THE VR GRID

PSVR PSVR‘ alt=’PSVR’ id=’templ_icon_36′ width=’40’ height=’40’ /> Hub Category: PSVR PSVR

  • Five Nights at Freddy’s VR: Help Wanted

    Five Nights at Freddy’s VR: Help Wanted

    Developer / Publisher – Steel Wool Studios / ScottGames
    Price(PS) – US $29.99 / EU €29.99 / UK £24.99 / AU $42.95
    Release Date – May 28th, 2019
    Control Method – 2 x Move Controllers, DS4
    Pro Patch – Yes
    Digital only – No
    Reviewed on –PSVR (PS4 Pro)

    I fully admit to not having any clue as to what this franchise is about out other then scary animatronic creatures coming to life and you needing to survive the night with them…which, it turns out is pretty much exactly what the original game is about.  The closest I got to this franchise before VR was a one time attempt on a phone that I failed miserably on and never returned to.  Help Wanted is a collection of those previous smaller games all rolled into one “VR simulation” package and gives you a variety of scares as you play through a few different game types where you either survive or meet your end in recreated event from the first games taking place in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.

    This dude seems to do this a lot

    You can use a DS4 or Moves here and I highly recommend the former as the DS4 is tracked and requires you to reach the edges of the tracked area, at times causing loss of controller detection or button presses not triggering accurately, not to mention you lose the use of 2 hands as you now only have one controller to operate the equipment in front of you.  Contained in here are the first 4 FNaF games with each having 4 chapters to get through.  Getting through them is simple enough, just survive until 6AM and your done.  Each of these 4 games mixes up the action by requiring you to manage power for your doors and light, maintain music in a room, shine light on select rooms and a few more options.  The goal is to keep an eye on these animatronic monstrosities as they lurk the restaurant you are in, making sure to hide or avoid detection.  You watch them through the surveillance system, which in horribly unreliable giving you a small glimpse in a few rooms and constantly glitching out allowing you to easily lose sight of these robots which is all part of the fun.

    Maintenance is a stressful job.

    Beyond the 4 games are a few others that require you to let a robot move around in the dark and you must shine a flashlight to freeze it in position.  They key here is you want the robot to be frozen on a specific spot in the room when a countdown timer hits zero.  Another mode has you maintaining the robots, who are right in front of you, requiring you to clean them and fix them without screwing up as one wrong move makes those robots very angry…like a twisted game of operation if you will.  The next one has you fixing vents in front of you and to the sides and requires button presses and lever pulls all while one of those creatures tries to move in and kill you.  The last involves teleporting from a few spots in an area, closing doors and shining lights to block the incoming robot from seeing you and taking you out.

    As this is a collection of flat titles ported to VR from games as old as 5 years ago…Some of the visuals do look simple and dated.  Nothing in here looks inherently awful and making janky looking robots the villains allows me to forgive much of the jank in the 1st 2 chapters specifically.  As this is almost an entirely stationary affair, you rely very heavily on your cameras and surrounding controls and everything looks pretty decent in the headset.  Many stages have you in darkness using some form of temporary light to get glimpses into rooms on camera or nearby, possibly only giving you seconds to react to an encroaching robot.  Given just how limited each stage is, the singular setting gave me an almost claustrophobic feel as it seemed danger lurked around every corner which is exactly what this game is trying to do…unnerve you.  The animatronic robots look increasingly disturbing from 1 chapter to the next, especially when they are just standing in front of a camera staring right you, or even worse when they are closer than that.

    Why do they always come in threes?

    Just as important as the visuals are, audio is also equally substantial in every game as the only indication that a robot is seconds away from you may be the sound of a banged vent or scuffling on the floor.  Each stage has you talking to your ‘boss’ who drones on and on about each stages goals and tools you can use to survive the night which can be helpful, but as it’s the same recording every time you start the game, I ended up ignoring the guy after not too long.  In other stages, specifically the maintenance level, he gives you specific instructions to follow so you need to pay attention to every word he says.  Music is subdued, but intense and jump scare sound effect accompany each attempt to spook you giving those moments a cinematic feel.

    My largest complaint with Help Wanted is that when you start almost any game, it’s unclear what you are supposed to do which almost guarantees death on your first few runs.  The dude who talks on the phone does give helpful advice but leaves out critical stuff as well like that using doors in the first stage consumes power.  It’s not rocket-science and the games are simple once you get the hang of them, but I found that every time I died in those 1st few attempts, it’s because I had no clue what I was doing.  I’m assuming this is intentional just so you do die a few times, but it feels a little lazy to force that kind of failure upon the user.  Every successful night survived unlocks a collectible or you can find coins hidden in each stage to purchase additional ones though as far as I can tell they serve no purpose other then just being collectibles so if you  don’t care about that, you don’t have too.  Otherwise it’s just about scares and as cheap as they can be at times, there is a reason why jump scares are so fun to watch and those who may be more susceptible to freaking yourselves out will find plenty of opportunities to do so here.

    I mean, 2 sets of jagged teeth is a little excessive

    Help Wanted delivers on an unofficial promise of porting classic titles to VR and however you feel about this franchise, putting it right in your face does make it better, if not scarier.  With that said, this is basically just a collection of previous titles so those who are already familiar with those games may find the gameplay here to be on the easier side.  Once I figured out what to do in any stage, it became very easy to repeat the steps to succeed leaving little reason to revisit conquered stages.  Unlockable harder modes spice things up a bit for those looking to spend extra time in the game If you want to a quick and hilarious way to scare yourself or  your friends in a headset, Five Nights at Freddy’s in VR is pretty much guaranteed to offer some solid spooks.

    What would I pay?  This is $30US for a couple hours of fun at the most and while I do recommend this to demo VR, that price still seems a little high, capitalizing on the popularity of the franchise.  $20 seems more apt when compared to other ‘scare-loaded’ VR games and if you don’t like jump scares, it’s probably best to steer clear of this or at the very least see what the flat or mobile versions have to offer 1st.

    Lionsgate provided The VR Grid with a press code for this title and, regardless of this review, we thank them for that!

  • Eleven Eleven

    Eleven Eleven

    Developer / Publisher – NBC Universal International / Universal Studios Interactive
    Price(PS) – US $19.99 / EU €20.99 / UK £16.99 / AU $31.95
    Release Date – May 23rd, 2019
    Control Method – 2 x Move Controllers
    Pro Patch – No
    Digital only – Yes
    Reviewed on –PSVR (PS4 Pro)

    Eleven Eleven is not a game but a cinematic experience very similar to what we got in one of VR’s best titles, ‘The Invisible Hours’ only in this one there is no ‘whodunit’ mystery to solve as instead you follow 6 different characters on the planet of Kairos Linea before the world is obliterated 11 minutes and 11 seconds from the games onset.  An introductory video briefly explains the planets history leading up to this point rife with violence, conquest, suppression and rebellion which goes along ways to filling in many of the blanks as you are introduced to each character.

    The timer is always counting down

    Your 1st time though the game limits your controls and forces you to take in the plight of a mother and son as they try and escape off planet.  After that viewing controls unlock that allow you to pause, rewind and fast forward time as well as zooming in or out on the action and the ability to teleport anywhere around the map, exploring where other characters may have been at any given time.  It should be noted that for some reason, only the Move controllers are supported, which given how limited your interactions are seems like an odd choice as the DS4 would work just the same.  The 6 stories you follow also involve a rebel alien soldier, the leader of the company about to nuke the planet, her #1 officer, a bartender and robot all of whom interact with each other in 1 way or another.  You can view the entire setting from up high, known as Goddess Mode, which is a fun way to see where everybody is though loses all of the story as you can’t hear any of the acting.  The best way to view the story, at least at first is to individually watch each character in cinematic mode so you don’t miss any vital moments.

    Opting for a more cartoonish look, Eleven, Eleven looks great in the headset and reminded very much of ‘The Great C’ in both the presentation and how this story was filmed.  The main characters all look good and carry a ton of detail up close, though many scenes have them at a distance whereupon much of those details are lost, including pupils making their eyes white only, which was a little distracting.   That’s not the games fault, as the screen resolution makes it difficult to showcase anything in the distance, especially when you consider just how large of an area this takes place in.  It’s a city on an alien world yet everything seems very familiar be it a run-down part of town, bar, office or loading dock, all with a little sci-fi flare.  Distant ships take off outside the city and some simple lighting effects are here as well casting shadows where they should.  Some character animations can look a little off and stiff at times, but for the most part I thought the visuals did an excellent job at helping tell these short tales.

    Seeing when main characters meet is always a treat

    On the audio side, this is a very cinematic experience rife with music fitting individual scenes and some solid voice acting from everyone involved.  The performances are highlight and as each one only gets 11 minutes to make you believe in them and their motivations, the reliance on their emotions is pivotal into believing in this world. The 3D audio is spotty at best with it being more based around how far you are away from an audio source then what direction it’s coming from, making for some awkward moments when you are listening to 2 conversations at the same time or having a hard time hearing the conversation right in front of you, but those moments only occurred a few times throughout all 6 stories.

    What’s missing from Eleven Eleven that I much loved in The Invisible Hours is the mystery.  I was enthralled by TIH as new mysteries were constantly introduced and character motives ever changed keeping me on my toes and wanting to explore the house.  In here, the story feels more linear and direct.  So much so that I never really deviated from the cinematic way the story plays by default.  After I viewed all 6 stories and unlocked the epilogue, I did go back in just to check on a few characters only met briefly throughout the branching stories but for the most part, these never really went anywhere and just added to the sense that world was still moving on around you, with out actually mattering to the story.  With that said, I did very much enjoy the separate stories and how they came together and wish this was longer as I would have loved to have spent a bit more time with each person.  Despite that, I thought the story telling was great, especially considering each person only has 11 minutes to tell their tale and the idea of these key events happening all the same time and even seeing them occur in the distance does make for an intriguing narrative.

    You can travel around a bulk of this city

    While I would have loved to have spent more time in this universe, what’s here is still some great story telling.  The added ability to customize how you choose to view any and all of the scenes or just explore nearby areas is just cool and highlights the strength of the VR medium when it comes these kinds of experiences.  If you dig The Invisible Hours or are looking to experience sci-fi VR film, Eleven Eleven delivers where it needs to make for a very compelling experience.

    What would I pay? Considering there is just over an hour of content here plus any kind of messing around and exploring you want to do after the fact, I do feel that the $20 asking price is a bit high.  Like I said, I enjoyed my time in here and the stories don’t all overlap too much as to make the games later viewing redundant, but I think dropping this to the $15 price range makes it a much more appealing package.

  • Blood and Truth

    Blood and Truth

    Developer / Publisher – London Studio /  SIEA
    Price(PS) – US $39.99 / EU €39.99 / UK £34.99 / AU $54.95
    Release Date – May 28th, 2019
    Control Method – 2 x Move Controllers, DS4
    Pro Patch – Yes
    Digital only – No
    Reviewed on –PSVR (PS4 Pro)

    For those of you who have played The London Heist, Blood and Truth is going to feel instantly familiar as much of the gameplay from that short VR demo has been carried over here.  Once again, you are involved in the seedier side of things as a family member in a prominent criminal organization based in London.  Of course, a situation arises that tasks you with defeating a new player in town who want to take over London’s criminal empire and leave your family in the dust.

    Meet the family.

    You can play this with a DS4, and it works, locking your hands into fixed position in front of you and assigning weapon switches and interactions to all the buttons on the controller, but the way to play this is with 2 Move controllers.  Improving upon its predecessor in almost every way, Blood and Truth has node-based movement, which typically is a less then stellar locomotion option in a game, but it works with the action nicely here.  Look at a spot, hit the Move button and you will slowly navigate to that spot.  What’s nice about this is that you can still shoot your weapons, toss grenades or do whatever you can as the action does not stop during these traveling moments.  One and 2-handed weapons are available here ranging from a simple pistol to machine guns, shot guns, rocket launchers and few more with the option to customize them, changing their look and adding attachments to make for a more deadly arsenal.  Your guns are strapped to your side and back and require you to grab them to arm yourself with extra ammo strapped to chest for easy reloads once you expend a clip.  Throughout the game you will have to perform a variety of tasks from finding hidden items, picking locks, playing as DJ, placing explosives, navigating security cameras and a ton more smaller tasks which help break up the gameplay nicely.

    You will be doing a lot of things besides shooting bad guys.

    Blood and Truth is a cinematic VR dream brought to our headsets.  The story takes place entirely from first-person perspective with you playing as Ryan Marks, who deals with a few different time periods as you flashback to your time in the military, an interrogation where you reveal events from the past by then playing through them, which is a bulk of the campaign.  While there is plenty of action in here, there is also a lot of dialogue and scripted moments where you take the time to really scrutinize the visuals and they hold up wonderfully.  The character models look great and while some do look better then others in my opinion, they all look really good as their eyes follow your head movements and the facial animations elicit a ton of emotion.  Level design is equally on par with a ton of varying locations from the war-torn desert, casino/hotel, art house and city streets as you may be involved in 1 or 2 high-speed chases.  Many stages are littered with destructible items like vases and glass bottles which add the chaos as you battle the bad guys in some hectically fun gun fights.  There are plenty more setting then those I mentioned giving Blood and Truth the feeling like you are in a Mob movie as the overarching story plays out in AAA cinematic fashion.

    Keeping in line with the movie quality presentation is the top-quality voice acting which delivers in spades.  There is not one weak link in the performances be it you, your interrogator, family members or the bad guys and even when some of these non-action sequences ran long, I was never once left feeling bored or antsy.    Fret not though as the action sequences are equally on par with the 3D audio letting you know what direction enemies are coming at you from as well.  Every gun pops with a satisfying explosion of sound and even just messing with items scattered around showcases a sense of audio polish that we just don’t get enough of in our headsets.   It should be noted that, like The London Heist, there is a fair bit of ‘adult’ language as F-bombs are thrown around with reckless abandon.

    There are some truly breath taking moments in the game.

    The campaign should run you in the 5 to 6-hour mark with it maybe taking a little longer on the harder difficulty as you might die a few extra times.  If you do die, there is a very nice checkpoint system in place that starts you off almost exactly were you failed.  Hidden items and targets to shoot as well as some clever interactions as well are scattered throughout the game offering a reason to replay a stage as some of them can be very hard to get on your 1st try.  One reason for this is you can’t travel back to a previous node, meaning if you saw an item or something you missed, you need play through again as you can’t backtrack, which is a little annoying.   This is further exacerbated by the other actions you’ll perform like when your character is running through a hotel, taking a leap of faith on a rooftop or climbing through vents.  All those actions (and more) work near flawlessly further hammering home just how much ‘awesome’ this game throws your way.  Sure, it’s sort of on the rails and while many will bemoan the lack of full locomotion, but the movement system works wonderfully here and allows you to focus on the action.  I did run into the occasional tracking issue, typically when trying to grab a clip and reload my weapon while getting shot as and it’s these busy scenes when the Moves falter a bit, but they never killed me, just had me fumbling a little more then would be ideal and for the most part, I found the tracking to be spot on.

    There is plenty of action in here!

    The name of the game here is action and while there are some large narrative bits, they just serve to set up the plot and bring you the next action sequence.  There are some stealth missions in here and a slow-motion mechanic as well which you can trigger on your own accord and unleash all hell as you can still move at normal speed.  Add in some fun hand gestures, gun flips, and other cute little interactions like bringing a grenade to your mouth and pulling the pin out making Blood and Truth a game that just keeps on giving.  When you think you have seen all the game has to offer, the next stages adds something new, and then the next one after that does the same and it’s the constant feeling of bigger and better that purveys the entire campaign and from start to finish…I was enthralled.

    What would I pay?  The $40 asking price puts this in the higher end of PSVR titles and is worth every penny.  Blood and Truth is the reason why many of us bought a PSVR headset, we just didn’t know it then and is a wonderful showcase title for those looking for some intense action.

  • Everybody’s Golf VR

    Everybody’s Golf VR

    Developer / Publisher – Japan Studio, Clap Hanz / SIEA
    Price(PS) – US $29.99 / EU €24.99 / UK £19.99 / AU $42.95
    Release Date – May 21st, 2019
    Control Method – 1 x Move Controllers, DS4
    Pro Patch – Yes
    Digital only – No
    Reviewed on –PSVR (PS4 Pro)

    I’m not a golf guy.  The closest I’ve got to loving the sport is rooting for Happy Gilmore to succeed in a movie I knew he was destined to succeed in.   With that said, it is shocking that it has taken almost 3 YEARS for us PSVR users to FINALLY get a true-to-life golf game.  In fact, the closest we got was a small mini game in Carnival games which gave us the smallest taste of the glories of golfing in VR.  Well now we have a golf game for…not you, not me, but for EVERYBODY that aims to deliver a true to life simulation of a sport many of us love and many more of us have been looking forward to trying in virtual reality.

    Practice makes perfect!

    Unsurprisingly, you only need 1 Move controller here as that controller will act as your club, though the DS4 controller is supported but does hamper the immersion.  The Move plays exactly like you would expect with the DS4 acting the exact same with your club being mapped to the controller’s position making it just feel awkward.  If you have the choice use the Move and if you only have a Ds4 and want to play golf…buy a Move controller. There are 3 courses available and a driving range to really get comfortable before you tackle one of the 18- hole courses.  For myself, the game did a great job at calibrating height and proper distance from the ball, though I did find myself adjusting my physical position a bit, which is exactly what you would do in the real world, so I had zero issues there.   You can cycle through a variety of clubs though the game automatically picks what it suggests as the ideal ball whacker for your current situation (rough, sand, fairway or the green) though given my limited knowledge of the sport, I stuck with the game’s defaults without any issue.  From here you can just hit the ball or adjust some options like the angle at which you are standing or choice of club.  At the games onset you customize your sex, height and hand position and should you decide any of the options chosen are not too your liking, you can switch em’ up at any time.  The driving range offers you a variety of shot types from ground to upper level drives, as well as putting and shooting from the rough and allows you to move the ball to whatever position you like and practice to your heart’s content.  Once you feel comfortable you can dive into 1 of the 3 courses, provided you have unlocked them,  and see just how good your skills are.

    Nothing like a trip to the beach.

    Everybody’s Golf looks solid, offering top quality and crystal-clear visuals that should make everyone happy.  The courses offer a variety of settings from beach areas, cliff sides and of course classic golfing greens surrounded by trees.  The few character models you see look great with the option to pick from a few different caddies to accompany you during the game.  Wind effects are at play as well and you can test that with a press of a button which will show your virtual hand drop some picked grass to give you a rough idea on how it will affect your balls path.  During putting sessions, you can bring up a grid to help guide your shot with the options for an aerial view of the course as well.  Ambient effects like birds flying around or trees blowing in the wind look fantastic with the overall visual presentation being top quality.  One issue of note would be the use of foveated rendering in the game which is really noticeable with the focal center and outer edges having a very visible line where the graphics go from being focused to a bit blurry and I did notice it throughout my play.

    Some of the courses are truly gorgeous!

    Sound design is equally on point, though does right by not really getting anything wrong.  The music played is friendly and harmless, immediately pushing itself into the background as unnoticeable, but I liked it over playing in silence.  You caddie may offer tips to help you which is fine and the voice work is solid, though as this was originally developed in Japan, the voices don’t always match the mouths on the models.  The caddies do repeat themselves fairly often offering the same advice over and over, and an option to turn them off feels missed as they will actually talk during your shots.  The ‘THWACK’ of your club connecting with the ball is satisfying and sound very real, as does any of the other effects like playing from the rough or sand traps adding a level of authenticity that I greatly appreciated.

    Like any golf game, you can keep track of your best score on each course thanks to local leaderboards which brings me to my biggest issue with the game…NO MULTIPLAYER!!!  It baffles me how this was overlooked as the multiplayer design hasn’t changed in golf games since they have existed.  The lack of multiplayer, given that all would be needed would be in-game voice chat and a spectator camera while another player took his turn is to me, inconceivable.  Because of this oversight, I can’t help but think that a ton of value just feels missing from this title.  That’s not to say it’s worthless, far from it as golfing though the 54 holes available was a ton of fun, but without the challenge of playing against friends, I just don’t see myself returning to the game after I play though all of the available content.   It’s worth noting as well that you can unlock mirror mode for the courses, effectively doubling the amount of holes you can play.  My 2nd item to bring up would be the scaling Everybody’s Golf applies to the clubs and swings.  Whether you are Golfing veteran or a newbie to the sport, the physics system is set up to accommodate everybody, which I initially took offense too, but realized that it does allow for anybody to pick this up and play without feeling like a total loser.  The lack of competitive multiplayer makes this moot, but for those who are applying their real world skills to the game, they may be a little disappointed to realize the anyone can swing a Move controller 1-handed and potentially launch a ball with just as much accuracy and speed as someone playing like they mean it.  My last bone of contention would be that a bulk of the games content is limited when you start and you must play through 3 random holes to unlock more modes, clubs, caddies and courses which just seemed a tad uneccessary.  At the very least the courses should have been available without needing to play through smaller randomized sections for essentially no reason except to unlock them.

    No matter which caddie you choose, they will all annoy you.

    At the end of the day, Everybody’s Golf does what it needs to do to make it a success, but it’s not perfect by any stretch.  The presentation more then does the job and the accommodating physics allow anyone to give it a go.  The lack of multiplayer or even to play against AI is notable, but not a deal breaker as it’s still a ton of fun to swing a club in VR.  As forgiving as the physics can be at times, it still felt great to nail a long distance putt or smash a perfectly straight drive and for those reasons alone, I say this is still a winner!

    What would I pay? $30 is worth it provided you have been looking forward to golfing in VR as we have had nothing up to this point to fill that niche and this works well.  For those who want a little more then a single player only experience, you’ll be left wanting but even still, there is nothing else like this for the PSVR, and it’s a great game to share with others and is another show piece for the headset.

  • Bartender VR Simulator

    Bartender VR Simulator

    Developer / Publisher – VR Factory
    Price(PS) – US $19.99 / EU €N/A / UK £N/A / AU $N/A
    Release Date – May 30th, 2019
    Control Method – 2 x Move Controllers
    Pro Patch – No
    Digital only – Yes
    Reviewed on –PSVR (PS4 Pro)

    Have you ever wanted to tend bar…but really hate people?  Well then does VR Factory have a game for you!  Now you can experience all the joy of mixing a variety of drinks for no one in particular for no pay and the risk of failure ever looming!  That just about sums up Bartender VR Simulator, but let’s dive a little deeper, shall we?

    It’s time to get mixing!

    It has ‘simulator’ in the name so you’ll be using your hands in this one as Move controllers are your only control option.  You are placed in front of a bar with a variety of drink ingredients spread out before, which do differ up a little between the 4 stages.  Each stage has 3 modes.  Practice teaches you step by step how to make all 4 drinks in that setting.  Challenge mode tasks you with making the most drinks in 10 minutes and free mode lets you make whatever you want without any fear of failure.  The 4 stages are all available to play at the games onset but challenge modes are locked  until you beat the previous stages challenge.   When you need to make a drink, the game just puts it in front of you and says make this, whereupon you’ll have to place a napkin on the bar, then grab your cup and make that drink.  You’ll have to add ice, cola, all manor of alcohol and garnishes with later stages requiring you to stir the drink, or shake it up in a mixer for some smooth martini’s.  Your score is given to you in dollar amounts with you losing points based upon over or under pouring, flare and the speed at which you make your drink.  If you do anything out of order, spill to much or break anything, that drink is an insta-fail and you need to start over or move on.

    Bartender does not look good.  It doesn’t look awful but takes to many shortcuts in the visual department making for a washed out mess.  Everything is pixelated and grainy, even the bar in front of you and your ingredients.  Often times I had to hold a bottle up to my face to read the label until I memorized their position in front of me.  The 4 settings range from a night club, uppity bar, beach and roof top and all are littered with people repeating the same animations over and over.  That’s not to bad of thing as you’ll be to focused on the drinks to notice them anyway, but when you take a second or 2 to look around and realize the models repeat themselves often and lack any kind of facial features, it feels like you are in a simulation…and not a good one.  The liquids all have real-world physics, but the gravity at play is off with things being bit floaty, or just flying away should whatever you drop not like what it hit.  The drinks are clearly the focus and would look good, save for those washed out visual which make everything a little hard to look at.

    Cheers!

    Each stage adds a little audio atmosphere whether it be the generic song in the nightclub,  the sounds of the beach or the easy-listening tunes in the higher-class locations.  The music in here is alright but the given how much time you might spend in a single stage, the one looping track in each stage (minus the beach) does get a little grating after not too long.  Your English-accented bodiless host explains the steps to make each drink and should you need hints, is also there to tell you what to do next though using these will also cost you points.

    The driving force to “beat” the game is to play through all the challenge modes and unlock ‘Pro’ mode and, I’m not going to lie, I have no idea what that mode is and I don’t care.  Mixing and making the drinks is fine enough, but fighting with physics is frustrating.  The first step to many drinks is to scoop ice and pour it into your cup, but for some reason, I’m assuming to make it seem authentic, your scooper gets caught in the ice for a brief moment causing ice to go everywhere and forcing you to try again at slower pace.  Dropping anything is insta-fail, doing anything out of order; fail, to much or too little drink; fail and that’s all fine as this is a true to life simulator, what’s not fine is that it’s just frustrating and boring.  The whole point of this game is to get better at  making drinks and doing so with flare, which is laughable as the physics, when combined with the tracking, makes even just tossing something from left to right hand near impossible.  I often performed the the next proper step and was told I failed, I lost my ice scooper forcing me to restart the stage, my screen went black once, forcing a game restart and the speed and accuracy required to pass the challenges is no fun.  Between every failed drink, the game would attempt to recalibrate my position, putting me to far away from the bar, forcing me to move to close to the camera, losing tracking,  or calibrate far away, then walk forward to be in the proper position, only to repeat that process every time I had to make a new drink and only adding to an already frustrating experience.

    Sitting on a beach full of faceless clones has never been more…unnerving.

    This isn’t even a game, it’s a training simulation for a bartender, and not a very good one.  Sure, memorizing those drinks and getting through the challenge modes is possible, but when you are constantly fighting the game to get there, what’s the point?  Any kind of attempt at flare ends up with broken bottles and a fail.  You can practice more and more, but it’s just making the same drinks over and over until you have them memorized so you can make the same drinks over and over to get a high score so you can make more drinks over and over.  For all intents and purposes, this is the Crisis VRigade of the Job Sim genre, only with a ton of added jank, and the only reason to play this is because you hate YouTube and probably yourself a little bit.

    What would I pay?  For $5 this is good for a laugh, but as a serious game or simulation, it fails to entertain for more then a few minutes and asks much more of you then that.  If you want to learn how to tend bar, watch a video because this isn’t going to help at all except to teach you 16 drink recipes and force you to make them until you hate yourself.

  • BOXVR

    BOXVR

    Developer / Publisher – FitXR
    Price(PS) – US $29.99 / EU €24.99 / UK £22.99 / AU $42.95
    Release Date – April 30th, 2019
    Control Method – 2 x Move Controllers
    Pro Patch – No
    Digital only – Yes
    Reviewed on –PSVR (PS4 Pro)

    Physical games and VR would seem to go hand in hand and we have had titles that promote movement and physical activity with games like Creed, Beat Saber, SUPERHOT VR, Knockout League and few others.  Out of nowhere (for myself anyways) come BoxVR, a title based around boxing movements that focuses more on working out then gameplay, but rest assured, there is still plenty of game here to play.

    It’s tougher then it looks!

    You need 2 motion controllers, as it’s a workout sim that tracks your movements.  A quick tutorial explains the motions you will be required to perform which are jabs, uppercuts, crosses, blocking and dodging.  What are you punching exactly?  Orbs identifying which punch will be required to score points.  How do these orbs appear?  They come at you from a distance, making their way toward you with more appearing behind them with occasional obstacles to dodge as well.  Sound familiar?  BoxVR is very similar to Beat Saber, but instead of swords, you use your fists and before you go shouting ‘it’s a Beat Saber knockoff!’, BoxVR has been available on the PC side of things since mid 2017, well before the release of VR’s most popular rhythm game.  BoxVR is broken down into workout regimes so you can freely pick any one and go, ranging from 2 minutes to an hour or so with options to make your own workouts out of the songs available.  Each time you connect with a punch rewards you with points and combo modifiers with well timed punches scoring even more points.  You can set daily goals as far as how long you would like to play for and every song keeps track of calories burned and your overall progress giving a great sense of reward.

    Multiplayer is also available though isn’t much more then 2 people playing at the same time to see who can get the better score.  That’s actually awesome in theory but in practice you don’t get to see the other person, just a score board comparing both scores in real-time.  Even in-game chat isn’t available forcing you to a party up with those you may want to work out in tandem with leaving the multiplayer component feeling almost no different then the single player content.

    BoxVR is fairly simplistic as far as visuals go with the main menu placing you in a gym and the songs/routines being in any one of 3 stages you choose.  The 3 stages are a gym, large hall and a futuristic landscape with a Tron like vibe.  They all do the job and being able to choose which ever one you want is nice, but these stages are nothing more than static settings to play the game in and don’t really accentuate the gameplay in any way, just a different locale to punch notes in.  The shapes come at you anywhere from tummy to head height and are easily identified as left and right hands as well as what kind of punch is needed making the game very easy to just jump into, at least on the easier songs.

    DUCK!!!

    One of the biggest factors in any rhythm game is the song selection as having too few songs makes things feel repetitive or focusing on a single genre could alienate those who like something a little different.  BOXVR has what I believe is the largest library of tracks with 110 songs from a few genres; pop, rock, hip-hop and electronic and while I didn’t recognize any of the songs I played too, no matter which genre, none annoyed me.  The punches are mapped to the songs nicely allowing you to fall into a rhythm during some the repeating portions of a song.  Every icon hit delivers a nice little ‘thwack’ which matches the music perfectly with an audible beep when you reach the next combo tier increasing your score or when you miss.

    BOXVR, as I said, is much more focused on working out then being a full-fledged game and is missing some key features for a rhythm game, specifically online leaderboards.  It feels almost criminal to not have those leaderboards in here just see where I stand when compared to everyone else.  The physical nature of this games adds a lot to that competitive factor, and I would have loved to have them in here, if not just have another motivator to play longer and get better.  My second issue would be that each song has predetermined notes, so it always plays the same when you pick it.   As some of these songs are more challenging, it would have been nice to see different difficulty levels with less or more notes to hit but given the huge amount of songs, this is by no means a game breaker.  There is no option for custom songs but seeing as how each song was designed by a ‘fitness expert’ it makes sense and like I said, with over 100 songs to choose from, I can’t be too offended by this.  Those issues I mentioned are minor at best and BoxVR provides a workout experience that is really fun.  Throwing punches is exhausting (in a good way) and I put this game on the same level as Beat Saber only with more focus on being physical.

    It’s time to burn some calories!!!

    I was very pleasantly surprised by BoxVR as it has given me another reason to get in the headset and that is to get fit.  If your one of those guys that doesn’t think you can work out properly in a headset, BoxVR proves you are wrong as I ache all over the place as I put this review together and I still plan on playing a ton more.  BoxVR is now on my regular workout schedule thanks in large part to the fun factor.  I have never liked running on a treadmill or lifting weights as those activities just bored me.  BoxVR is the exact opposite, pushing me to get better while I exert myself in a game that is fun to play, has tons of replayability and is one of the better VR rhythm games available

    What would I pay? The $30 asking price for this is on point.  There is a ton of songs and routines to play through as well the ability to customize your own workouts.  That said, if you are more into the gaming side of things, $30 may seem a tad high, but if you are looking to get a little physical and enjoy rhythm games then I say pull the trigger on this, I doubt you’ll regret it.

    FitXR provided The VR Grid with a press code for this title and, regardless of this review, we thank them for that!

  • A Chair in a Room: Greenwater

    A Chair in a Room: Greenwater

    Developer / Publisher – Wolf & Wood Interactive
    Price(PS) – US $24.99 / EU €21.99 / UK £17.99 / AU $32.95
    Release Date – April 22nd, 2019
    Control Method – 2 x Move Controllers
    Pro Patch – Yes
    Digital only – Yes
    Reviewed on –PSVR (PS4 Pro)

    From the makers of last years cinematic VR horror experience The Exorcist: Legion comes another suspense horror tale centered around you, only this time around you wake up in a mental hospital, unsure of who you are and why you are there and must piece together the events leading up to your current plight.  This involves escape room type scenarios mixed in with some psychological horror that plays out in seemingly random fashion until all the events slowly slide into place.

    Every room solves a little of the mystery surrounding you.

    Typical of VR escape room games, you need a couple of Motion controllers as you’ll be grabbing and manipulating a variety of items.  Every comfort option is available so whether you want to teleport and click-turn with blinders or the exact opposite with smooth locomotion and no comfort at all.  It’s commendable that the devs incorporated all options necessary to allow the user to choose how they like to play and not forcing us to endure one side or another.   Each stage in the game has you in small play area and you must figure out what you need to do to get out of that situation, learning a little about your past in the process.  It’s not just puzzle solving as some areas are much more focused on triggering memories and events by simply finding or touching objects scattered around the room you are in.  You start off in the institution and are asked to perform a few simple tests and right away you are clued in that something is definitely up as the puzzles don’t have the outcome that they should.  It’s very unclear in the early goings what is real and what is surreal and the way some of these stages play out is much more cinematic then game.

    Its a bed in a room.

    Greenwater looks fairly good though does have a few visual foibles here and there with some bland and flat textures.  Besides a few moments though, the game carries a higher visual quality thanks in large part to the smaller areas you play, each of which feels very authentic.  Whether it’s your quarters at the institution, a hotel room, cabin in the woods or any of the other settings, they all feel authentic enough thanks to some great lighting effects and other smaller subtleties.  As there are jump scares and a few unnerving moments, much of the game is bathed in darkness or uses darker tones allowing these scenes to try there best to spook you.  An early game boat ride in America’s deep south is one of the more non-interactive bits in the game and goes on way too long… until it doesn’t, and I really appreciated the diversity between the stages and the cinematic way some of these scenes unfold.

    As this leans heavily on story telling, the game is loaded with actors delivering a wide variety of performances from your characters present and past.  Solid spacial audio is used to solve puzzles and help direct you to where you need to go with an insane soundtrack that delivers an experience akin to the most surreal of psychological horror films.  The performances and audio presentation really stand out as being something akin to a Hollywood film and adds a ton to the underlying suspense in each scenario.

    Every room offers something completely different

    A Chair in a Room works wonderfully as both a horror/suspense experience and escape room game without every falling to heavily on one side or the other.  The rooms you find yourself in can be conquered in only a few minutes, if you knew exactly what to do or use hints, but will typically take much longer as you try and piece together what the game is asking of you.  My playthrough of the game took me around 2 and half hours minus one stage which held me up thanks to an item that disappeared that was required to solve the next obstacle, which I didn’t realize had happened until I looked up a video after the fact.  Despite that one glaring issue, Greenwater is a smooth experience save for the collision detection between objects which can cause some havoc as items get launched across the room, get stuck in each other or fall through geometry.  Like in the game Blind, I would love an item reset button just in case something wonky happens as the only way to fix any issues is to quit the game and restart that stage.   Most of the time, when these issues occurred, it was just a matter of grabbing something that fell, but the visual look of these issues does stick out as poor design when compared to everything else in the game.  The puzzles are never truly difficult as long as you pay attention to your surroundings or clues given but should you find yourself stuck, there is that clue option that can help you out though I don’t recommend using it as the solution is usually obvious given just how confined each area is.

    There’s a lot of narrative to cut through here.

    All in all, A Chair in a Room works great as psychological horror game that never lets you relax.  The puzzles are intuitive and never feel unfair, but still require enough thought to make them feel rewarding whenever you figure them out.  The narrative is fantastic and what initially seems like an erratic story slowly falls into place until the ending which I was satisfied with.  If you are into mind-bending horror and mystery and don’t mind solving environmental puzzles along the way, then A Chair in a Room delivers a fantastic and surreal tale.

    What would I pay?  This is $25 US which an alright value given the presentation and story telling though given that the right person could breeze through this in less than 2 hours, I’d like to see this dropped to $20.  Regardless, it’s a great and unnerving time in the headset and a welcome addition the suspense/puzzle genre.

    Wolf and Wood Interactive provided The VR Grid with a press code for this title and, regardless of this review, we thank them for that!

  • Immortal Legacy: The Jade Cipher

    Immortal Legacy: The Jade Cipher

    Developer / Publisher – Viva Games / SIE
    Price(PS) – US $19.99 / EU €19.99 / UK £15.99 / AU $29.95
    Release Date – April 16th, 2019
    Control Method – 2 x Move Controllers
    Pro Patch – Yes
    Digital only – Yes
    Reviewed on –PSVR (PS4 Pro)

    Get stranded on a mysterious island, uncover its secrets, discover hidden relics, face a horde of armed soldiers as you move from cover to cover while fighting back with explosives and firearms…sound familiar?  Immortal Legacy: The Jade Cipher borrows heavily from games like Uncharted and Tomb Raider (along with a few more games) and brings us VR users a 1st person adventure that many of us have been waiting for…at least on paper. That may sound like a dream fulfilled but in practice it may not be what everyone was hoping for.

    It’s always damned mercenaries.

    I need to talk about the controls as they are all over the map with a little VR goodness and a lot more missteps that hearken back to our 1st days in the headset 3 years ago.   This is a full motion adventure with optional click or smooth turning.  Unfortunately, the smooth turning option has easily the most intrusive blinders I have ever seen, and I actually chose to go with click-turning as it allowed me to play more comfortably.  It’s Moves only here with each of your hands having its own menu system.  You can toggle though each hands items (up to 6) or bring both menu’s up to swap items from each hand.  Movement speed is depressingly slow with options for the slowest walk ever or a “jog”, which is barely any faster.  Turning right is on the right Move with left on the other meaning to move somewhat organically through the environment requires you to constantly switch which walk button you are using to turn and making finite adjustments is a nightmare.  Should you veer only a few degrees away from the camera, still well within tracking range, a large circle appears at the base of your vision directing you to center up and will stay there long after you do.  You can strafe and move backwards as well by button presses meaning all the necessary options are here, just poorly implemented and feels like you are controlling a tank, with limiting control options and comfort settings that seriously hurt the game.  Even toward the end of my play, these controls never felt comfortable.

    Gotta stay healed up!

    Suffering through the controls though reveals a game with a fair bit of depth and character utilizing tropes many of us have been clamouring for since we 1st put on the headset.  You will pick up a lot of weapons, many of which require 2-hands to keep stable making the combat fairly fun, if not a bit stock with head shots being your friend as on easy mode, the enemies are bullet sponges and on medium mode making them seem like bullet eating machines absorbing insane amounts of lead.  Reloading any weapon requires a quick shake of whichever hand is holding that gun.   As you explore the island, you’ll find documents loaded with text to read and recordings the reveal secrets about the going-ons occurring around you.  There’s a climbing mechanic that pops up and is criminally under utilized as well as smaller sections that will require you push levers, hack away barriers and few more one-off options which mix up the action nicely.

    The Jade Cipher is visually impressive with large scale environments and an attention to detail that we don’t get enough of in VR.  The stages are mostly static, other then exploding barrels or scripted events, and the variety in some of the levels and enemies is welcome.  Lighting effects are great, especially in the early goings of the game and when you nab a flashlight later though I did find some of the cliff-side areas to look a little drab at times, as if shadow effects weren’t applied properly making everything look a little flat. Still, the sense of scale in the more open sections of the game are some of the best visuals I have seen in VR with impressive draw distance and wonderous attention to detail.  The initial scripted moments give you a body though the actual game only draws in your arms and puts their position somewhere in the your neck chest area, creating a large disconnect between you and your virtual arms.  NPC’s animate very well reminding me of goons seen in Tomb Raider and games like it.  They look like typical mercenaries armed to the teeth and only out to stop you, but they are competent in combat making some of these encounters pretty fun.  New and surprising plot twists in the latter half of the game add a lot to presentation with monstrous enemies popping up and some environmental effects that look stunning in the headset.

    Some of the battles get pretty intense!

    The voice acting in here is way better then I would have expected given that this was developed in China from a smaller studio but they hired a decent team of actors who may be a little over-the-top in this one, but still deliver the goods when it comes to moving the story along.  Depending on what you are doing currently, there may be no music playing as you slowly move through the environment, though certain sections may have some eerie orchestral music to keep you on your toes and whenever you get into your next battle, rest assured the action music kicks in, typical of the genre.  The 3D audio is pretty bang on, especially when in conversation with someone nearby or when you a receiving a message via your communication device in your right ear and does a great job at immersing you in this strange world, though on occasion it does jump around, especially with the environmental effects.

    I wonder where this goes?

    I’ve mentioned twice now just how similar this game is to the recent Tomb Raider series of games and seems to borrow quite heavily from them at times with gunplay, puzzles, climbing and ancient legends brought to life.  That’s not to say this is those games in VR as Immortal Legacy still suffers from its smaller scale roots and much more limited interaction.  Combine that with the cumbersome controls and I think The Jade Cipher will be received by many quite differently.  I understand why the devs made some control decisions, especially because you can dual-wield and move in combat, but I can’t excuse just how annoying the controls are.  I found myself constantly scrolling through my menus to find the item I wanted, hitting the wrong button to turn or strafe on numerous occasions and just generally getting annoyed at the entire control layout.  Still, pushing past the controls, I really enjoyed the combat sections, light exploration and the story, which gets all kinds of nuts in like a solid B-movie kind of way, and the overall scope of the game.  While I hope the developers adjust the controls to make them a little more user friendly, upcoming support for the 3Drudder could alleviate SOME of the issues currently plaguing the game.

    Things get weird…and then they get weirder.

    For all it’s flaws, I can’t help but really like Immortal Legacy for both what it is and what it is trying to be.  We don’t get enough 1st person campaign shooter adventures in VR and this one, despite its control issues, delivers what it needs to make for an engaging experience clocking in somewhere in the 5-hour range.  If you are a fan of games like Arizona Sunshine, Killing Floor or even Dark Legion then I think you will be pleasantly surprised by this…if you can get past the controls.

    What would I pay?  In all honesty, if the controls were fixed a bit, I think I’d be happy with a $30 price tag.  That said, in its current state, I’m cool with the $20 asking price as this did deliver a few ‘wow’ moments and a lot of fun and varied gameplay. The story feels cut short thanks to a few unresolved plot issues and a big ‘to be continued’ type ending, but with luck a sequel will expand upon the story and maybe fix some of the issues mentioned here.

    Sony Interactive Entertainment provided The VR Grid with a press code for this title and, regardless of this review, we thank thank them for that!

  • QuiVr

    QuiVr

    Developer / Publisher – Blueteak / The Munky LLC
    Price(PS) – US $24.99 / EU €23.99 / UK £19.99 / AU $36.95
    Release Date – April 16th, 2019
    Control Method – 2 x Move Controllers
    Pro Patch – No
    Digital only – No
    Reviewed on –PSVR (PS4 Pro)

    Ah the bow and arrow… a staple in the early stages of VR and remains one the best real-world actions emulated in our headsets.  We have seen all manor of games utilizing bow mechanics from open-world epics, tower defense games, post-apocalyptic adventures and fantasy brawlers with my point being that the archery-based VR genre is a crowded one.  QuiVr has been out on the PC side of things since June of last year and offers a familiar wave shooting experience but adds a whole bunch of unique variables to separate it from the pack.

    Take aim and unleash!

    Utilizing 2 move controllers, the archery stuff is exactly what you would expect, meaning you reach over your shoulder to grab an arrow, bring it to your bow to knock it then pull back and release.  This is a stationary affair, but you can teleport to select points around the map by shooting orbs floating over those spots.  Behind you is a foggy window which is a little intrusive, but keeps you facing the camera and unfortunately, at the time of this review, only click-turning is available.  The stages are all cliff sides ensuring you always have a decent vantage point on the enemy horde below who are trying to get past you and onto the gates protecting your home.  Besides the bow and arrow, you can also summon magical grenades which have a cool-down period, so you need to be a little more selective when you decide to toss one at the enemy.  There is no real story here and the emphasis is on team work and firing non-stop arrows.  Each of the stages has a randomized boss at the end so you never know what you’ll face and when you get to said boss, live or die, you are rewarded with random loot that will strengthen your attacks.  The more you play the more powerful you may get unlocking specialized arrows and other fun abilities and grenade options.  You can play the game alone or with up to 3 other players online with each additional player increasing the number of enemies you’ll be facing.

    QuiVr looks good with varying environments and enemies.  The same basic model of bad guys will appear, but thanks to a little TLC, if you look closely, you’ll notice that they don’t always look the same maybe being right or left handed or wearing different pieces of armour.  Unless an enemy is right in your face though, they can look a little rough at a distance, making smaller details unnoticeable and pixelation a constant issue.   As you progress further and further in a stage you will see more and different enemies that come from high and low.  They range from simple, hammer wielding orcs to flying beast, crab-like monstrosities and a bunch more with each behaving differently.  Each stage is broken up by walls and once you kill enough enemies, you will be teleported to the next barrier, which can magically defend itself from attack, but can be easily overwhelmed if you let to many foes past your guard.  Every stage ends in boss battle, but you never which boss you may face or even which stage you’ll be playing in, making every playthrough a little exciting.  You may be in a snow-covered lands or grass lands, deserts or more surreal ones like one seemingly bathed in shiny black ooze.  As for the bosses, while most involve pattern-based combat, at least one is a visual puzzler with your team tasked with tracking and shooting balls hidden in spheres like the classic ball in a cup parlor trick.  The boss battles are monstrous and have you facing a giant sandworm, deadly plant and a few other that will put your skills to the test.

    The enemies come in all shapes and sizes.

    The music is fantastical and epic and every time I noticed it, I couldn’t but get more caught up in the non-stop action.  Effects also sound superb with everything from knocking your bow to hearing the tension in the string as you pull it back.  Monsters make all manner of monstery noises with them reacting to your shots accordingly.  If enemies reach your gates you can hear them hammering away it letting you know to up your game with the overall audio package being solid, if not very busy.

    When I first played alone, I was incredibly underwhelmed as it just seemed like a very slow paced-wave shooter without much purpose.   Once I died, I visited the online portion which is the way the QuiVr is meant to be played.  The number of enemies you face scales up with the amount of players in the game making things feel hectic much quicker.  This is endless with the goal being deep runs and new loot with the game getting dramatically harder the further you progress…like insanely harder.  During each “round”, the enemy can destroy a gate or 2, pushing you back but still letting you try and claw your way forward.  Reaching a boss is a no-fail situation and beating it will yield some new loot and a continuation forward on to harder troops.  As I figured out all the games mechanics, I really began to appreciate just how much depth the mechanics have with what feels like infinite loot types and a well-balanced combat system.  With that said, it’s all a little mindless with you just diving in with a few friends and unleashing as many arrows as possible to chase leaderboards.  Don’t get me wrong, when I lined up a match and joined up with others, it was an absolute blast, but if no one was playing online, the drive to play this alone is non-existent.  Similar to games likes Trickster VR, the fun you pull out of this will largely depend upon your love for looter/shooters and whether you can find people to play with online.

    There is tons of loot to acquire!

    QuiVr is a technically sound game reliant upon multiplayer action which has me a little divided on how I feel about this game.  It’s a lot of fun to play through a few rounds with friends, especially when the difficulty starts to push you to your limits and whenever you finish a round, you always get some type of loot allowing for a feeling of progress.   That said, there is no real end to the game, just start over and start shooting and see how far you can get, which for myself isn’t really a motivating factor to play games.  If you dig non-stop multiplayer action, this delivers a fun and fantastic gaming experience, but if you are looking for some single player fun, or something with storied content, you best look elsewhere.

    What would I pay? QuiVr is priced at $25 US and I think some may find that price fair given the potential hours of fun you could have.  For myself, I just found the game to get a little redundant and lost any interest to play if no one was online and because of that, $15 sees a little more apt.

    The Munky provided The VR Grid with a press code for this title and, regardless of this review, we thank them for that!

  • Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown (PSVR)

    Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown (PSVR)

    Developer / Publisher – Tin Man Games
    Price(PS) – US $19.99 / EU €19.99 / UK £14.99 / AU $28.95
    Release Date – April 16th, 2019
    Control Method – 2 x Move Controllers
    Pro Patch – Yes
    Digital only – No
    Reviewed on –PSVR (PS4 Pro)

    It’s time for some classic table-top RPG madness!!!  Alright, maybe madness is a bit much as Table of Tales brings a traditionally slower-paced genre to VR in the vein of classic Dungeon and Dragons style gameplay.  This is a turn-based RPG that has both a single-player campaign and multiplayer action utilizing a unique visual style and some fun mechanics.

    I love the table-top action here!

    The play area is the table ahead of you and your hands are each mapped to 2 wands that look like Move controllers and are used to grab everything in front of you and can be extended to reach stuff that may be out of reach. In fact, other then accessing the menu, every interaction involves you grabbing something making the game feel very physical, emulating tabletop action wonderfully. The play area is broken up into a square grid and each of your 4 characters has a certain amount of action points which can be used to move around the map or use an attack or other ability. Every round has you moving your characters around the play area and their abilities are on cards placed in front of you. To use one of those actions, you need to grab the card and place it on that character or on the enemy you would like them to attack. Should you want to recover, every character has a rest option to increase your defence and health. Throughout the campaign, you will unlock new abilities and increased attributes, though these only happen at story specific junctures as there is no level up system in the game. Some areas will have context sensitive cards that may allow you to destroy or move a barrier, trigger a trap or a few other options which involve the roll of 3 dice, meaning the outcome is not always in your favor. Throughout the campaign you will be given choices that affect the games path so multiple playthroughs will yield new outcomes to the same situations.
    Besides the campaign, there is also a local multiplayer element that has the VR player playing as a villain dispatching minions to stop the encroaching heroes. The same gameplay mechanics apply here as from the campaign with Table of Tales supporting up to 3 non-VR players during a match. I always appreciate the inclusion of these modes, and this works well enough though I much preferred the campaign, but I am most definitely more of a single player gamer.

    The local multiplayer is a game of hid and seek…and MURDER!!!

    Table of Tales looks great in the headset with bright colored visuals and great sense of detail and scale.  The Table before you is really anything but as it’s more like an AR surface, but in VR.  The table changes before your eyes, with stages appearing from one end and disappearing at the other, as if the play area were on a virtual treadmill.  As the environment is created, water may just appear, or buildings will pop up square by square creating wonderful pop-up environment for your little figures to move on.  Your heroes all look dramatically different thanks in large part to their varying classes and all stand on a circular platform, as if they were a small figure on a tabletop map.  They animate when called to action as do the different enemy types you’ll encounter throughout the campaign.  Your dungeon master, or narrator, is an animated bird who flies around the table describing the events unfolding in storied fashion and when you look at all the visual elements combined, this is basically the best fantasy version of Dungeons and Dragons I have ever played.

    Your narrator is voiced by a talented actress who not only tells you the story and commentates on the action, but voices every character in the game, reminding me very much of the narration style in Moss.  As talented as she is, I did get a little tired of the more long-winded sections of the game where she voices a few characters during long scenes, but I don’t think that’s’ the actresses fault as having just one person voice an entire cast with this much script just seems like a risk and while I would have preferred a few more voice actors to lift the burden off of the one, she still does the job at telling this fun and engaging story.

    Every set piece is a nice surprise!

    I love so much about this game, it’s a little ridiculous.  As a rather hardcore Dungeon and Dragons player in my youth, this tickled my nostalgic brain like few games do and when you account for the very slick presentation, fun and varied campaign and multiple interactions, it really is a very solid package.  The campaign took me around 4 hours to beat but with the opportunity to play through again and make a few different choices, a second run through is inevitable.  One other little inclusion is the ability to pick up any character piece and place them on the tables edge whereupon their individual stats will show up, maybe highlighting a weakness in the enemy or reminding you about your own characters strengths and deficits.  The games progress is saved automatically so should wish to quit at anytime, starting up again will bring right back to where you left off at the beginning of that scene.

    Table of Tales is a wonderful surprise, and I ate up every minute of this adventure.  The art style never gets old and as the environments change up, it always felt like I was visiting new areas and looked forward to what the game would throw a me next.  If you love tabletop RPG’s whether it’s in video game or physical form, then I highly recommend this as it’s some of the most fun I’ve had in a headset!

    What would I pay?  The $20 asking price on this is way more then justified.  The gameplay is solid, the story is fun, and the presentation is hypnotizing and can’t wait to dive back in for another go.  Buy this please…I want DLC or a sequel ASAP!

    Tin Man Games provided a press code for this title and, regardless of this review, we thank them for that!