easy to adjust as I kept playing, but it was definitely noticeable in the beginning!
Comments 1,473
Re: Mini Review: Scorn (PS5) - A Brilliantly Disgusting Puzzler with Gameplay Woes
@somnambulance not in active development that whole time, but yeah I think the initial announce was like 2011? 2012? Got re-announced last year or the year before, but it's just been right back to radio silence again since then haha. I could see that being a similar kind of letdown just by nature of how long I've been anticipating it! Hopefully in the next decade it does in fact come out haha
Re: Mini Review: Scorn (PS5) - A Brilliantly Disgusting Puzzler with Gameplay Woes
@somnambulance That's the exact same fear I have about Routine when (well, IF) it comes out if you're familiar with that one! Been following that game for what feels like nearly as long as I'd been following Scorn haha. Hopefully a different result on that one!
@The_Pixel_King The gameplay is a bit much to get through haha, it's...not the best. Some of the absolute best art I've ever seen in a game though! Just look up a gallery of screenshots if you don't wanna play it haha
Re: Mini Review: Scorn (PS5) - A Brilliantly Disgusting Puzzler with Gameplay Woes
@matekomlosi It's definitely a verrrrrry different kind of horror that's for sure haha. Leans more into the body horror/ biomechanical grotesquery of Giger's work, as opposed to the more "traditional" let's call it, horror.
Re: Mini Review: Scorn (PS5) - A Brilliantly Disgusting Puzzler with Gameplay Woes
@JayJ I tend to agree! Either that or go in the complete opposite direction and reduce the amount of traditional gameplay even further!
@Reptilio I would have much preferred if they just completely sidestepped combat haha. I think it would have worked a lot better as more of a pure walking sim, with some of the puzzle stuff intact.
@Loamy ALL the art is incredible! if you like the box art, buckle up haha
Re: Mini Review: Ad Infinitum (PS5) - An Intriguing Horror Premise, Poorly Executed
@Loamy Definitely agree that the setting is criminally under-utilized. That was the biggest reason I was excited for this honestly, and it's definitely the best part! There just isn't enough of it
Re: Goodbye Volcano High (PS5) - Wonderfully Written, But Stumbles on the Rhythm
@tameshiyaku Oh, Dustborn I wasn't even thinking about, I figured you meant a game that had come out already!
Read Only Memories was really good! That one I did play. Coffee Talk is pretty good too (Haven't played the 2nd one yet though) even if it's basically a Va-11 Hall-A knockoff haha. Red Strings Club is another one on my radar, I haven't played it yet, but I intend to!
Re: Goodbye Volcano High (PS5) - Wonderfully Written, But Stumbles on the Rhythm
@tameshiyaku We Are OFK? It's got a similar kinda band setup to it, that's the first one that came to mind at least
Re: Goodbye Volcano High (PS5) - Wonderfully Written, But Stumbles on the Rhythm
@KAIRU But flipside, if it's something you wouldn't get on with, forcing yourself to play won't help either! If you find one that you're interested in, you'll know! Basically, it's just a matter of finding a visual novel type game that has an art style you like enough to try it out. That's partially where Va-11 Hall-A was definitely the one that sealed that for me!
Re: Goodbye Volcano High (PS5) - Wonderfully Written, But Stumbles on the Rhythm
@johncalmc Do itttttttt
@KAIRU I've played my share of them at this point, but only a couple have ever really stuck with me or been properly great. I would group this amongst those for sure. Va-11 Hall-A definitely as well. Beyond that though, it gets hard to think of examples haha
@Johnnycide BACK IN MY DAY THEY HAD NORMAL HUMAN SKIN, WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE
@FullMetalWesker Oh it absolutely disappeared for a while haha. Originally it was supposed to launch in 2021 I believe?
Re: Goodbye Volcano High (PS5) - Wonderfully Written, But Stumbles on the Rhythm
@Nyne11Tyme It works, I just don't particularly think it's executed as well as it could be. Percentage-wise, it's not a ton of the game where you're doing the rhythm stuff anyway. Primarily all about the visual novel elements.
@Jackpaza0508 @Kidfried I do what I can!
@Jaz007 Well, because it's not a negative. At worst, the anthropomorphized dinosaurs are a little distracting in the beginning, but as the characters start to do their thing, it's pretty much immaterial. At that point, they're just characters. Great ones at that!
@render Being a visual novel, with relatively little by way of camera movement, you're probably in the clear haha
Re: Mini Review: Quake II (PS5) - A Remastered Classic with Real Bang for Your Buck
@JB_Whiting No problemo!
Re: Mini Review: Quake II (PS5) - A Remastered Classic with Real Bang for Your Buck
@PixelDragon It's okay, it didn't read as vitriolic, it's just not one I was content with letting go by haha. I probably could have phrased it more strongly in the "pros" list though. In the body of the article I do call the price "impressively low" so it's a little more positive there at least!
And honestly, it's fine to leave the comment haha, it opened up a dialogue! So I don't personally have an issue with it staying.
Re: Mini Review: Quake II (PS5) - A Remastered Classic with Real Bang for Your Buck
@PixelDragon The Steam upgrade being free, awesome as it is, has no bearing on the PS5 review. Free PC upgrades are always incredibly welcome of course.
And that's why it's listed as a "pro"! Because it's a good price worth bringing up!
Suggesting I consciously wanted to dock it just because "it's old" would be morally reprehensible. I wouldn't be okay with myself if I had some agenda like that when I wrote any sort of review, Quake or not. AND retro shooters (and boomer shooters in general) are basically my favorite corner of gaming haha. Half the games I play in my free time these days fall under that category, you should see my Steam Deck list of installed games!
@JB_Whiting Definitely familiar with Quake. Been playing the series since the first one was considered "new" haha. And like I mentioned, more or less constantly playing a retro/boomer shooter of some sort basically at any point I'm gaming!
Re: Mini Review: Quake II (PS5) - A Remastered Classic with Real Bang for Your Buck
@Northern_munkey A Nightdive helmed remaster of Deus Ex sounds perfect! They seem to be the master of updating and re-invigorating life into titles (especially shooters it seems) from this era
@Olskeezy If you've never played it, please don't be scared away! You'd be doing a disservice to yourself (assuming you're interested in shooters of course.) That being said (and this might rile up even more people), I'd recommend starting with the updated PS5 version of Quake 1, I preferred that one haha
Re: Mini Review: Quake II (PS5) - A Remastered Classic with Real Bang for Your Buck
@themcnoisy To be fair to Goldeneye (or I guess to be more fair to Quake II) far more work has gone into this Quake II update than the Goldeneye one received haha. Goldeneye is more cool to revisit as a neat antiquity. Quake II plays on par (more or less) with contemporary "boomer shooters" I would say.
Ahhhh the OG Unreal! good times!
@Kidfried @Kanji-Tatsumi Noooo, stop defending me! I belong in a sanitarium for really liking this remaster, and liking the remaster of Quake 1 even more!
@JB_Whiting mentioned in the review, the hit detection is more a nuisance rather than a widespread systemic problem. Just seems like something that warrants mentioning considering the title in question happens to be a Quake game haha.
Re: Mini Review: Marble It Up! Ultra (PS5) - Colourful Arcade Game Is a Marble Blast
@Ken_Kaniff Sadly no I bought it on Steam when I played it. I think it might also be on itch.io? No PlayStation as far as I know though
Re: Mini Review: Marble It Up! Ultra (PS5) - Colourful Arcade Game Is a Marble Blast
@KaijuKaiser $29.99 /£24.99 which is honestly a little steep, once it dips a bit, definitely worth it I'd say!
@Ken_Kaniff I've had a soft spot for these dating back to when I was a kid! If you love this, in addition to checking this game, I recommend Venineth, which is maybe the coolest marble game I've ever played.
Re: Mini Review: The Room VR: A Dark Matter (PSVR2) - Exquisite VR Escape Room Beckons You to the Past
@WaveBoy Gah, that whole demo is so cool. One of my earliest ever VR experiences (played Thumper and Fated: The Silent Oath at PAX East shortly before VR dropped, that was my first experience, but the shark demo was close behind!)
Right there with you about the ocean haha. I BIGTIME have thalassaphobia, and sharks I both love and am terrified by haha. VR worlds in general I quite liked and it' such a good package for showing non-gamers the tech! My mom screamed at the shark demo and tried ripping the headset off too haha
I've wanted a good tech demo or game to show PSVR2 off as well! My grandfather was asking about it actually haha, but there's just nothing I could put in front of him that he'd really have the feel for. The closest is probably Puzzling Places? but that's more because of the low stakes than anything. Requires a lot of item manipulation and awareness of your controllers and such. Those are the kind of experiences you would normally want to launch alongside the peripheral.
I don't disagree with any of those suggested improvements for the headset, but it's such a vast improvement over PSVR1 that I can stomach how it currently is. What I can't stomach is the almost complete absence of first party software outside of what, GT7 and Horizon? Synapse they marketed like a 1st party title, so let's include that too. But still, that's pretty underwhelming. Maybe as the sale numbers continue to improve they'll start sharing details on games that are (hopefully) in development. Because as it stands, there's a TON of incredible stuff to play on the headset, but almost all of it you can play on any headset.
An Astro Bot sequel seems like a no-brainer, even a remaster is acceptable though haha. Totally agreed on Half-Life: Alyx, I want it so much, but I'm skeptical of it ever happening. I've also desperately wanted a VR version of Alien: Isolation as well. And the original Outlast. A whole bunch of horror games haha
Re: Mini Review: The Room VR: A Dark Matter (PSVR2) - Exquisite VR Escape Room Beckons You to the Past
@Art_Vandelay I feel like I've seen a couple of trailers like that, but definitely not a ton. It'd be a lot more compelling at selling games to users who love the peripheral but are on the fence about individual games, but like you said, not super helpful, and bringing in those who are skeptical of VR or simply don't have it.
Re: Mini Review: The Room VR: A Dark Matter (PSVR2) - Exquisite VR Escape Room Beckons You to the Past
@Art_Vandelay I completely agree! Once you start playing VR games regularly, it's a lot easier to look at a trailer for a VR game, and be able to tell what the appeal and allure would be. But it's not a perfect way to experience, and for those that don't play VR at all, trailers usually look incredibly underwhelming, especially when held up alongside trailers for traditional gaming
Re: Mini Review: The Room VR: A Dark Matter (PSVR2) - Exquisite VR Escape Room Beckons You to the Past
@WaveBoy I would kill for a port of that Ocean Descent experience from VR Worlds! THat was always the very first thing I would use to show friends and family VR. Especially family who don't play any games. My grandfather was absolutely smitten with that demo, thought it was incredible, and he still has a tough time with Smart TV remotes haha
@Hoodie718 Tracking is very much not a problem now! I didn't a single tracking problem my whole time with the game. Not even a hiccup in fact!
As for room scale, yeah it won't start without messing around with your playspace parameters but it's a non-issue with telep[orting movement. I was worried at first as well, as I have a pretty cramped play space, but you can play the game wholly stationary and it won't be an issue one bit!
Re: Mini Review: Synapse (PSVR2) - Some Incredible Gameplay But Not Enough Content
@Wormwood23 Happy to be of service!
Re: Synth Riders Celebrates 5th Anniversary With New DLC
@StylesT Insofar as all rhythm gmases that use a note chart are similar to each other. But Beat Saber is a much more aggressive title that focuses on drum rhythms differently, so there's a lot more DNB/Dubstep kindsa music.
Synth Riders instead emphasizes synthwave, cyberpunk, and electro-swing. The game overall is a bit more "chill" but on higher difficulties, you'll still absolutely break a sweat! Synth Riders more than any of the other PSVR music games I've played so far is better at approximating actual dance moves too! Feels more like you're actually dancing while you play
Re: Synth Riders Celebrates 5th Anniversary With New DLC
@Fritz167 there's so much great synthwave in this game honestly. I've loved Staarcadian for years so seeing them on the list the first time I booted up the game was exciting! Lots of The Midnight and Scandroid too. I do wish there were more Gunship though!
Re: Synth Riders Celebrates 5th Anniversary With New DLC
@Voltan @ORO_ERICIUS It was free to coincide with the launch of PSVR2 sadly BUT I also think that's the best one haha. Definitely recommended @AdamNovice !
Re: Mini Review: Gylt (PS5) - Ex-Google Stadia Exclusive Is Serviceable Survival Horror
@Enuo Rock solid, I had no issues. No crashes, no frame drops, nothing!
Re: Mini Review: Synapse (PSVR2) – Some Incredible Gameplay But Not Enough Content
@HotGoomba I definitely hope so! The actual core gameplay is so fun, I'd gladly play more of it!
@NEStalgia Yeah, they're both very much games worth checking out! I might have had more issues with one than the other, but both are incredible fun! Even if Light Brigade outdoes itself haha
Re: Mini Review: Synapse (PSVR2) – Some Incredible Gameplay But Not Enough Content
@Discol76 It very much is! Yeah, a 7 is in no way shape or form a bad thing haha
@NEStalgia I think they're both doing great stuff, but as an overall package, I'm definitely giving the edge to Light Brigade! More complete experience, and more unique gameplay encounters, but on the other hand Synapse does a fair number of things just as well, BUT it has its kinesis which is so good too!
Re: Mini Review: Synapse (PSVR2) – Some Incredible Gameplay But Not Enough Content
@Wormwood23 If you liked Fracked, I think you'll still get a decent amount out of this! nDreams definitely seem like they're more comfortable working in the VR space than a lot of devs, so the games got a lot of strengths even as it currently is!
@thefourfoldroot1 @naruball @guitarpete987 @Dange @HotGoomba re: the game being too short. Normally I completely agree! I'd honestly prefer a VR game to be shorter, but so long as the game still feels complete. In this particular instance, it's a negative because it feels like the game launched missing half the levels it's supposed to have. It's brilliant fun still, but it just feels like a whole chunk of the game simply isn't there!
Re: Mini Review: Pixel Ripped 1978 (PSVR2) - Atari Adds Impressively to Newest Nostalgic Treat
@ztpayne7 Ill take what I can get haha. Definitely not a bad thing to have all 3 of them playable in the same place. Even if it takes a bit!
Re: Layers of Fear (PS5) - A Collection That Brilliantly Reframes the Series
@Scottyy Yeah, some light puzzling, but in the absolute broadest sense, a walking sim!
@Bez87 As long as Anshar lends a hand with the Silent Hill remake, then....maybe haha.
@Danloaded Probably gonna be disappointed. Layers of Fear you make the argument as being Bloober's "scariest" game, but you could still be more effectively scared in other titles more if none of their other stuff really did it for you.
Re: Layers of Fear (PS5) - A Collection That Brilliantly Reframes the Series
@Loamy Yeah I had my share of gripes with LoF2 back when it launched as well! It's still definitely weaker than what came before it in this version, but it's better than it was at least haha
@Ralizah I'd say that's worth it! Either that or the VR version! Wouldn't mind that getting brought over to PSVR2 come to think of it haha
@PegasusActual93 Yes and no. Layer of Fear 2 is still noticeably weaker than the first game, but this whole unification of the series that this remake is shooting for helps a bit. The whole package plays better now, but the sloggy bits are still overlong. So the answer is...sort of...hahaha.
Re: Mini Review: Pixel Ripped 1978 (PSVR2) - Atari Adds Impressively to Newest Nostalgic Treat
@Hamst88 @ztpayne7 At long last some fresh info! No release date on that new trailer today for 1995 sadly Still inching closer though!
Re: Mini Review: Pixel Ripped 1978 (PSVR2) - Atari Adds Impressively to Newest Nostalgic Treat
@Bunchesopuppies Yeah, the Yar stuff made me especially happy to see haha. A definite standout!
@Amnesiac Love that era's look! That Lego set of the 2600 was so fun to make too!
@ztpayne7 It wouldn't hurt to have played the others for some of the context, but the game is good at filling you in as you go even if you didn't already know the information. I'd say you could jump right in with this one!
@thefourfoldroot1 $29.99 I believe, and no news that I've heard about the PSVR2 ports of the other 2. I'm pretty sure there was supposed to have been news by now. Maybe they were just waiting for the newest one to drop
Re: Mini Review: Red Matter 2 (PSVR2) - Soviet Sci-Fi Sequel Makes for an Exquisite Follow-Up
@PacPern123 What was that? You want MORE zombies?! Okey dokey if you insist!
Re: Mini Review: Red Matter 2 (PSVR2) - Soviet Sci-Fi Sequel Makes for an Exquisite Follow-Up
@dschons It's nuts! There were a handful of spots in the game where if I didn't know I had the headset on, I would have thought I was looking at a regular TV game, that's how good the fidelity was! Mental!
Re: Mini Review: Red Matter 2 (PSVR2) - Soviet Sci-Fi Sequel Makes for an Exquisite Follow-Up
@KaijuKaiser Too much to interact with in the sense that when you're trying to find items to solve puzzles with, there's too much extra, "flavor" stuff and it can make solving a puzzle more complicated than it needed to be. Although a lot of the extra stuff is fun to find!
Re: Mini Review: Beat Saber (PSVR2) - A Serviceable Port of One of VR's Best Games
@Jayvir Hahah, yeah, that rumble issue is maddening. It's so distracting! Hope that gets fixed soon
@Zeke68 Right?! It's wild how polished the PSVR1 version was in relation to this one, even if the experience on offer is still mostly what it was back then.
@NEStalgia Very possible haha. They both have better qualities to them for sure. There's no wrong answer, they're both incredible!
Re: Mini Review: Beat Saber (PSVR2) - A Serviceable Port of One of VR's Best Games
@SgtTruth It's still excellent in its current form, but yeah, honestly surprised at how many issues there were compared to the last time it launched on a PlayStation headset. Plenty of time for them to fix it, and the new patch already made some progress, but there's a ways to go!
@naruball It's less noticeable on Easy just by nature of there being fewer notes, though on Expert...oof. One of the hit detection or rumble problems can lead to a cascade of misses that result in a song fail if you're not careful!
@Critonic The saber location was one of the things they addressed with this latest patch! Try it again, you should find it a bit better now. THe sabers sit at a more organic spot now!
@Muttt Still present for me, though hit detection is definitely better. Frame drops and the rumble issues are just as prevalent though
@misak192 The patch definitely made it better, though the issues are still present, just less so!
Re: Mini Review: Beat Saber (PSVR2) - A Serviceable Port of One of VR's Best Games
@thefourfoldroot1 The score is a little different by nature of those issues are far less severe than they tend to be when they crop up on other games. But they're still present nonetheless!
As for Red Matter 2, I'm actually currently also working on the review for that! Should be up soon!
@EvenStephen7 Right?! I was completely shocked by it! Especially because of how flawless the game was when it launched on PSVR1! Completely unexpected to run into as many issues as I did!
@Stormageddon The Meta Quests should be able to have no problems with it! Plus you can play custom songs that way!
@Stevemalkpus Yep free upgrade!
Re: Mini Review: Beat Saber (PSVR2) - A Serviceable Port of One of VR's Best Games
@Dobbos You could definitely spoof the camera to make it work. Long as there's enough room on the chair for your arms (no arm rests being the biggest issue). But if you held the headset super high or super low and resynced or manually adjusted the height, I think it could work pretty well!
@NEStalgia Synth Riders is dancier, and the gameplay is a bit less frenetic. Beat Saber is more about using a lightsaber to play the drums, whereas Synth Riders tries to approximate dancing a little more. Synth Riders has a broader tracklist too (definitely for the base tracklist "out of the box" and arguably including the DLC too. For what it's worth, I think Synth Riders has the best soundtrack of all the VR rhythm games. So much music in that game I listened to before I played the game. Can't say that as much with the other titles.
@Zeke68 It's less problematic than hit detection and frame stuff like that normally is, BUT it's still very much present and the core of the game is so good, that it still warrants a 7 there!. Less an extreme problem and more just a very noticeable annoyance if that makes sense
Re: OutRun Inspired Arcade Racer Slipstream Getting PS5 Upgrade, Free Expansion
Yesssss, I will gladly play this again, maybe not the deepest experience, but it came out exactly when I was super in the mood to play Outrun, so it was perfect at the time!
Re: PSVR2's Puzzling Places Has Multiplayer Update Planned
This sounds extremely cool. I LOVE this game, so I would gladly give that a shot!
Re: Mini Review: Another Fisherman's Tale (PSVR2) - A Charming VR Sequel to a Charming VR Game
@NeonPizza Honestly I don't know if I agree that flattening out Moss would make them not enjoyable. I think they would absolutely lose some of their impact, but I think if I were only ever privy to a non-VR version of those games, I would still love them.
They're exceptional examples of what we're talking about in regards to VR though of course!
I think RE: Village it might just be some degree of being lost in translation since the game wasn't entirely built with VR in mind (even though I'm sure they knew they were gonna be making a VR version before the game launched). Incorporating a number of alternate control schemes seems like such an easy way to allow for people to be immersed in just the way that they choose
Re: Mini Review: Another Fisherman's Tale (PSVR2) - A Charming VR Sequel to a Charming VR Game
@Sanquine Yeah woozy sounds about right. Definitely sounds like pretty standard VR sickness, so I'd expect it to get at least a little better each subsequent time you play!
I haven't played the newest Saints And Sinners myself, but I played 1 on PSVR1 and was very impressed with it. Surprisingly immersive and detailed in how you can interact with the world. If the PSVR2 versions are anything to go by, I'd say they're very much worth your time!
And yep Pistol Whip did indeed get ported over to PSVR2!
Re: Mini Review: Another Fisherman's Tale (PSVR2) - A Charming VR Sequel to a Charming VR Game
@NeonPizza Yeah, Astro Bot too! Oh I remember Star Child! That reveal trailer had an earworm of a song haha. Definitely wouldn't mind seeing more games experimenting in that particular region of gaming. Especially given how good some of the ones who have tried it have been
Re: Mini Review: Another Fisherman's Tale (PSVR2) - A Charming VR Sequel to a Charming VR Game
@Sanquine
1. So the calibration will be helpful only up to a point. Make sure to have the headset on the main menu of the PS5 (I find this the best place to mess around because there are so many more words on screen than normal. Easier to tell how in focus everything is!) and start messing around with basically all the knobs on the front of the headset haha. There's a "scroll wheel" that dictates the spacing of the lenses horizontally, move that around until it feels tight, but not painful on your head. And then after that, start moving the front of the headset up and down trying to find the "Sweet spot" where everything is more in focus. It's infamously a very narrow space where everything looks right with headsets, and PSVR2 seems to have an even smaller sweet spot than normal!
2. It SHOULD get better. VR sickness can be disorienting when it's brand new, but as the brain gets more comfortable with how it's being tricked, you should start to notice the nausea being less of a problem. For some people, it never goes away, but if it's something you intend to do basically every day, you should start noticing it get less problematic within like....2 weeks? Not completely gone, but at least better. I don't personally get motion sick much, and I was completely adapted to VR in about a week when I first started? It seems to vary quite a bit person to person! But once you've adjusted, it's so worth it! VR is marvelous, and I love it!
3. It varies from game to game, but isn't it awesome!? I use a lot of rhythm games intentionally as supplemental forms of exercise. If you like music games, Pistol Whip is incredible, and you'll be exhausted if you play it for a while haha. Same with Beat Saber once the PSVR2 upgrade is released!
@NeonPizza Hard agree! Definitely not enough experiences like that. The 2 Moss' definitely being the strongest examples of that for me
Re: Mini Review: Another Fisherman's Tale (PSVR2) - A Charming VR Sequel to a Charming VR Game
@ztpayne7
1. Some of it would be helpful sure, but the references are mostly just visual callbacks. I wouldn't say having not played the first is an issue.
2. Probably about 2 hours? It's not terribly long, just slightly longer than the first one!
3. Not that I know of, though I'd definitely play it if they did that!
Re: Mini Review: Afterlife VR (PSVR2) - A No-Frills Horror Experience
@thefourfoldroot1 I don't I'd ever recommend it over Tetris Effect (obviously, wildly different games but still haha) but it was definitely surprisingly good still!
Re: Mini Review: God of Rock (PS5) - A Decent Fighting Game Which Shares Similarities with Rock Band
@Highlar It definitely shows up once in a while, but it's more of an acclimation kinda thing where it was really jarring and distracting during the tutorials and maybe the first couple of songs, but it was relatively easy to adjust as I kept playing, but it was definitely noticeable in the beginning!