If you’re anything like me, you were probably excited by the trailer and early gameplay footage. They were enthralling, showcasing innovative mechanics that see you battling through a stylised adventure set in the world created by the hit TV show. 

What the trailer doesn’t show is how much of that experience takes place around you, operating at times more as an immersive psychological thriller than an actual game. In fact, at the core of reviewing Stranger Things VR sits a ponderous, elephantine question; Is this really a game at all or is this an interactive experience?

It seems that Tender Claws have set themselves the lofty ambition of combining the two, hoping to transcend both and become greater than either. As such, it is difficult to answer the question of what Stranger Things VR is, so perhaps we should focus on a different question; is it any good?

TOO MANY HATS

Stranger Things VR is a narrative-driven adventure with a much heavier focus on the narrative than the adventure. For those familiar with the source material, you take on the role of Vecna following his exile into Dimension X (sorry nerds, it’s no longer ‘the upside-down’). Here, you join him as he grows within his new powers and attempts to subjugate the sentient hellscape to his will. Fun times.

Interspersed within this prequel-style narrative are interactive vignettes that overlap with the characters and events of the popular television series. As the experience progresses the story increasingly unfolds around the player, with the gaming mechanics added in seemingly to give you the illusion of participation as the dialogue rolls on regardless of your actions.

Some sections incorporate an element of combat, but these are neither frequent nor varied. Similarly, there are innovative movement mechanics that almost take on a platforming element, however, neither of these elements offers enough depth to carry the whole experience as a “game”. 

BYSTANDER SYNDROME

What gameplay elements do exist in Stranger Things VR have the hallmark creativity that Tender Claws have previously displayed in The Under Presents. As the first few chapters unfold, the focus leans toward the gaming elements, which initially show potential. 

Players can use one power to spread a vine-like ‘corruption’ along the ground, which can then be used to anchor the stilt-like tentacle movement mechanics. This can then be used to vault into the air, allowing you to spread more corruption that you can use to traverse upon, like some kind of demonic Tarzan. 

What action there is comes by way of telekinetic battles. There is a fairly intuitive system for bringing objects close and hurling them at the various lurking monsters, but this is the sole attack the player is capable of throughout the entire affair. While it works, the requirement to always bring items towards you before being able to launch them is cumbersome and halting, failing to create anything resembling a fluid combat system. 

Combining these powers takes a little practice but works well enough that you can see it could have been quite engaging had they been developed and expanded upon. However, Stranger Things VR is only partly a ‘game’ and, as such, the gameplay never evolves beyond this early stage. As the story unfolds these mechanics are shelved in place of increasingly limited interactions within static scenes, dashing any early hopes for an action-packed adventure in the Stranger Things universe. 

THE STRANGEST THING

Set in the Stranger Things universe, the 3.5-hour immersive experience encompasses elements of all four seasons of the show. It even throws in a few nods to the stage show prequel. Familiar scenarios from the series are revisited from a different perspective, giving the spotlight to the internal struggles occurring in these pivotal moments. It’s a strange narrative construct as it requires knowledge of the source material to resonate, but having that knowledge makes the story immediately feel overly familiar. It’s also so intrinsically linked to the show that it’s difficult to imagine Stranger Things VR being even vaguely engrossing to anyone without a strong working knowledge of the series.

The narrative devices are often deliberately obtuse, with a diegetic use of time and space labouring the psychological tension between two characters locked in conflict within a single psyche. The story suffers terribly from pacing issues, and the narrative gets lost within its own distorted framework, often feeling aimless and repetitive. This is particularly notable in elements hinging on player interactions and it’s often confusing trying to assess if you need to do something, or just wait until the dialogue has run its course. 

Compounding these issues is an overuse of repetition, with scenes looping back to a single point before branching into slight variations with frustrating regularity. 

Perhaps the worst sin in all of this is that Tender Claws seem to have completely missed the tone and character that made the source material so popular in the first place. As a TV show, Stranger Things is hardly high art, and sadly this VR adaptation feels, in places, like a ham-fisted attempt to cram Avant-garde sensibilities into what is, essentially, popcorn drama.

LESS IS MORE

There seems to be a trend at the moment that sees MR sections being shoehorned into games regardless of whether it is even vaguely relevant. Sadly, Tender Claws seem to have succumbed to this as they offer two entirely superfluous mixed reality chapters. In fact, the optimisation and execution in these sections are poor enough that their presence actually lowers the game’s overall score.

Staying in theme, the first MR section introduces interesting mechanics before getting bogged down in poorly paced dialogue sections which, again, make it unclear as to the player’s ability to impact events. 

The final chapter is essentially a telekinesis-based wave shooter that sees players using hand-tracked gestures to close portals and fend off enemies. However, the MR implementation is finicky, with objects misaligned or clipping through the real world in a way that breaks any immersion garnered from seeing the virtual world appear in the real one.

PRETTY STRANGE

One thing Tender Claws does consistently well is create a unique visual language with which to tell their tales. There are places where Stranger Things VR looks fantastic, benefitting from excellent lighting and a superb overall sense of artistic direction. The sections of the game that overlap with the main cast offer character models that are unique and stylish. 

However, many of the game’s sections occur within the ill-defined realms of the upside-down or the dark expanse of a character’s tormented psyche. These seem to cash in on the murky aesthetic and, as a result, feel less polished.

The sound is also very well delivered, with a tense, atmospheric score that captures the show’s ambience far better than the overall narrative tone. The voice acting is high quality and is the main attraction as the story plays out, standing out in contrast to the frequently protracted dialogue.

Despite my criticisms, a few scenes use these audio-visual components to excellent effect, creating an intensely brooding atmosphere. In these moments, it is obvious that Tender Claws have some real talent, demonstrating a deep potential far beyond what has been realised in Stranger Things.

FINAL CHAPTER

At its core, Stranger Things VR feels conceptually confused. Interesting mechanics are squandered as diversions, feeling like a sideshow attraction amongst the disjointed progress of the narrative. Conversely, the gamified elements confuse the storytelling, poorly defining whether the player has agency to affect the events unfolding around them or is merely a spectator.

Despite some well-wrought and original gaming elements, there is a limited amount of actual gameplay on offer, and those looking for a traditional gaming experience may be disappointed.

It’s important to be clear at the beginning, Lost Recipes is not a game. Or at least, I bloody well hope not. 

When viewed as an “experience” instead of a “game”, this review can be quite positive, but make no mistake – If you are looking for a cooking game, move along. This is not that. Had the team at 6DOF Reviews decided to judge Lost Recipe against our gaming criteria, holding its merit against other offers within that genre, Schell Games’ latest creation would definitely not have fared well…

ORDERING OFF MENU

Lost Recipes is categorised in the Oculus Store as an ‘app’ yet described on its store page as a cooking game. Under its announcement trailer on the official Meta Quest YouTube channel, it’s described as a “cooking simulator” at the start of a paragraph that itself concludes by calling it a game. To say that its marketing is muddled is an understatement.

A reasonably brief time within the world of Lost Recipes reveals that what you actually have here is a virtual cooking experience, with a side of homage to oral tradition. Unlike a genuinely gamified cooking offering, Lost Recipes features neither the frantic energy of service nor the compulsions of score-chasing, both of which nest traditional cooking games firmly within the genre of Time Management games. 

Instead, Lost Recipes guides the player through several recipes in an authentic, interactive historical kitchen while picking up a few info-taining facts about the local culture along the way. It is thoughtfully delivered, and once you get past the disappointment of not being in a cooking game, really quite enjoyable to be a part of. 

Lost Recipes allows the player to serve dishes from three different kitchens from three cultures throughout history; Mayan, Chinese, and Greek. You will be greeted by an authentically voiced ghost in each kitchen. This ghost will verbally walk you through the steps needed to recreate favoured or culturally significant dishes. While there is also a visual aid, in the form of a floating cookbook, the actual experience seems centred around the art of verbally handing down things of cultural significance, such as recipes.

Listen carefully to your ghost and follow your instructions closely, and you pretty much can’t go wrong.

LET ME SEE THOSE TONGS

Lost Recipes is incredibly well produced. The core mechanics that allow you to bring your long-dead cuisine to life are absolutely excellent. The kitchen operates with an understated physics system that only seems impressive when past experiences have shown you how complex natural-seeming physics in a kitchen environment are to achieve. To players without that reference point, everything just moves as effortlessly as it should, and it’s all remarkably intuitive.

Chopping, grabbing, and pouring are detailed and accurate and allow the player to shed the usual cognitive load and just listen to the instructions and enjoy the process. Ironically, this refined delivery is also the most frustrating element of the Lost Recipes experience. It highlights that although this is not a game (it’s really NOT), it would be outstanding if it were.

The raw potential for a fast-paced, high-pressure game with these mechanics is stark. Calmly making someone’s dead grandma their favourite pork dish is lovely, but I was hoping to be in an ancient Chinese restaurant prepping and serving Dongpo Pork against the clock. Please Schell Games? PLEEEEEEAAASSE?

PRESENTATION IS EVERYTHING

Lost recipes is exactly as one would expect from a studio as accomplished as Schell Games. The visual style is bright and easy to interpret. The world occupies enough hyperbole to be accessible yet provides enough realism to make the experience land. The visual language, particularly across the ingredients, is convincing, and items move and interact as you would expect them to. The kitchen and environments seem authentic to the period and culture they represent. I am not a scholar in ancient cuisine, though, so take that with an appropriate pinch of salt, I guess.

The visual cues that indicate that a component is correctly prepared are easy to identify, making it easy to understand if you have achieved what is being asked. However, this is almost too efficient as following the glowing, golden indicators makes it very difficult to get anything wrong.

As with previous Schell Games offerings like the superb I Expect You To Die Games, the audio is exceptionally well delivered and forms an integral part of the experience. The ambient sounds and background music feel regionally appropriate and add to your sense of presence within the world. More importantly, they do very little to intrude on the player’s experience, focusing instead on the conversation between student and cooking instructor.

The voice acting is well directed, with voice actors indigenous to the regions they represent. Each performance is admirably directed to be easily understandable yet immediately recognisable as authentic to each region. The ghost voices brought a sense of genuine warmth to the kitchen, which I found both engaging and endearing.   

MAKE MINE A SUPERSIZE??

Whilst Lost Recipes does many things well, particularly when removed from the context and standards of a game, it lacks enough content to really achieve its broader aims. Developers Schell Games have indicated that they want Lost Recipes to be viewed as educational. However, they miss the mark somewhat and land in the realm of light infotainment. The anecdotal style of passing information to the player is natural and engaging, but there doesn’t seem to be enough depth in the imparted knowledge to truly call the experience educational. 

The other aim seems to be creating a calm, relaxing experience within which players can find small moments of zen. However, these moments are often too brief. Each cuisine/culture has only three dishes to prepare, most of which take around 6-7 minutes to prepare. There are indeed a few more robust dishes that will take about 15 minutes or so, but overall my experience indicates that a complete play-through would take no more than 1.5 – 2 hours. 

Each dish you prepare is graded on a five-star scale, but I found it easy to score four stars on every dish without much effort. With incredibly forgiving mechanics, a lack of distractions, a clear vis with a friendly ghost, and obvious visual cues, it’s almost impossible to make a mistake here. Unfortunately, this also suggests very little motivation to come back and try and improve on your first scores.

CHECK PLEASE

When viewed as an experience instead of a game, Lost Recipes is a quaintly charming offer, offering a relaxing and simple way to pass an hour or two. It provides the chance to feel enveloped within a warm and inviting historical context, albeit superficially.

But please, heed this warning. If you are looking for a fast-paced, fully developed, kitchen based time management game, then Lost Recipes will sorely disappoint.

Nevertheless, I found myself a bit wary of the premise, involving as it did an in-game AI companion. AI companions are a hit and miss affair, at best. Sometimes, like with Ico and The Last Guardian (both of which were undoubtedly a significant influence on Mare), they work incredibly well, drawing you into the story and, despite yourself, creating an emotional bond between you and what you know is a digital entity. Other times, like in the ill-conceived Last Labyrinth, they fail abysmally at creating a character you care about (she dies way too many times for you to care) and instead add an extra layer of mechanical frustration between the player and the actual gameplay.

Set Them Free At The Break of Dawn

On startup, Mare immediately distinguishes itself with fantastic art direction and a GUI that puts you in the middle of a minimalistic but slick chapter selection menu. You’re in a dark place, seeing white silhouetted fragments of landscape loom around you. Monochromatic birds fly around, sparking electrical energy as they approach strange pylons. You don’t quite understand what’s going on, but you can click on the pylon, and in doing so, a large mechanical bird flies through a portal, taking you into the first chapter and setting you on your journey. 

The game begins with that mechanical bird coming to perch on a pylon above the clouds. As before, the art is simple but beautiful, wonderfully complemented by excellent sound design and music. Red balloons show up, some larger than others, and you’re not quite sure what’s going on. This uncertainty is there to stay, so you’ll have to get used to it.

Interactivity in Mare is limited but purposeful. You can click on pylons to make the bird go to them, and you can click on the environment and objects to discharge electrical bolts at them. Sometimes you are accompanied by a flock of smaller birds, and you can send them off to fly around objects and spark them up on their own. 

There are enemies to fight in the game, but the fighting is a point-and-click affair, not a test of speed or reflexes, or agility. It’s there to serve the story, not try to bring the game into the action genre. 

It’s Your Heart That You Betray

After the first sequence, you’ll find yourself in the company of a little girl, and she’s no more sure of her surroundings than you are but seems to trust you enough to follow you, like a duckling that’s been imprinted to your bird. She’ll do her best to follow you as you fly from pylon to pylon, and you can use that to weave her through the landscape. If the girl’s close to something she can trigger or a door she can go through, she’ll do just that, opening up new pylons you can reach, and therefore more areas you can explore. 

This mechanic is, essentially, how you progress through Mare. An unspoken alliance forms between you (as the mechanical bird) and the little girl, even if she occasionally screams when you discharge an electrical bolt too close to her. 

Mare builds on that relationship, and in time, you grow protective of the girl, defending her from dangers that lie ahead. So long as it doesn’t interfere with your mission, that is.

Pretend To Trust Me Until You Do

Mare doesn’t explain itself, and although that’s frustrating on some level, it’s part of the game’s DNA. It’s a dangerous gambit on the developer’s part; to obscure a game’s backstory so much that the player isn’t quite sure what it was all about even after finishing it. To their credit, the small team at Visiontrick pull it off. 

This obscurity also makes Mare a strange title to review. On the one hand, it would be criminal to divulge any spoilers, but on the other hand, if, after finishing a game, you still don’t quite understand it, how can you spoil it other than beating the mechanics and puzzles to death?

Don’t worry. We won’t do that here.

Something’s Out There

Mare plays out across eight chapters, and if I’m going to nit-pick, I’d say that the chapter divisions seem somewhat arbitrary. There’s no dramatic change of scenery between chapters, for instance. Sure the levels progressively move what little you understand along, but other than the stark contrast between the first chapter and all the rest, they all share a similar color palette and occur more or less in the same general setting. Having said that, the setting is quite stunning, so this isn’t quite the complaint it might at first sound like.

I’ve referred to Mare as a ‘game’ several times throughout this review, and perhaps in doing so, I’m doing it a slight injustice. It’s easy to consider it a game because it has puzzles to solve, a landscape to unlock, and choices to make. So in that sense, yes – it is a game. However, perhaps out of an abundance of caution, Visiontrick’s website refers to it as an “exploratory and sensory VR experience” perhaps so as not to antagonize players who might criticize its brevity. Let’s modify that description a little and say that Mare is an exploratory VR experience with light puzzles. It features an incredible atmosphere, mesmerizing graphics, excellent sound, and a purposefully oblique narrative.

There’s Something Here From Somewhere Else

The whole world of Mare feels both mysterious and macabre; it’s borderline creepy at times and beautiful throughout its campaign. The puzzles aren’t challenging to any seasoned gamer, but they do evolve gradually, keep the player engaged, and don’t overstay their welcome with needless fluffy repetition. For players who want more of a challenge, the game has collectible cats dispersed throughout the levels that you can try to collect. On my first playthrough, I collected about half of them without trying too hard, but some were difficult enough that I decided I’d save them for my next playthrough. Collecting all the cats unlocks an extended ending, and it’s one that I will relentlessly pursue even though I know that it still won’t answer all the questions I have.

Questions that I know will haunt me.

Mare wants to keep you guessing, and that’s absolutely fine by me. I’m confident that before long, there will be a small but dedicated fan base working online together to decipher its clues and work out, to the best of their ability and with what little information they can glean, the nature of the story it tells. 

[Update: Since posting this review, I’ve collected all the cats, and I saw the extra ending. I still have questions and I won’t spoil anything, but I’ll say this; get all the damn cats!]

The fact of the matter is that I truly enjoyed Mare. I love titles that are genre-breaking, and I love games that are unique and difficult to classify, and Mare (like The Under Presents) is both those things. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s very slick, and just a little bit twisted.

Who’s The hunter, Who’s The Game?

Whether you choose to see it as a game or as a fantastic experience with light puzzle elements, Mare is a title I can easily recommend to anybody who has an appreciation for beauty and mystery. It evokes a mood unlike any I’ve experienced in VR and truly feels like a cousin of Fumito Ueda’s console masterpieces. It may be brief, but its impact will far outlive its duration, proving beyond a doubt that it’s the quality of our experiences that matter, and not their duration.

[This review has been updated to include mention of the Ariadne mechanism which adds some depth to the experience on multiple playthroughs. The score remains unchanged – Ed.]

What is that elephant doing here?

I think it would be fair to start by addressing the elephant in the room. AltDeus: Beyond Chronos is not a game. 

For all that it has been touted as such, the presence of actual “gameplay” is non-existent, so it’s essential to set expectations correctly early on. The player embodies the central character of the story and does influence it, the similarities to a game end there. 

Instead, there are moments in which you will be prompted to make decisions, and these decisions will set different plot points and dialogue chains in motion. These moments arise sparsely and at pre-set intervals as do the action sequences. Your participation in these is relegated to a few “press these button in sequence” moments, or similarly underwhelming telegraphed interactions.

All that said, you never really “play” the game but rather watch as events unfold around you. It is more reminiscent of the old Choose your own adventure books of my childhood than anything resembling a game.

It’s high time for some Anime

It’s probably also worth taking a moment to highlight the differences between Manga and Anime for the uninitiated, as I will use both terms repeatedly. There is no doubt that a more nuanced definition exists but put simply; Manga is the term given to Japanese comic books and graphic novels, whereas Anime is the name given to Japanese animation (fans will most likely hate me for this oversimplification). I make the distinction because AltDeus: Beyond Chronos could be viewed as either of these or neither.

There was a time when, as a younger man, I quite enjoyed Anime. The wistful, esoteric turn of phrase that only the Japanese can produce coupled with subject matter that often questioned the very nature of perception were well suited to adolescence. That, and marijuana. 

So, when I first received AltDeus, it instantly evoked memories of Neon Genesis: Evangelion, and it was with no small excitement that I entered the world beyond Chronos. Would I finally battle giant monsters whilst bonded, almost spiritually with my own mighty behemoth? All the while fighting with the innate nature of my own humanity? As it turns out, yes. But also, not really…

Animeh

AltDeus: Beyond Chronos sees the player embody the role of Lieutenant Chloe, a formidable pilot of the Makhia, giant mecha tasked with protecting humanity from the otherworldly threat of the Meteoras. As the story progresses, you have a front-row seat as she struggles to process the loss of her best friend as well as her own complicated existence. 

Set in a futuristic world where humans have been forced underground, natural beauty has all but been replaced by synthesised digital textures. AltDeus makes an attempt at holding a mirror up to several contemporary issues; however, the writing lacks some of the nuances of other pieces in the genre, and at times the dialogue feels graceless and ham-fisted. There was one particular reference to modern social media which was thrown in with almost brick-like subtlety. 

There are also the almost obligatory references to a search for what makes us human, a narrative that pervades sci-fi inspired Manga. These are rather crudely examined through a mix of characters that include various synthetic beings and hybrid cyber-humans, all living among what remains mankind. All in all, it’s not terrible, but it’s been done before and more proficiently at that.

Oh, It’s You Again?

AltDeus does attempt to innovate its storytelling by offering a layered storyline which is accessed through multiple playthroughs. On returning to the game for a second time AltDeus introduces the Ariadne mechanism, which effectively allows you to re-enter the plot at various key points unlocked on each playthrough. Each subsequent run sees the story build in layers over the last, and to truly experience the full tale that the game offers you will need to dive back in several times. While it is an interesting idea, and the emotional impact definitely increases as you follow the story through the layered plot, it does little to counter the various shortcomings in the rest of the experience.

Although Ariadne lets you skip to key points there is still a significant amount of repetition to wade through and the frustrations of the first playthrough remain present as you progress. Couple that with the fact that there is very little indication for the player that this mechanism even exists, and it’s hard to see most people venturing deeper past their first run of the credits. Without the press information I had to hand, I absolutely would not have dived back in, and the prompts advising me to do so lacked enough impact to keep me involved beyond my initial encounter.

While AltDeus gains kudos for introducing a uniquely layered storytelling component, it instantly loses as much, as the technique also serves to highlight and reinforce the other elements of the experience which are lacking.

Interaction, My Ass

In theory, while the story proceeds around you, there are moments where the comic book world springs to life and you can participate in the action and influence the story. Although this is technically correct, these elements are in fact the most poorly executed elements of the game and far from making me feel immersed I often just found them frustrating. 

For starters, there are just not many of them, or at least not many that have any real value. There are conversations where you will have the choice between a number (usually 2) of options which will open new dialogue chains, but very few of these will change the story. I quickly found myself going from trying to role-play my character, to choosing whichever option offered the path of least resistance.

There are also moments where your immersion is supposedly heightened by allowing you to view individual items in an area. Even this simple idea goes terribly wrong in at least one scene, whereby you cannot progress until you have looked at each item in the room. This includes reading a dry description of each, with appearances from such classics as “bowl of soup” and my personal favourite, “grape juice”. I don’t know how anyone could have thought that would be a useful technique for fostering engagement.

The combat, if you can call it that is literally a case of “put your hands here and press the button when the gauge says X”. I almost wish that they hadn’t bothered. I would rather just watch something spectacular without having my intelligence insulted. Interactive indeed…

Putting The Still in Still Life

I have always had a deep respect for the efficiency of Anime. With minimal actual animation, most Anime can convey movement and emotion far more effectively than many other flashier formats. This works particularly well in 2D, but it doesn’t necessarily translate so well once you find yourself inside the story.

AltDeus has a simple visual style that draws heavily on the traditions of Anime, utilising cell-shaded characters and very flat textured backgrounds. This may even be a deliberate reference to a world which is primarily overlayed with digital textures. Still, whatever the reason, AltDeus: Beyond Chronos puts you in a bland and unappealing environment that quickly becomes stale. The game seems unsure whether it is putting you inside a manga or Anime and somehow teeters awkwardly between the two, not managing to capture the strengths of either medium. 

There are only about a half dozen environments in which the story takes place, none of which were particularly awe-inspiring. In great Anime, the quality of the background artwork usually props up the minimalistic animation style and adds to the visual resonance. Here, however, this is entirely lacking. Given that the character animation and interactions with the world are extremely limited, I found my attention wandering in short order. 

I realised about an hour in that I had started reading the dialogue rather than listening to voice acting and was skipping ahead rather than waiting for the actors to catch up. It was at this point that I realised that the attempt to envelop me in the story had failed and that I would have been more immersed had I merely been reading the actual graphic novel. 

I do think that a special mention should be given to the voice actors that performed this piece though. Often the English voice-over work on anime titles leaves something to be desired, but the voice acting in AltDeus is surprisingly good. I particularly enjoyed Professor Julie, whose borderline mad scientist was just the right mix of unhinged intellectual and petulant Japanese pop star. 

The final chapter

AltDeus: Beyond Chronos is a well-intentioned but insubstantial attempt to bridge the gap between graphic novels and animation by immersing the viewer directly into the story. Sadly, it falls short of its ambition, and despite adequate writing and performances, it just doesn’t offer anywhere near enough interaction or substance to land the concept. 

At around two and half hours to complete the shortest story tree, with at least another ten hours in total should you explore all the different choices, AltDeus can be a long experience for those who might enjoy exploring all the alternative endings. That said, this is one instance where being inside the story doesn’t necessarily make it more engaging, so I would only recommend it if you happen to be a big fan of the genre. 

360 Degrees of NOPE

Despite behaving more like an Oculus Go game, with its limited gameplay making it, essentially, an interactive 360-degree video, walking through the hauntingly hollow hallways of Affected: The Manor has you constantly on edge and ready to take flight if any of those statues so much as blink.

Affected: The Manor makes no use of the Quest’s acclaimed 6DoF. Due to simplistic controls and calculated jump scares, there’s no need to stand, lean or even turn your head. To engage with the occasional items in the world (such as torches), the developers use hand tracking. This provides some much-needed immersion, even if you don’t trust the batteries in those torches any farther than you could throw them. Having to physically open doors to progress to new, potentially scarier, rooms will have you shakily reaching out as if you expect to be electrocuted by the rusty handles. 

Who turned out the lights?!

Being set in an abandoned, haunted building, Affected: The Manor could be forgiven for the sinister darkness prevalent in almost every corner. Yet, it is the contrast between this and the far too common sources of light, which is an issue. The stark differences in light and dark caused a lot of god rays. I found myself repeatedly wanting to remove my headset to clean away what I thought might have been blurry marks on my lenses. 

The graphical style lends itself well to the Quest’s low-poly rendering. However, I could still feel my eyes being drawn to the FFR (fixed foveated rendering) at the edge of the screen more often than in most other games. Admittedly, this might not have been a fault with the game’s design as much as a natural consequence of the heightened state of awareness brought on by the fight/flight mode elicited by it. 

In typical horror style, the ambiance oscillates between eerily delightful and hellishly unnerving, with the combination of background music, environmental sounds, and children’s laughter sure to raise every hair on the back of your neck. 

Dead Weight

I found Affected: The Manor to be inferior to what I’ve come to expect from the heavily curated library on the Oculus Store. With only rudimentary gameplay and a movement mechanic that doesn’t allow for anything other than a slow crawl, I found myself frequently frustrated. The limited interactions that were supposedly “built from the ground up” fall short of the immersion level of every other Quest game I’ve played. Additionally, the graphical issues experienced throughout the game were a constant reminder that I was wearing a VR headset, further breaking immersion. 

I fail to see how anyone keen on this genre would be genuinely terrified while playing Affected: The Manor. When you purchase a horror game, you expect to struggle to finish the game out of fear, or to at least come away thinking “Wow! That was scary!” If a horror game fails to do so, especially given the immersive advantages of VR, then it just isn’t exploiting the medium as well as it should. 

Having said that, the biggest issue with Affected: The Manor is undoubtedly the pitifully short length of the experience. Despite the multiple paths you can choose to take, there are still less than 2 hours of actual gameplay to enjoy. 

Everything’s better with friends

Fallen Planet Studios is clearly marketing Affected: The Manor as a novelty experience (not unlike Richie’s Plank Experience) for users who want to freak out their VR-Virgin friends. If you know that going in, then most of the issues I’ve mentioned might not matter to you. For amateurs, its controls are intuitive, and its straightforward gameplay is perfect. Still, VR enthusiasts will notice the lack of finesse and likely be disappointed.

Condemned

Affected: The Manor is a game with a niche audience. If you enjoy scaring your friends and family or even if you’re just a diehard fan of horror who revels in classic tropes and clichés, then this game might be worth your time. For those of us with a few more virtual notches on our belts, however, the game is more frustrating and disappointing than frightening or amusing. 

For an immersive horror experience that’s sure to leave you terrified, check out Dreadhalls instead!

Space Invaders

Titans of Space PLUS is an elegant guided tour of our solar system, stopping at planets, moons, and a few major asteroids. You are placed in a miniature spacecraft, with large windows that let you take in some epic views, accompanied by a dramatic orchestral score. At each stop, you can view some key facts, apply map layovers showing the terrain, and spin the globes or hold them in your hand for a closer look.

A shortened, 20-minute tour focuses mainly on planets, while the longer 35-minute tour hits all the stops. After viewing the solar system, you’ll visit a few giant stars that are thousands of times larger than our Sun. Or more precisely, those giant stars will come to you, and you can get a glimpse of what our solar system would look like with a blue supergiant like Rigel at the center.

Keep Your Hands Inside The Tour Bus

Some of the stops on this tour are more impressive than others. When you reach Saturn, for example, you can actually exit the craft and jet around the rings in zero-G, which is a truly inspiring feeling. Often, though, you’ll be patiently reading scientific bullet points, like you’re stuck inside an epic, immersive PowerPoint presentation.

Titans of Space PLUS is a lot like an enjoyable IMAX movie at a museum. It’s educational, a bit jaw-dropping at times, and worth the price of admission. Once you’re done with the tour, though, there’s nothing else to do except take the ride again.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy

If you’re looking for a little more range in your space apps, consider purchasing Star Chart as well, which also shows you constellations and some VR scenes set on Mars and the Moon. Like Titans of Space PLUS, Star Chart has a guided tour of the solar system called the Orrey, but it’s not as majestic or insightful as Titans’ experience.

The two apps together, though, are a decent first attempt at a comprehensive, interactive space tour that both educates and enthralls. Neither app has it all on its own, so any potential armchair astronomer might consider purchasing both.

KINGSPRAY GRAFFITI | NEWBIE vs EXPERTS

For this review, we’re changing things up a bit, as I’m lucky to know a community of excellent local graffiti artists who are masters of their craft, so we’re going to let a couple of them have their say on Kingspray Graffiti.  Ravesh D. and Lukas had never used VR before, so we had an hour before firing up Kingspray letting them get a feel for using the Quest, which more than impressed both of them. Once they’d both started to get their heads around it (and I initially had to promise them we’d come back to Superhot to get them to change to Kingspray), they gave this title some serious attention.

I’ll convey their individual thoughts on the title, and then offer my own notes and score by way of our ‘official’ review.

It’s the Feel

You have to get good and be good to get a good result. But the thing is I must have spent aw man, a lot of money on cans to get good. A lot of money. And that’s not having the other stuff too, like all the tips and the pearlescent sh!#. Hundreds of colours and finishes here, it’s @!#*ing crazy, though. I’m trying stuff on here that I have never tried out there. I can’t afford it! And you move around just like you’d expect. For me, it’s the feel. You forget you’re using the control things and just… It tricks you into thinking you’re using a can, and it acts just like it. Obviously, the shape of the can’s different, yeah, but I mean the feel is the same. And the menu sh!# isn’t complicated, it kind of acts like you’d expect. Obviously, in the real world, you wouldn’t have a million colours or whatever.

IT’S GONNA STAY @!#* ED UP

Ohhhh, the drips, man. It’s just what it should be like. And no undo thing. If you @!#* it up, its gonna stay @!#*ed up until you spray over it, I like that. If you’re starting out with graffiti, you going to get used to that real quick – because it’s costing you a lot of time and money. I wish I would have had this, man. You know, four years ago. It feels natural and real. It’s a bit @!#*ed up you can’t spray on some of the bits, like in the subway train bit. There’s some places the paint won’t take at all, like the computer is like, blanking you. So that’s weird. It reminds me of the fact I’m not actually doing it. But man this is @!#*ing crazy, I need one of these. I wish it did this thing where you could smell the cans, that paint smell as it comes out, though! That’s the only thing I would say is really missing.

THE ZONE

I mean I was saying to Rav, you run out of things to say because it’s real. You don’t think when you’re spraying ‘oh this is real, this is blowing my mind’. You just get into the zone with it. You forget you’re in there. I just concentrate on what I’m doing. It’s so awesome, I can’t say. I love that you can just walk around, you can pick a spot, and have at it, yeah? It’s so much freedom, and no-one’s gonna have a go at you for it. 

ALL YEAR IN THAT VIRTUAL THING

If it was me, if I was really picky, I’d say let me head out with a few cans. Just pick the cans you want from the shelves and head out then. So you’d be picking up the cans from your bag or the floor, you know the colours you had. That’s when it makes me feel I’m in the virtual world, the menu and the picking colours from a wheel. It’s like an app then, not the real world. But I get to use a hundred colours at once here. Makes me look better than I am. I normally do monochrome, black and white, two or three colours. It’s how I learned because it’s cheaper and it’s less to carry. But man, I could spend all year in that virtual thing, seriously, because you can just let your mind run free with it. All over.

TUNES AND VIBE

Did I say about the music? Oh man, I thought I was going to just slide on Spotify and use my own playlist or whatever, but Kingspray Graffiti has some tracks I never heard before that are @!#*ing A, and they aren’t even in a genre really or anything. Usually, when they do ‘street’ stuff like this you get some guy from EA, some office guy, sat in his office thinking ‘we’ll put some NWA on yeah?’ and that’s it, but this is all over the shop! It’s great, and I wasn’t expecting it. It’s so chill, the tunes and vibe of it, I wish it could be like that more often outside. 

KINGSPRAY GRAFFITI | DOC SAYS

I’m not a professional graffiti artist by any means, but I find Kingspray Graffiti every bit as wonderful as Lukas and Rav do. It’s a liberating and extremely well-executed title, with a huge amount of attention to detail. Everything feels convincing and slick, and there’s a pleasing array of environments to explore and spray away in. The graphics are very impressive, and the sound is acutely observed and immersive.

A special mention must be made of the soundtrack. There’s a lot of really excellent music on Kingspray Graffiti that suits the title perfectly, some of it entirely unexpected. It’s presented as different ‘radio’ stations, so there are different moods, all of which are surprisingly likeable and groovy. 

Editorial note: Sadly, the Scrcpy capture of the Kingspray Graffiti session with Rav and Lukas didn’t work out, but they have both agreed to record another and bring some graffiti artist friends along with them… So look for another 6DoF Kingspray feature soon!

What Fresh Hell Is This? 

When The Under Presents starts, you’re in a dark muddy wasteland. Mysterious magical goo covers your hands, as though you might’ve risen from the dark mud beneath you, and you learn that you can snap off the mud, revealing your hands under the goop. Two bracelets later, you’re taught how to use the game’s unique method of movement, referred to as scrunching. This involves your ‘pulling’ the landscape towards you and having it wobble over to you in a somewhat elastic fashion. It’s a quick, smooth movement system that feels organic and natural, and one which I urge other developers to steal shamelessly. 

You’re never quite sure what’s going on with The Under Presents. I’ve been playing it for days, and I’m still not entirely sure what’s going on. If this worries you, you might not be who Tender Claws had in mind when they developed this game. Much like Virtual Virtual Reality, The Under Presents is a unique Virtual Reality experience purposely engineered to mess with your mind in the most pleasant way possible. 

Game? Play? It’s Both and More.

You’re not so much given a mission to complete (you are, but more on that later) as you are a world to explore. You travel from the murky dark world to a desert of sorts, only it’s a desert with ruins. A destroyed building here, the remains of a downed ship, some rocky ruins, an apparently old plane fuselage, etc. They all seem to be remnants of some past events, and they all hold some kind of mystery. At the center of desolation is a small theater that wouldn’t look out of place in a well-worn Vegas hotel. This is where you get to watch some music bands performing on the stage, it’s also the game’s lobby where you’ll likely run into other players. It’s also a place where you’ll learn quite a few things before you then find yourself teaching them to newcomers.

The Gerald of Doom

The Under Presents isn’t just about exploring the game world, at the heart of it lies a story, and a mystery, and a mission. Remember when I mentioned ocean-bound souls? Well, they’re on a ship called The Aickman.

You’re introduced to The Aickman, which is kept in a bottle, by ‘The Under’ shortly after you begin your playthrough. You can return to it whenever you want by using your mask in any of the photo booths liberally littered around the game world. When you do so, you get to follow around a cast of 10 characters through three acts and an epilogue. You can access any of the three acts straight away, but you’ll have to work your way through them before you can experience the epilogue.

Gerald is a dolphin, and if you’re familiar with the work of Douglas Adams, you shouldn’t be too surprised at how important he turns out to be. All of the characters have their own stories, and you can choose who to focus on by following them around. With your mask on, you’re on the ship, experiencing the events occurring on it in real-time. Your mask is, apart from your hands, your most valuable tool.    

Carrey My Mask, Will Ya? 

In the game world (as distinct from the story world), taking your mask off allows you to perform spells, with a combination of finger-snapping, object manipulation, and hand gestures. Your time manipulation powers don’t control the world’s time as they do in the story world but can reverse time per object. 

In the story world, taking off your mask allows you to control time, winding it backward or forwards. This enables you to speed the story up as you watch the characters fast-forward their way through it. More importantly, it allows you to get to navigate through time to important plot points that you can learn how to influence. 

The Love Boat Promises Something for Everyone!

When you first encounter The Aickman, it’s fate is sealed, and all the passengers are doomed. As you watch the play/story, occurring throughout the ship, and around it, you’ll get to know the whole cast of characters. They’re an interesting lot, and they have a lot of conversations that are written well enough to maintain that interest. You’re an immaterial ghost on the ship when you have your mask on and don’t seem to be able to do much other than watch as they die one by one. You watch one couple get romantically involved, and you watch as another couple struggles. There’s a man who waxes philosophical about time, fate, and free will, and, if he were sane, perhaps he’d have been more useful.

This theatrical performance gets gamified when you start learning how to influence the characters, and by doing so, affecting their fates. In most cases, this involves solving surreal puzzles happening in surreal environments, a dreamscape of their minds. 

Like a Watermelon: Big, Pretty, and Sweet

The Under Presents utilizes the Quest well, playing to its strengths and surprising its visitors in many ways. The graphics are stylized but exceptionally well directed and drawing from a diverse palette. It’s colorful and pleasant, sometimes beautiful, and occasionally disturbing, haunting, or creepy. The sound effects are sparse but not lacking, everything has a tactile feel with great use of haptics. The world around you is interactive, you can hold things and play with them, and even in the story world, while in ghost form, you can interact with ‘ghosts’ of the objects around you. You’re never made to feel detached from the game. 

One of the game’s unique features is the many performances it hosts, and which you can witness in the main Vegas-like theater hall. There are around ten performances that loop, but the main stars are the live performances that sometimes take place. Since launch, and until March 2020, the game features live actors who enter the game world and interact with regular users. The first time this happened to me, it took me by surprise. I thought I had been interacting with a scripted NPC but quickly realized this was a real person. The presence of real actors engaging in real-time provides a crisp edge to the title. It really does feel like a game-changing innovation in virtual reality entertainment. 

Hey, Buddy! Can You Spare a Spell?

The Under Presents handles its social aspects with some trepidation, allowing you to join a consistent online world but muting you in the process. Although limiting your communication to gestures and snaps, this still doesn’t detract from the quality of engagement and can result in meaningful interactions. At some point, I found myself faced with a task that I could not accomplish on my own, so I recruited another player from the nightclub. They dutifully followed me to some ruins in the desert, and I gesture-explained what we needed to do. Then we both cast our spells simultaneously, restoring some ancient ruins to a usable form. This kind of interaction is commonplace in The Under Presents, and it’s absolutely delightful. 

It’s an Open Smile on a Friendly Shore…

There’s no killing in The Under Presents, and the closest you get to platforming is when you’re teleporting across shipping containers to read pages out of a book. There’s no upgrading your weapons, and there’s no working out the best loadout. It has puzzles and motivates you to solve them without demanding that you do. The Under Presents doesn’t make you want to beat it, as much as it’s asking you to enjoy it and to get involved in it. It wants you to bask in its weirdness, to explore its surreal locations, and to play around with it in the hope that you’ll discover more of it. 

These Violet Delights Have Violet Ends

I was (and remain) very impressed with The Under Presents, it’s a worthwhile and rewarding experiment in new genres of virtual reality entertainment. It includes a narratively strong puzzle game but is not just a puzzle game. It’s thoughtful, joyful, playful, and engaging. A title that can only disappoint gamers who demand that games conform to their expectations, The Under Presents is one of the best things I’ve ever experienced while wearing a headset. If we had some kind of accolade for exceptional titles, it would breeze past and grab it.

 USE THE FORCE, AND THE SPOILER TAG

We’re going to try and avoid spoilers for a game which is both story-based and very, very short – so forgive me if this sounds vague, but we don’t want to mar your enjoyment should you choose to buy the game. Episode 2 immediately takes up the story where Episode I left off, and it doesn’t hang about. It’s a minute or so into the game before Darth Vader is teaching you to harness the Force, mainly for moving and throwing things. Initially, this felt like it could have been the extra hook that the first game lacked. The format remains mostly unchanged from the first title – mostly some basic interactions and combat while moving through a series of rooms. If you’ve played Episode 1, you’ll know the drill. There’s perhaps a little more excitement and spectacle in this instalment, given the threats you face and the inclusion of fledgeling Force powers. It’s undeniably fun lobbing rocks about and throwing droids down holes… While it lasts. 

I FIND YOUR LACK OF CONTENT DISTURBING

I know that this is, in the scheme of things, at the cheaper end of content in the Oculus Store, coming in at £7.99/$10. I know that it’s meant to be played as an episode of an ongoing narrative and is intended to be more of an experience than a full-fat game. Even so, the story in this episode is very, very slight, and some of the beats miss entirely. 

In a very short running time, the title manages to contain both action scenes which are over too fast, and longeurs where you’re just staring at the (admittedly impressive) scenery whilst not doing anything except listening to people talk. The pacing is rubbish, and the joyfully great bits are over far too quickly and also plagued with technical issues and design problems which threaten to ruin the experience.

RISE OF THE ROOMWALKER

We’ll talk about the technical issues shortly. Some of those can be patched out, I’m sure, but the identity crisis at the heart of the game is a fundamental design problem. In short, it doesn’t know whether it’s offering the player a game or a vaguely interactive experience. The first episode could be forgiven for this, as it may have been many people’s first experience of VR. So the gameplay is not too challenging, and the interactions show off the magic of VR whilst not being too taxing. However, in this title, there are clear signs that they want to give the player more agency this time around. 

There are free locomotion options, but you still have to stand on certain marks to trigger the next (half-interactive) bit of story. You’ll hardly be roaming far. Also, the option for smooth turning is still incremental, moving the player in snap rotation but with a smoother transition. 

The game does everything it can to frustrate the sense of freedom that VR should bring. Stand there, do that. Ridiculous ‘return to the game area’ messages still appear should you stray from the very narrow path the game dictates, which is nonsensical for untethered, room-scale VR. At times, and this is most aggravating of all, the game will even turn you around or put you in a different spot by fading out to black briefly, so it can place you where it wants you to be. It’s really jarring and far more egregious than in the first game. 

The inclusion of Force powers really makes the design of the format strain. At times it’s incredibly empowering. It’s hard not to giggle with delight as you pick up a battle droid and hurl it down a fissure to be consumed with lava, or throw it at another droid and watch them both crumple. Then it’s over in a blink, and you’re back to trudging to the next marker on the floor. It promises freedom and creativity, like you’re going to be in a Jedi remix of Robo Recall, and then takes it all away. 

Also, it’s a lovely novelty that all the touch controller buttons make the fingers of your virtual hands clench, but it makes you feel like a right Jar-Jar when you’re force-grabbing a droid out of thin air and find yourself inadvertently doing a double thumbs-up.

All of this wouldn’t be so galling if the story were interesting. It just feels like a loose filler for a couple of set pieces, and then a set up for the next episode. A short story needn’t be a slight one. While we’re there, I have to say that I found Scott Lawrence’s performance as Vader a little bland and underwhelming. I can’t help but think that Matt Sloan (another Vader voice veteran) would have been a stronger choice.

WHO’S SCRUFFY LOOKING?

This is the continuation of what is clearly a flagship Quest title – so I’m still bemused by its technical shortcomings. Early adopters may be reminded of the bad old days before the patches that made some things a lot better. In my time with the game, I experienced frame-rate drops and stutters, audio glitches, and a couple of crashes, one of which was so severe that I thought I was going to have to factory reset my Quest [I had fewer issues, but it still crashed out at some point, my Oculus Home got weird, and I had to restart a section from the beginning – Ed]. There are strange vertical lines towards the edges of the view which seem to be present in a lot of scenes, striations which tear the image slightly. 

In many ways, this is a beautiful game with amazing scenery, but the engine feels like it’s almost literally coming apart at the seams sometimes. The very first thing you see when you load the game, as with the original, is a flat postcard of Darth Vader that glitches and jerks its way around the view in a nauseating manner. Why is it still there? A black void with the loading pips would be better than this.

L33T SABER

It isn’t all bad, by any means. The main saving grace, apart from ‘Hey it’s Star Wars pew pew bzzzzzzt!’ is the lightsaber dojo mode. With a different setting to the original episode, an unconventional lightsaber, and the addition of the Force, it presents a cool little way to honour the inner Jedi in most of us. Rounds of increasing difficulty, as in the original, mean unlockables like different crystals and such are fun to get. The later levels present a decent challenge. Throwing a lightsaber at enemies and then using the Force to bring it back like a laser boomerang of death will never not be entertaining. It’s not Space Pirate Trainer, but all things considered, it’s probably worth the asking price for the title alone.

Elsewhere, the spectacle of some of the scenery can be breathtaking, and one of the enemy threats presents a jaw-dropping, if heavily scripted, fight. I’m sure the spectacle of it all will be more than enough for most people to enjoy the hell out of. For some, however, I think that it will be played through in 20 minutes and refunded pretty swiftly. 

BAIT SAVER

Of course, the lovely and cartoony Bait! is already available on the Quest, and is mostly free to play. It distils the pastime into a whimsical arcade game with a considerable amount of success and is both immediate and fun. Sadly, no matter what I might say in this review, some will say ‘just get Bait!, it’s free’. These will likely be the same people who recommend playing Moonrider instead of forking out for Beat Saber or BoxVR. Whilst there is definitely some shared gameplay DNA between Real VR Fishing and Bait!, they have different goals and, therefore, entirely different atmospheres. Real VR Fishing wants to make you feel like you’re actually stood by the water. It wants you to lose yourself in the VR experience of fishing in a way that echoes the real-world version. I’m delighted to report that, with a few caveats, it succeeds. 

CARPE DIEM

Real VR Fishing starts in a fishing lodge; another one of those cool living spaces that the Quest seems to be teeming with. You can amble around in with either teleport or free locomotion. The latter feels a bit weird as it is mapped to the right thumbstick for moving and turning, so the movement feels a bit like driving a Dalek. As it’s the only bit of locomotion you have in the game, it’s really not a massive deal. A huge wall display acts as the menu system; the location selector, the store, your loadout, and so on. The menus are clean and stylish, only let down by the weird and dated blippy noise that accompanies button presses.

Whilst we’re talking first impressions, I have to say that the tutorial is beyond abysmal. The first time you approach the menu screen, the tutorial is displayed as a series of slides, like a Powerpoint presentation. It’s really a pet hate of mine that tutorials are given so little thought and effort, and this one is the worst of all worlds. Rather than a short, interactive trip that guides you through catching your first fish, it presents pages of a virtual (and crappy) manual to be clicked through. It’s not a good use of VR, or the player’s time, and isn’t really acceptable in what’s an otherwise polished affair.

VIRTUAL REELTY

Once out on the water’s edge, however, things perk up. It’s immediately lovely to look at. The water looks great. The backgrounds are clearly static photographic panoramas, but they are brought to life with incidental details and animations that are convincing and pleasing. Birds flit about in the sky. At night, the lights of motorway traffic move across distant bridges, and fireworks crackle in the sky. Swans, er, swan about. This is bolstered by beautiful sound design which marries convincing ambient sounds with weather effects and the swoosh of the rod and the clicking of the reel to create an atmosphere which is eerily effective at times. The fish themselves are beautifully rendered, and look spectacular; the best reward that the game offers for a successful catch.

The angling itself is excellent. Casting feels natural and rewarding. On the default Easy difficulty, Real VR Fishing operates similarly to Bait!, with ample visual prompts for when to pull and in which direction, and a circular meter ending in a red zone to show line tension. A lovely touch on Easy difficulty is that the first button press makes the player virtually don a pair of sunglasses with a HUD. This HUD then shows generic fish outlines in the water – a humorous little bit of sci-fi to explain the presence of holographic fish as a visual aid.

On the Expert level, there’s little to help you. No magic glasses, no holograms. The fishing line is colour-coded to show tension, and you have to carefully watch the water splashes to judge when to do what. It’s a brilliantly designed system which is welcoming for beginners, but then provides a bit more challenge and realism when you’re ready for it. 

Another great feature is that Real VR Fishing supports custom music. Whack your songs on a folder on the Quest, and you can play them in-game. I love the game’s default audio – atmospheric SFX until you catch a fish, then some mildly tense music (that sounds amusingly like a parody of the battle theme from Final Fantasy VII) kicks in. But should you want a nice relaxing time on the riverbank while blasting out some Cradle of Filth or Perry Como, then the game will accommodate you. 

TURBOT CHALLENGE

One of the game’s features that I find interesting is the progression system. It gives you a choice to either keep the fish you catch and earn money to buy better gear, or release the fish and earn experience points instead. This will help you level up and unlock other locations and bigger and better fish, but not give you any money to buy nifty swag with. Now, the choice for me was simple, at least in the early game; release everything, level up, get access to as many of the lovely Korean locations as possible. I did find myself hankering after more options for tackle rather than the default ones. Earning money seems a steeper hill to climb then gaining experience, at least early on. 

SIX DEGREES OF FISHING

Not everything about Real VR Fishing is as enjoyable as it could be. I’ve already mentioned blippy menus and rubbish tutorials, but there are more significant problems that I think are worth calling.

The first, and definitely the biggest for me, is that the fishing does not work in 360°. It’s not as limited as it would have been on the Go – you can potter about a bit on the shore with some degree of freedom. It’s more than disappointing though that the game features locations that stand the player on a boat in the middle of an expanse of water, yet the fishing only works if you face the starting direction. Try and cast from the other side of the boat and the line glitches out, shooting back over your head.

This really surprised me. Why feature an environment that invites fishing all around, but that only works in one direction? It betrays its origins as a Go title, and I think Quest users might expect a little more. I contacted the developers to ask about this, and they told me that they were looking into updating the game so that 360° fishing worked. Unfortunately, they added that this involved completely overhauling the fishing logic and that it might be some time. I’m hoping this will materialise sooner rather than later. Ironically, they could have left those tantalising locations out of the game and not highlighted the issue.

Lots of other goodies are on the way as part of a planned ‘Salt Water’ update. This will include multiplayer PvP, and it would be great if 6DoF fishing made the cut… But it shouldn’t have been omitted in the first place. (I’ll be happy to update this review should the updates sort the problem out).

Other gripes? Sometimes the geometry of some of the shoreline graphics is a bit simple, making it obvious that they are wrapped photo textures. This occasionally breaks the immersion if you pay it too much attention. It would also have been good to have a more involved virtual interaction when choosing to keep or release the fish, rather than left or right and a button press. A water tank behind the player to throw fish in, perhaps, and a little movement with both controllers to release it? This would have felt more immersive and rewarding, like a satisfying gun reload in a shooter.

DON’T BE COY: IS IT CARP?

Real VR Fishing sets out to replicate the experience of fishing in VR, whilst being gamified enough not to be boring or inaccessible. It does a fine job, and is quite meticulous in some of its finer details. The graphics and sound are mostly delightful, and the overall atmosphere is relaxing and fun, in a quiet and contemplative way. It strikes a good balance between recreating the essential languid nature of fishing and giving the player enough action to maintain interest. Rather like fishing in real life, it’s very easy to get lost in its charms and lose track of time once it’s got you hooked.