Wanderer is a time-traveling PSVR adventure thriller game in development by Oddboy, a New Zealand-based indie game studio. There’s no release date just yet, but it’s looking very promising.
Wanderer – PSVR Adventure Thriller
We first caught wind of the new trailer during the PSVR Without Parole ‘April Is PSVR AF’ showcase. Wanderer seems to be a very mysterious adventure VR game in which you have the power to travel through time and space. From screenshots and footage I’ve seen rundown apocalyptic settings, the surface of the moon, futuristic steampunk warehouses, and everything in between. On the website, the tagline is “the past changes a little every time we retell it,” which poses some very intriguing narrative questions.
In the footage you can see plenty of characters the player interacts with from various time periods, what looks like some Escape Room-style puzzles, and plenty of quirky time-jumping between various settings and time periods. Hopefully constantly switching between eras and locations helps keep things fresh and exciting.
The over 3-minute long trailer above features lots of gameplay to give you a good look at what actually playing the game might be like. For more insight into the flow of Wanderer, you can check out the Twitter feed where you’ll find lots of other short clips and GIFs.
For more on Wanderer, check out the game’s official website, Twitter, and Discord server. The website itself isn’t actually live yet, nor is the game’s YouTube channel. Let us know what you think about Wanderer down in the comments below!
Lots of behind-the-scenes tidbits and details were revealed today in a massive oral history report published by Facebook that chronicles the history of Oculus to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the original Rift launch. One of the most interesting details to me is the surprising shift in tone and genre that Asgard’s Wrath went through between its conception and its release.
Asgard’s Wrath
For those unaware, Asgard’s Wrath is a massive VR action-adventure RPG that’s exclusive to the Oculus Rift PC VR store developed by Sanzaru (now owned by Facebook) in which you take control of a Norse God that has the ability to possess mortals and control them directly. The game plays out similar to a Zelda or God of War game in which you explore various realms of Norse mythology, solve puzzles, and fight hundreds of monsters. You can also transform animals into humanoid familiars that fight with you and all have unique abilities to help you on your journey.
It’s a huge, sprawling game that captures the essence of a large-scale AAA quality RPG and puts it into VR with great results. It was the first 5/5 score we ever game here on UploadVR back in 2019 and it’s still my personal favorite VR game to date.
In the oral history report that published today, developers from Sanzaru and Oculus Studios discuss a surprising revelation: the game wasn’t even planned to be an action game at all originally. Not even close.
“Asgard’s Wrath actually started as a Touch-centric demo like VR Sports Challenge,” said Grace Morales Lingad, Creative Director at developer Sanzaru. “It was meant as a Toybox-like demo early on and grew from there… It was more focused on being the god and helping this puny mortal.”
Toybox was a multiplayer Oculus Touch tech demo in which you and another person would stand at a table and play with toys. The toys were intended to encourage interaction so there were building blocks, remote controlled airplanes, and more. That feeling of being a giant looking down at little toys on a table stuck with the developers.
Then along the way it became a tower defense game where you were picking up little
Toybox-size objects and putting them down as your defensive armaments,” said Mike Doran, Director of Production at Oculus Studios. “There’s a couple places where you still see the tower defense game, a couple of boss encounters where you’re firing these giant cannons down on massive armies in the distance. Also, not a lot of people realize that our entire inventory is a series of shelves with tiny little units or objects, and those shelves were originally the UI for selecting towers.”
Once the idea for flipping between God-mode and mortal-mode were introduced, it spiraled from there. They added more features and more concepts on top of everything else, letting you explore more of the world and take control of more types of mortals. Before long, it wasn’t a tower-defense game at all.
“With Asgard’s Wrath, we wanted to make a real-deal, big game,” said Mat Kraemer, Head of Design at Sanzaru. “I’m tired of playing the ten-minute demos and I’m tired of limited movement. I wanted to play a God of War style game. I wanted to play a Zelda style game in VR. I want to make the game that makes you buy an Oculus headset, so when people look at Oculus hardware, they say, ‘I want to play Sanzaru’s next big thing.’ That is what I want to make, and I think as a developer being given the opportunity to do that has been awesome.”
For games similar to what Sanzaru originally envisioned, check out Defense Grid 2 and Brass Tactics. And for more on Asgard’s Wrath, you can read or watch my full Asgard’s Wrath review, beginner tips, and my one-year retrospective from last October that looked back at why the game remains so great for me.
Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
In a Reddit AMA Cloudhead Games explained that while they would love to work on The Gallery: Episode 3, they’re waiting on a next-gen advancement in VR. A Quest version of the series is a possibility down the line as well.
Cloudhead Games and The Gallery
The Gallery: Episode 1 is still one of my favorite gaming experiences of all-time with its cliffhanger ending and groundbreaking use of exploration and movement-based roomscale VR. I’ll never forget standing in my living room, mouth agape, staring upward as I ascended at the end.
Episode 2 channels a lot of the same ideas into another exciting adventure and it remains as one of the most compelling reasons to have access to PC VR over just Quest or just PSVR.
Obviously, as it’s the series that put Cloudhead on the map before Pistol Whip, they haven’t forgotten about The Gallery; they just want to do it justice.
In the Reddit AMA, a company representative explained:
“The Gallery holds a really special place in our hearts and of course we would love to return to it at some point–but we really do need the market to be bigger first. The way I see it, the next time there’s a massive innovation in VR, the same way roomscale and hand tracking reinvented the medium, EP3 would make the perfect candidate as a ‘next-gen experience.'”
Arguably, the Quest is that sort of “next-generation” step they’d be looking for with its wireless standalone format, so it sounds like that is a possibility as the Quest line of headsets gets more and more powerful.
“As the Quest lineup gets more powerful, maybe there’s a chance for a Quest version as well. Nothing official is in the works, but it’s still my dream to return to the series in some way.”
Let us know what you think of this news down in the comments below!
Tokyo Chronos was a good attempt to bring visual novels into virtual reality last year, presenting an entertaining story but minimal VR use. Now developers MyDearest have brought us a sequel, promising greater interactivity within a similar gameplay premise. Read on for our full ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos review.
You don’t need to play Tokyo Chronos to understand ALTDEUS’ plot. Whilst that entry took place in modern-day Shibuya and focused on a group of high school students, this sequel takes us 300 years into the future instead. Earth’s surface has been decimated by the mysterious Meteoras, causing humanity to flee underground to A.T. City, a place filled with holographic illusions to escape their dreaded reality. It wouldn’t be entirely accurate to describe this dystopia as Cyberpunk but it’s not far off either.
You play as Chloe, a “Designed Human” augmented to the peak of her abilities. Working for a military organization called Prometheus, you pilot a mech named the Alto Makhia, and it comes down to you to protect A.T. City whenever Meteoras come close.
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos Review – The Facts
What is it?: A VR visual novel adventure with branching paths Platforms: Quest, Quest 2, and Oculus Rift platform Price: $39.99
Haunted by the memories of Coco, a blind girl she was once sworn to protect, the two became close friends but soon after, Coco is devoured by a Meteora, leaving Chloe felling guilt with a vengeance. Unable to move on, matters are made worse by Noa, a virtual idol designed to look like Coco, one that also assists her in the Makhia.
You’ll be joined by several characters, each playing a key role and there are no minor characters here. Your immediate colleagues include Yamato, a fellow Makhia pilot with an impulsive nature and Aoba, a cooler head who takes charge of communications during missions. All of them are led by the stern General Deiter, who carries out mission planning, and there’s also the eccentric Professor Julie, head of research at Prometheus that created Chloe and Noa. Most curiously, rounding off this cast is Anima, a mysterious Meteora that’s taken human form.
Your decisions surrounding battles and each character affect how your playthrough unfolds. All communications are officially monitored by the Libra system, which suggests multiple dialogue choices when prompted. Some are less consequential and just affect people’s perception of Chloe, such as choosing whether to compliment Yamato’s swordplay or ignore his boasts. Others have a more meaningful impact that directly determine the following events, like choosing to scan a Meteora mid-battle instead of attacking it.
You’ll never get to ALTDEUS’s true ending within the first playthrough, this game is designed for replayability and multiple endings are present. Bringing a campaign that’ll keep you busy for twice as long as Tokyo Chronos, specific routes need completing before additional options appear in those original scenes. You won’t have to replay it in full either, as events can be jumped between within the Ariadne, a space bound area which lets you go back to particular story segments once unlocked.
Without spoiling the larger mysteries, I found myself thoroughly drawn into this mysterious world across these multiple playthroughs. Despite bringing the usual anime cliches like everyone having different hair colour, it kept me intrigued about the wider world too, tapping into social commentary about the surveillance state. ALTDEUS also plays into Greek mythology quite significantly and whilst both games are named after the god of time, it makes frequent references to other legends too. Between Chloe telling Coco stories about Apollo and Daphne, Noa praying to Artemis’ before battle or the A.T. City rebel group called “Organisation Patroclus”, this proved a nice touch.
Compared to its predecessor, ALTDEUS makes several improvements to gameplay while retaining a vibrant art style. A lot of this revolves around mech combat and although these scenes are scripted, you can interact with various UI elements, like booting up the Makhia or lining up your rail cannon shots. Much of the VR functionality though is just looking around a 360° environment or pressing buttons to scan/interact with objects, so it is disappointing when compared to other experiences, but does just enough to justify its own existence.
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos Review – Comfort
Altdeus has minimal VR interaction, so you can play this sitting down and there’s no locomotion to consider. You’ll interact with the environment by scanning objects, piloting your mech, or choosing dialogue options; that’s basically it though. You just watch events unfold at other points in the story and click through text. Subtitles move with your head tracking, which can make it unsettling to focus on, but these can be turned off if it gets irritating.
One of the biggest gripes with Tokyo Chronos was the Japanese-only voice acting. Undoubtedly this would please the “subs over dubs” crowd but in VR, that doesn’t work nearly as well when compared to watching anime on a flat screen. So, it was quite pleasing to see that MyDearest have included English voice acting this time around and even though performances felt uneven in places, it works for the most part. Chloe’s VO felt flat at times but honestly, this leans into her character quite well. After all, we have a soldier who was designed to fight, not to feel, and it took a blind friend to change her perspective.
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos Review – Final Verdict
MyDearest have done a great job on ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos, proving that visual novels can work in virtual reality and it’s clear they took onboard feedback from Tokyo Chronos. Having added new language options and some much-needed immersion to the core gameplay, I found myself completely immersed in ALTDEUS’ story overall. Despite interactivity remaining minimal compared to other VR games, this one comes highly recommended for visual novel fans.
Tokyo Chronos was a good attempt to bring visual novels into virtual reality last year, presenting an entertaining story but minimal VR use. Now developers MyDearest have brought us a sequel, promising greater interactivity within a similar gameplay premise. Read on for our full ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos review.
You don’t need to play Tokyo Chronos to understand ALTDEUS’ plot. Whilst that entry took place in modern-day Shibuya and focused on a group of high school students, this sequel takes us 300 years into the future instead. Earth’s surface has been decimated by the mysterious Meteoras, causing humanity to flee underground to A.T. City, a place filled with holographic illusions to escape their dreaded reality. It wouldn’t be entirely accurate to describe this dystopia as Cyberpunk but it’s not far off either.
You play as Chloe, a “Designed Human” augmented to the peak of her abilities. Working for a military organization called Prometheus, you pilot a mech named the Alto Makhia, and it comes down to you to protect A.T. City whenever Meteoras come close.
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos Review – The Facts
What is it?: A VR visual novel adventure with branching paths Platforms: Quest, Quest 2, and Oculus Rift platform Price: $39.99
Haunted by the memories of Coco, a blind girl she was once sworn to protect, the two became close friends but soon after, Coco is devoured by a Meteora, leaving Chloe felling guilt with a vengeance. Unable to move on, matters are made worse by Noa, a virtual idol designed to look like Coco, one that also assists her in the Makhia.
You’ll be joined by several characters, each playing a key role and there are no minor characters here. Your immediate colleagues include Yamato, a fellow Makhia pilot with an impulsive nature and Aoba, a cooler head who takes charge of communications during missions. All of them are led by the stern General Deiter, who carries out mission planning, and there’s also the eccentric Professor Julie, head of research at Prometheus that created Chloe and Noa. Most curiously, rounding off this cast is Anima, a mysterious Meteora that’s taken human form.
Your decisions surrounding battles and each character affect how your playthrough unfolds. All communications are officially monitored by the Libra system, which suggests multiple dialogue choices when prompted. Some are less consequential and just affect people’s perception of Chloe, such as choosing whether to compliment Yamato’s swordplay or ignore his boasts. Others have a more meaningful impact that directly determine the following events, like choosing to scan a Meteora mid-battle instead of attacking it.
You’ll never get to ALTDEUS’s true ending within the first playthrough, this game is designed for replayability and multiple endings are present. Bringing a campaign that’ll keep you busy for twice as long as Tokyo Chronos, specific routes need completing before additional options appear in those original scenes. You won’t have to replay it in full either, as events can be jumped between within the Ariadne, a space bound area which lets you go back to particular story segments once unlocked.
Without spoiling the larger mysteries, I found myself thoroughly drawn into this mysterious world across these multiple playthroughs. Despite bringing the usual anime cliches like everyone having different hair colour, it kept me intrigued about the wider world too, tapping into social commentary about the surveillance state. ALTDEUS also plays into Greek mythology quite significantly and whilst both games are named after the god of time, it makes frequent references to other legends too. Between Chloe telling Coco stories about Apollo and Daphne, Noa praying to Artemis’ before battle or the A.T. City rebel group called “Organisation Patroclus”, this proved a nice touch.
Compared to its predecessor, ALTDEUS makes several improvements to gameplay while retaining a vibrant art style. A lot of this revolves around mech combat and although these scenes are scripted, you can interact with various UI elements, like booting up the Makhia or lining up your rail cannon shots. Much of the VR functionality though is just looking around a 360° environment or pressing buttons to scan/interact with objects, so it is disappointing when compared to other experiences, but does just enough to justify its own existence.
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos Review – Comfort
Altdeus has minimal VR interaction, so you can play this sitting down and there’s no locomotion to consider. You’ll interact with the environment by scanning objects, piloting your mech, or choosing dialogue options; that’s basically it though. You just watch events unfold at other points in the story and click through text. Subtitles move with your head tracking, which can make it unsettling to focus on, but these can be turned off if it gets irritating.
One of the biggest gripes with Tokyo Chronos was the Japanese-only voice acting. Undoubtedly this would please the “subs over dubs” crowd but in VR, that doesn’t work nearly as well when compared to watching anime on a flat screen. So, it was quite pleasing to see that MyDearest have included English voice acting this time around and even though performances felt uneven in places, it works for the most part. Chloe’s VO felt flat at times but honestly, this leans into her character quite well. After all, we have a soldier who was designed to fight, not to feel, and it took a blind friend to change her perspective.
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos Review – Final Verdict
MyDearest have done a great job on ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos, proving that visual novels can work in virtual reality and it’s clear they took onboard feedback from Tokyo Chronos. Having added new language options and some much-needed immersion to the core gameplay, I found myself completely immersed in ALTDEUS’ story overall. Despite interactivity remaining minimal compared to other VR games, this one comes highly recommended for visual novel fans.
It’s been over a year since IRIS VR Inc. first introduced us to LOW-FI via Kickstarter and we’ve been excited ever since. Having previously released a separate cyberpunk project for VR, Technolust, IRIS now aims to bring us an open-world sandbox game to VR, giving players full creative freedom.
Playing a police officer assigned to city-block 303, this new cyberpunk game promises open-ended choices, allowing you to “Patrol the streets and the skies, solving mysteries, fighting crime, or giving in to corruption and your own desires”. Promising a non-linear structure, this world is free to explore as you wish, choosing which crimes you wish to investigate and multiple ways to resolve them.
LOW-FI Cyberpunk VR Adventure
It smashed that initial Kickstarter target to reach over $81k in funding and hit several stretch goals, such as an additional “wastelands” area with a larger action focus and your own cyber-wolf companion. These goals also included the promise of a “Next-Gen PSVR” port, notably becoming the PlayStation 5’s first confirmed VR Game.
With Jim Ryan ruling out new VR announcements in the near term, we reached out to Blair Renaud at IRIS to discuss the implications this has on LOW-FI’s announced PS5 edition, also taking the opportunity to discuss just what we can expect from its gameplay.
Henry Stockdale, UploadVR: Firstly, thank you for joining me here Blair. For any readers unfamiliar with LOW-FI and it’s development, could you please introduce yourselves?
Blair Renaud: Hey, I’m Blair Renaud. CEO and director of IRIS VR INC. Grumpy old game dev. Probably best known for LOW-Fi and Technolust (Oculus Rift Launch title). I’ve been in the game industry for about 25 years now.
UploadVR: You’ve described LOW-FI as a huge open-world game, bringing us a sandbox style adventure with action elements. What inspired yourselves to create such an ambitious project?
Renaud: VR is one of the greatest artistic tools humanity has devised. We have the ability to transport the user into a new world of our creation. I’m a huge fan of 1980’s cinematic classics like Blade Runner, Robocop and Total Recall. So it’s natural for me to want to build similar worlds. If I had a holodeck, this is the type of program I would want to enjoy.
UploadVR: Considering the setting, LOW-FI has often compared to a VR version of Cyberpunk 2077, something you’ve also done via Twitter. In terms of gameplay though, would you say there’s much common ground between the two?
Renaud: No not really. I mean, I havent played CP2077, so I can’t really say how similar it is. Did I compare it? Maybe just to say I have flying cars and they don’t? haha. I really don’t think it will be very similar at all outside of the general genre of cyberpunk. LOW-FI will have optional gunplay, whereas it seems to be the focus of CP2077. We have no fail states. What I’m trying to create is more of an open world for a player to do whatever they feel like doing, whereas CP2077 seems to be a bit more scripted and (dare I say) linear. Though we will have multiple story-lines for the player to follow, I like to think that we’re doing something a bit different with LOW-FI.
UploadVR: Within the game, we’re playing a police officer that’s been assigned to a crime-ridden section of city-block 303. What sort of characters can we expect to meet along this journey?
Renaud: Most of the human inhabitants of the world are permanently jacked into The Platform, a sort of Facebook metaverse. The only people left are the other “low-fi”, who for one reason or another can’t or won’t subject themselves to it. Some have medical reasons, others ideological. We’ve got all types though. Corporate execs, Ugly Bob the pawnshop owner and his robot companion Penny, a mechanic who deals in illicit firmware, a cybernetics dealer named Juan who’s trying to steal advanced tech from the AI who reached an intelligence singularity and many more. On top of that there are a ton of robots of various types left behind by the singularity.
UploadVR: You’ve described it as a non-linear experience with a branching narrative, so I’d like to ask about story progression. Is that dependent on what crimes you investigate, or is there set criteria to meet before players can advance?
Renaud: That’s something I want to leave completely up to the player. For example; right off the bat, you’re told about the officer you’re replacing, who is dead in the morgue. If you want to investigate that, you’re free to do so. Clues and twists await. Or, if you want to just go to the casino and pay the slots in hopes of buying a cool arcade machine for your apartment with your winnings, you can do that too. I really want to leave it all open ended. As I said. No “save the world” stuff.
UploadVR: A morality system is also featured, giving players creative freedom in how they solve crimes, from simple arrests to accepting bribes. Does that factor into the branching paths, or are there other consequences to your actions?
Renaud: There isn’t really a morality system per se. There are however a lot of morally grey options for the player to explore. They have consequences in the same way they would in the real world. If for example, you accept a bribe, that’s on you. You’re really the only law in town, so you’ll probably get away with it. What consequence letting someone get away with a crime might have really depends on the crime though. I want those feelings to be on the player. I’m not here to tell you what I think you should do in any given situation. There’s no score system, outside of maybe money. A lot like life.
UploadVR: Does gunplay factor into that too? It’s been mentioned as an optional feature previously, so it sounds like you can solve crimes without resorting to weapons.
Renaud: Gunplay is completely optional and will be limited to use against AI. I feel like if someone want’s to play shooty-man VR, they have plenty of outlets for that. That’s said, there will be full quest-lines involving hunting down rogue androids if they player chooses to pursue them. They pay well, but I can’t guarantee some of the androids wont try to tug at your heart strings.
UploadVR: LOW-FI garnered attention as PS5’s first VR game but right now, a new PSVR headset is unconfirmed and existing headsets can only be used via backwards compatibility, Hitman 3 and No Man’s Sky being prominent examples. Jim Ryan seems to have ruled out a successor being released before 2022, so where does that leave LOW-FI’s PS5 edition?
Renaud: I can’t speak to anything about a possible PSVR 2 outside of saying that if/when it becomes available, we fully intend to port LOW-FI to it. In the meantime, we are a registered Sony developer, and are also working on a non-VR version of the game.
UploadVR: You’ve ruled out a PS4 version previously, but previous comments suggest that was more about the PS Move controllers than the console itself. Was this truly an insurmountable hurdle?
Renaud: Though the PS Move controllers are a terrible fit for the game, that’s not the only reason. PS4 is very last-gen at this point. LOW-FI is a next-gen VR title.
UploadVR: During the Kickstarter campaign, “Next-Gen PSVR” was mentioned and PS5 support was a Kickstarter stretch goal. Has Sony given you any indication to their future plans?
Renaud: Yes, but I can’t speak to them. Nor am I sure that they haven’t changed. Recent announcements indicate that they may have.
UploadVR: Your last Kickstarter campaign update confirmed a pitch had been sent to Oculus, regarding a LOW-FI spin-off called Agency for Quest. Has there been any further developments on this?
Renaud: Yes! It’s been approved! It still needs funding to justify taking people away from LOW-FI though. Fingers crossed for us!
UploadVR:Lastly, is there anything you’d like to share with LOW-FI’s fans?
Renaud: I want to thank all the current backers for their support of course! They have made my dreams come true! I’m a holodeck programmer! And if anyone want’s to help support next-gen VR and get in on the action they can purchase LOW-FI at https://anticleric.itch.io/low-fi and get immediate access to the development build which we update all the time. Then, when the game is released, they’ll be able to choose what platform they get a key for (Steam, Oculus, ect.).
Fore more on Low-Fi, be sure to check out our coverage hub and let us know what you think down in the comments below!
[UploadVR regularly commissions freelance writers to review products, write stories, and contribute op-ed pieces to the site. This article is an Q&A transcript the author conducted with the game’s developer.]
Confirmed for launch on Oculus, Steam VR and PlayStation VR, you’ll be playing an intergalactic police officer working together with Ven, a fox-like creature looking to protect his home planet from Bruce Nelson, a criminal that invaded Ven’s planet. Home to an energy source called Runes, his planet has often been threatened by invading forces and this time around, we must help Ven stop them and save his little companions along the way.
Certainly, Ven’s gameplay seems reminiscent of old-school 3D platformers like Ratchet & Clank, Mario, and Crash Bandicoot. Rather than controlling a character personally like those games however, Ven VR Adventure lets players directly interact with the main character, reaching into this world with tracked motion controllers. It’s a similar approach to Moss and Astro Bot, two games that successfully proved how platformers can work well in a VR environment.
Since then, we’ve received a few developer updates about Ven and back in June, Monologic treated us to some further gameplay footage. It gave us a small teaser for what’s to come but news has been quieter these last two months. As such, we reached out for an interview with Monologic’s Community Manager, Łukasz Konieczny, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
Ven VR Adventure: Upcoming New 3D Platformer Exclusive To VR
Henry Stockdale, UploadVR: Firstly, thank you for joining me here. For those readers unaware of your game, could you please introduce yourselves?
Łukasz Konieczny, Monologic Games Community Manager: Hello! First of all, thank you for being interested in our game. It is a great pleasure for us to talk to you about Ven. Our team was established at the beginning of 2019 in Poland. At the moment we have around 8 members making sure that soon you will receive a fun to play VR platformer.
UploadVR: Ven VR Adventure is Monologic Games’ debut title. As a new studio, have there been any unexpected challenges during development?
Konieczny: Of course, game development is very challenging in general, especially for new teams. When it comes to Ven, we are very happy because our plan works pretty well so we can reach milestones without any serious problems. However, while making VR platformer you need to think really about everything because in contrary to 2D version the player can look in any direction.
UploadVR: Since making the reveal announcement, Ven’s been compared to Crash Bandicoot. Was this a big influence on gameplay or did you take inspiration from elsewhere?
Konieczny: It is an honor to be compared to such legend as Crash. This series gives you a picture of what well-crafted platformer is. It is also a favorite game from childhood for Damian, the founder and head of our team. The biggest inspiration from Crash when talking about Ven’s gameplay is that we want it to be challenging, dynamic and satisfying. On top of that is VR technology which is an amazing addition to platformer game.
UploadVR: Platformers are often known for their colourful cast of characters; can we expect to see anything like that here?
Konieczny: One of the most important characters is Bruce Nelson, our main villain who invaded Ven’s planet. During your adventure, you will also meet Teremy, a robot companion who will assist you in various ways. There are also many unique creatures inhabiting the planet, more robots (this time the baddies from Nelson’s army) and bosses.
UploadVR: How does virtual reality factor into gameplay, is it mostly that direct interaction with Ven or did other factors draw you to VR in particular?
Konieczny: As a player, you can be physically in this world, next to Ven’s character. What we try to emphasize whenever it is possible is that Ven notices you – he can look at you, blink to you and more. Those are very subtle interactions that build your bond with Ven. There are also various interactions that influence gameplay – you can use them to help Ven in combat or during traversal in the level.
UploadVR: Did you ever consider releasing Ven on traditional platforms?
Konieczny: For now, we are strongly focused on releasing the game on multiple VR platforms. Honestly, we didn’t make any plans or decisions about that but who knows what the future will bring 😉
UploadVR: Outside of the campaign and time trials, I can see other gameplay modes have also been promised. Can you tell us anymore about these?
Konieczny: What we can say today is that there will be a special game mode that will serve as the reward after completing the main campaign. It is a surprise so you need to wait till the launch of the game 😉
UploadVR: At this point, Ven has been confirmed for Oculus, Steam VR and PlayStation VR. Are there plans to support other major PC headsets or the Oculus Quest?
Konieczny: As to the Oculus Quest, it is the future of VR but we want to wait a little bit more before providing some official information.
UploadVR: Will there be a simultaneous release between these platforms?
Konieczny: It would be perfect to have it that way haha – cannot give you the final confirmation but we would like to do it.
UploadVR: Is there a release date in mind?
Konieczny: We plan to release Ven by the end of the year and we are working hard to make it happen.
UploadVR: Lastly, is there anything you’d like to share with the fans in particular?
Konieczny: We would like to say “THANK YOU!” for all of the kind comments and support that we can see in social media. We are making Ven VR Adventure to give you tons of fun and a good time. We do hope you’ll love it once the game is finished!
Ven VR Adventure is slated for release before the end of the year on PSVR and PC VR headsets such as the Rift, Vive, and Index on both the Oculus Rift store and SteamVR. An Oculus Quest version is not confirmed, but it sounds like it could be possible eventually.
Let us know what you think of Ven VR Adventure down in the comments below!
The Wizards: Dark Times drops today for PC VR and we’ve already blasted our way through spellbinding RPG action adventure epic. What’s the verdict? Read the full The Wizards: Dark Times review below to find out!
Note: This review was original published on June 4th, 2020. It’s been updated today to include impressions of the just-launched Oculus Quest version.
The Wizards: Dark Times Review – The Facts
What is it?: A sequel to spell-casting action game, The Wizards, now complete with a full, linear campaign Platforms: Quest, PC VR (flatscreen version coming soon) Release Date: Out Now Price: $24.99
Back in 2017 The Wizards released on PC VR and delivered a capable single-player action-adventure romp through a handful of fantasy-themed levels. Basically you’d mow down the enemies, advance to the end, and repeat. There wasn’t a whole lot of meat on the bones there, but it was fun and the gesture-based magic was inventive and highly interactive.
Fast forward a few years and Carbon is back with a bigger, better, and more robust follow-up that feels like a more fully-realized version of what the original wanted to be.
In The Wizards: Dark Times, a mysterious plague befalls the realm of Meliora and it’s up to you to journey through the Forsaken Wood and take on twisted apocalyptic evil mages. It’s a pretty straight forward plot, but it fits the game’s more linear design well.
Admittedly, things start off very slowly in The Wizards: Dark Times. In fact, it’s a solid 15 minutes or so before you even battle your first enemy. Instead, you spend those minutes learning your beginning spells like the fireball, shield, ice bow, and a force push (sorry, erm, Arcane Pulse!) spells that are all activated by different hand gestures.
For example, you create a fireball by holding the trigger in one hand and twisting it over — it’s simple and effective. Summon a shield by holding the trigger and sliding a hand from outside your shoulder to in front of your chest. Use the pulse spell by holding the grip button, pulling your hand in towards your elbow, and then pushing forward quickly. It can sound complicated when listed out like that, but all 11 spells are unique and feel extremely natural. A lot of thought clearly went into gestures that feel appropriate for the specific spell, it’s not just randomly mapped movements.
The Wizards: Dark Times Review – The Quest Effect
Nearly an entire year on from PC release and Dark Times is finally available on Quest. The entire campaign mode is included, though Carbon is still working on the arena mode on standalone. This version of the game holds up well – there are some heavy and expected hits to the visual fidelity, but the performance is incredibly smooth and the lack of a wire allows for more active gameplay. For a more detailed comparison, make sure to check out this week’s graphics side-by-side.
One great example is a massive burst spell called Storm Nova (shown in the GIF above) that’s triggered by casting Lightning in both hands, holding the grip buttons, rotating your hands to create an orb of electricity, and then dramatically spreading your hands out wide so the ball of energy erupts. The magic system is like this throughout the game so that it’s less about memorizing gestures and more about intuitively moving your body and interacting with the environment.
Compared to the first game there is a lot more going on here. Throughout levels there’s constant (and solid) voice acting that fleshes out the world a bit and makes it feel more established. You’ll not only blast away enemies with your powerful magic, but also solve some light environmental puzzles and climb plenty of walls.
Speaking of climbing walls, they take quite a while to scale. Reaching between ledges (or in some cases, mushrooms) is a bit tedious — especially after flinging myself across entire islands in Stormland. Luckily you can leverage the teleportation system to quickly reach areas instead of climbing if you want.
Pretty much everything else in terms of gameplay, combat, and the like all felt and flowed well. Audio is another story though. The voice acting itself is better than I expected, but the audio quality is hit or miss. Sometimes the volume spikes and leads to a garbled static sound for voices. I also noticed your character’s footsteps are incredibly loud (and far too rapid) when using smooth continuous movement. I had the speed as high as it would go and it sounded like my character was taking two or three steps for every slight movement forward. There is no footstep volume slider, only sound effects, which means lowering that also lowers all spell sounds, which are supremely satisfying to hear.
I’d also recommend turning off subtitles unless you need them to enjoy the game. The font and color are obnoxious and extremely distracting.
The Wizards: Dark Times Review –Comfort
The Wizards: Dark Times has all the comfort options you’d expect. You can play using snap turning or smooth turning; continuous movement, teleport movement, or both; sitting or standing; right or left handed for primary movement; adjustable height from the options menu; as well as an FOV vignette adjustment. Personally, I cranked everything up to full speed without a vignette and felt fine. I also tested the game wirelessly on Oculus Quest using Virtual Desktop and didn’t notice any issues. This was actually my preferred way of playing for wireless roomscale.
The Wizards: Dark Times Review – Final Verdict
At its core, The Wizards: Dark Times is a power fantasy come to life. There aren’t any mana bars to worry about, potions to refill your magic points, or any complex skill trees. You play through the game, learn new spells, and use those spells as you need them, when you need them. By the end, you’ll feel like an earth-shattering powerhouse of arcane fury.
All of this stuff adds up to this feeling like a fullyrealized adventure rather than just a series of arena-style battles strung together. Carbon has a real franchise on its hands here. Minor gripes aside, The Wizards is one of the few action-adventure games in VR that isn’t all about melee combat or shooting guns. It’s still a bit rough around the edges, but it delivers on its promises all the same.
The Wizards never lets you forget you’re playing a VR game. Rarely do more than 10 seconds pass without the need for grand hand gestures to summon magic or for you to reach out and interact with things around you. They’ve got a great magic system that’s intuitive and fun to master in a fantastical world that provides a unique type of adventure you won’t quite find anywhere else.
Not many VR games allow you to roam and jump around freely like traditional non-VR games often do, but Orion13hopes to give players access to that. The first-person VR hack-and-slash title aims to deliver a full-fledged story-based action game to VR players, and during PAX East 2020, I got the chance to run through some of the adventure.
Orion13 puts you in the robotic shoes of its titular character, a character that has not only become self-aware, but is now looking to break free from society and head back home. Throughout the game, you’ll have to solve various puzzles, learn the secrets the game has to offer and, most importantly, slash your way through a surprisingly large variety of enemies. A challenge mode also exists for players who want to test their might against hordes of enemies, with an online leaderboard showcasing just who the best of the best is.
Movement in Orion13 fairly standard, with your controllers operating how you move and your head acting as where you aim and look. The world of Orion13 is a very bright and colorful one, and surprisingly large. Speaking with Metro VR Studios’ President and Lead Developer Scott Matalon, he said it was his goal to give players a sense of scale and show them just how much there was to do in every level. Some of the tall buildings you might see ahead as you explore will be explored later, for example, meaning that the pretty backdrop you see isn’t just there to make you stare in awe.
When it comes to fighting enemies, Orion13 takes the generic hack-and-slash combat mechanics and tweaks it just a bit. Instead of being able to simply flail your arms around to win, you’ll have to actually try and land heavy strikes against enemies. Many times during my demo, I was forced to retreat from a fight because I wasn’t landing enough hard hits. I needed to relearn my combat tendencies.
Because the game tracks how hard you’re swinging the sword as well, it can take some time to get used to just how to take enemies down, but once you do, it’s extremely satisfying to feel the strength of your swing correlate to an attack in the game. The enemies in the game aren’t any slouches either, as they can take you down very quickly if you let them. Unfortunately, there are some issues with the combat, specifically due to when enemies swarm you.
Enemies often got very close, making combat not only even more difficult, but downright impossible thanks to how the game is meant to be played. Thankfully, there are features to help you get out of a bind, as you’re equipped with two different abilities, one of which allows you to sap life from an enemy and give it to yourself, and the other freezes an enemy and lets you unleash a flurry of attacks on it. The lack of distance from enemies can get annoying, but at least you do have these options to make the fight fairer for you.
Outside of the combat, it was clear during my time with the demo that Orion13 aims to be much more than just a simple hack-and-slash title. During the end of the first level, you’re presented with a button pressing puzzle – one of many puzzles in the game, according to Matalon – to solve in order to proceed. Later in the game, you can also find various platforming sections, which sees you having to time jumps across large chasms, a feat that isn’t too hard in a non-VR game, but becomes much more challenging (and even more rewarding) when you have to stare down the jump in a virtual world.
During my brief time with Orion13, it was clear that the focus was very much on creating something that encompassed a ton of genres. The heavy focus may have been on hack-and-slash action, but there were other elements very creatively layered on that made me want to keep playing. Given that the combat is so much of the game, it could use some more fine-tuning to further enhance things. Orion13 may not have the polish of a AAA VR title, but it does have a ton of ambition, and manages to stick the landing on many of its attempts.
Community Download is a weekly discussion-focused articles series published (usually) every Monday in which we pose a single, core question to you all, our readers, in the spirit of fostering discussion and debate. For today’s Community Download, we want to hear whether or not you think Half-Life: Alyx has any chance of living up to the astronomical hype?
After years and years of speculation, memes, and anticipation, Valve is finally releasing a brand new Half-Life game this month. Not only is it a VR-only title that was designed from the ground up to be played with a VR headset, it’s also the first title in the series to put players in the shoes of Half-Life 2’s Alyx Vance rather than the usual protagonist, Gordon Freeman.
The Half-Life series has earned the reputation of always marking major shifts in the way video games are made. When the original released it redefined the first-person shooter genre and its sequel brought the medium to new heights of gameplay interactivity. With Alyx’s impending release, Valve likely aims to do the same thing once again, but this time for VR.
Expectations couldn’t be much higher, save for perhaps if they had decided to make this the next numbered entry in the series. Instead, the events in Half-Life: Alyx take place between the first and second main entries to fill in some gaps and build the universe more.
With all of that said, the question at hand is: Will Half-Life: Alyx live up to the hype? Is it even possible for a game to meet those expectations? Will it maybe even surpass them?
What do you think? Let us know down in the comments below! Half-Life: Alyx releases on Steam for all major PC VR headsets on March 23.
