PlayStation VR Catch-All

I played some of Psychonauts VR last night. I'd estimate I'm about 60% of the way through it? It's mostly good. I love the design of the world and the characters, it really looks great, just the right level of detail for the resolution. The writing was unsurprisingly amusing, and the puzzles I've encountered so far are pretty good, with the exception of the puzzle I left off on, which is basically one of those sliding block puzzles except without a way to reset all the blocks when you realize you've screwed up.

There's no movement in the game, it's all teleportation by Raz using his mental powers to take another character or creature's perspective. Still the game made me feel uncomfortable and a bit dizzy at times because it felt like I was frequently being asked to twist around in uncomfortable ways. There was one scene in some kind of narrow structure (a submarine? I forget) with partial walls up and down that required you to jump from the perspective of one character to the next, but they were all at slightly difficult angles, I assume so you couldn't just lean down the hallway and zap past 5 other guys, but it meant a lot of twisting and straining in ways that didn't feel great.

Finally, I had a somewhat major issue with this one that is just a central problem of VR: I put the headset on at 11:30 last night, thinking I'd play for a half hour or so before bed, but as one thing led to another, I kept waiting for the next good stopping place, and when I finally took the headset off I was shocked to find out it was 1:15am. Oops! There are downsides to having your head in a bucket when you're playing a video game.

Yeah, the zipping around in Psychonauts VR was my least favorite part. And yes, I'm pretty sure you're describing the submarine. It's a great little story that cleans up the cliffhanger from Psychonauts and has all the charm of original.

mrlogical wrote:

Finally, I had a somewhat major issue with this one that is just a central problem of VR: I put the headset on at 11:30 last night, thinking I'd play for a half hour or so before bed, but as one thing led to another, I kept waiting for the next good stopping place, and when I finally took the headset off I was shocked to find out it was 1:15am. Oops! There are downsides to having your head in a bucket when you're playing a video game.

Since I usually don't have time to game until 10 or 11 at night, I've become accustomed to periodically popping out to the Playstation OS periodically to check on the time. Farpoint actually patched in a real-time in-game clock on your wrist, which is particularly thoughtful.

Hah, that's cool about Farpoint. Useful!

I finished Psychonauts yesterday. It was pretty cute, if a bit light on content for the price. Glad I got it on a sale.

obirano wrote:

Has there been a date on beat saber yet?

November 20th!

Honestly, I haven't touched my PSVR in several months, but I have been looking forward to Beat Saber to pull me back in. I also have some interest in the PixelJunk game Dead Hungry solely because of the PixelJunk brand.

Eldon_of_Azure wrote:
obirano wrote:

Has there been a date on beat saber yet?

November 20th!

Honestly, I haven't touched my PSVR in several months, but I have been looking forward to Beat Saber to pull me back in. I also have some interest in the PixelJunk game Dead Hungry solely because of the PixelJunk brand.

Great! I haven’t used my psvr in a while but I have been waiting for this.

mrlogical wrote:

Finally, I had a somewhat major issue with this one that is just a central problem of VR: I put the headset on at 11:30 last night, thinking I'd play for a half hour or so before bed, but as one thing led to another, I kept waiting for the next good stopping place, and when I finally took the headset off I was shocked to find out it was 1:15am. Oops! There are downsides to having your head in a bucket when you're playing a video game.

I once played Elite Dangerous in VR starting probably around 10pm until the sun was coming up by accident. I lost all sense of time entirely. Haven’t done that since I was a kid.

I'm still torn on this, and then more divided about whether to get the bundle with the move controllers or not. I guess it makes more sense to get the controllers, because the whole point of VR is immersion, and you kinda need the option to have the motion controls for that, right? I think what's getting me is that the bundle with the controllers only has Superhot VR that I'm interested in, and I'm pretty sure I'd like Moss and Astrobot better. They also seem like beefier games that I'd actually sit and play, while Superhot seems more like the kind of game I'd play in short bursts. I guess that's the problem with buying effectively a new platform: you get it, then you need stuff to play on it.

No longer torn, I want this. Told my wife I decided I definitely did, and she sounded like she'd already ordered it on the Amazon sale.

Hopefully she got it for me, because I grabbed Astro Bot, since it was on sale for $20 at Amazon. Same price at Gamestop too, if you prefer that.

Chaz wrote:

No longer torn, I want this. Told my wife I decided I definitely did, and she sounded like she'd already ordered it on the Amazon sale.

Hopefully she got it for me, because I grabbed Astro Bot, since it was on sale for $20 at Amazon. Same price at Gamestop too, if you prefer that.

Well, I just ended up buying Astro Bot. Thanks. Thanks a lot.

Well, Beat Saber was not on my radar until you guys mentioned it here. Just downloaded it and holy smokes is that game fun! What superb use of VR! I have no one on my friends list who has the game and I need some scores to chase. I highly recommend it and if you get it and we are not friends, please feel free to send me a FR. I'm xDocjoex on PS4.

What's the music list like on PS4? I think the PC version lets you use custom tracks, but the PS4 version won't, so you only get what's included.

I picked up one of the Black Friday PSVR bundles and have been playing every day since. So far, I've managed to put a little time into Tetris Effect, Moss, and Superhot VR, but the real standout games have been Beat Saber and Astrobot.

Beat Saber is as awesome as it looks. From everything I've heard about the tracking on the move controllers, it seems like the Beat Saber developers were able to work some kind of magic because it tracks very smoothly.

I'm in world 3 of Astrobot now, and wow. This game is something. It's pretty crazy to think it originated from a Playroom VR demo. It just oozes charm and creativity. The interplay between the robot buddy and myself as a character the world creates an interesting dynamic, particularly when I have to use both in tandem to solve a puzzle or defeat an enemy. New mechanics, enemy types, or tools are frequently introduced, but much like the best one-off mechanics in the Mario Galaxy games, nothing lingers long enough to overstay its welcome. You are always moving on to something new. I'm looking forward to playing more this week.

Chaz wrote:

What's the music list like on PS4? I think the PC version lets you use custom tracks, but the PS4 version won't, so you only get what's included.

It's pretty small to start. 16 songs, I think. The developers have already confirmed that there will be 30 free songs coming down the pipe from lesser-known, independent artists and another 30 paid songs from more mainstream artists at $9.99 per 10 song pack. So that's 46 songs for the $30 price tag, 76 songs if you buy everything for $60. $0.99 per additional song seems pretty generous compared to typical rhythm game DLC pricing.

The PC version doesn't officially support custom tracks, but modders have made that a reality. As much fun as I'm having with the PS4 version, I am definitely envious of the custom tracks.

I would recommend Thumper, Job Simulator and Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes on PSVR

Jonman wrote:

Speaking of Tetris Effect - has there been any rumblings about it coming to the PC VR world? I get exclusivity is a thing, but I'm jonesing to give it a go.

This is almost certainly a timed exclusive. Moss, Skyrim, and Rez all launched as PSVR exclusive and launched on Steam at around the 6 month mark.

So I played a marathon session of Beat Saber and I didn’t realize what a workout that game is. My quads/hips were really sore which was perplexing but I realized it was from all the low crouching I was doing to dodge the obstacles. Also I managed to exacerbate some tendinitis I had in my shoulder.

Great game but I need to take a break to physically recover. Plus I am apparently really out of shape.

Well Santa has gone all in and got a mega bundle with two move controllers for a total of £300 which includes:
ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission
WipEout Omega Collection
DOOM VFR
PlayStation VR Worlds
Skyrim VR
The shop deal also included Resident Evil somethingorother

I think between me and the kids I think we should get our moneys worth.

I'd love to get Mrs. princess to try it- what's my best bet? She did like Wipeout back in the PS1 days.

yregprincess wrote:

I'd love to get Mrs. princess to try it- what's my best bet? She did like Wipeout back in the PS1 days.

I suggest you don't start anyone on Wipeout - pick something with less movement involved. Having your first experience induce nausea is not a good place to start.

Download the free The Last Guardian VR demo. It's a good place to try VR out for the first time.

IMHO, Wipeout is one of the top three PSVR mind-blowing experiences (the others being Moss and AstroBot; Skyrim and Resident Evil 7 follow very shortly behind), so you're in for a treat. But you might want to start out with something less frenetic - "Ocean's Descent" in Playstation VR Worlds is always a go-to introduction.

Edit: Yes, Last Guardian Demo (that's all there is, there's no Last Guardian VR game) is also a great starter.

VR Worlds (is on sale for $6 on PSN right now). The underwater bit has you doing little more than getting used to the head tracking experience, so other than it possibly being too boring for some, would make a good start.

Thanks for the tips. Looks like we have enough to get started. The Last Guardian looks like something everyone in the family will like. Can't wait to get into it. The next (rhetorical) question is: should I haul the PS to the in-laws so we can get started on Christmas day?

yregprincess wrote:

Thanks for the tips. Looks like we have enough to get started. The Last Guardian looks like something everyone in the family will like. Can't wait to get into it. The next (rhetorical) question is: should I haul the PS to the in-laws so we can get started on Christmas day?

I did this, but only do it if there is a room away from most of the commotion. There are a lot of wires that will get in everyone's way if it is the main room.

In case I do get one of these for Christmas, I'm kind of looking forward to making my wife's family try it out. Hopefully we're doing Christmas at our house so I can do that. I'm thinking start everyone with Wipeout?

If you do that before Christmas dinner...more turkey for you!

I mean, it's not like my wife tends to get motion sick or anything...

So I did get the PSVR yesterday, along with some games and PSN credit. I hooked it up and had everyone try the ocean descent thing in PSVR Worlds. It was super amusing. My brother and sister in law both tried the shark one, and there was a lot of jumping around and ducking. Very funny. I got to try a little of Superhot, Tetris Effect, and the Job Simulator demo. The stuff with the Move controllers is very cool, and I want to try more of that.

I grabbed a few games on the current PSN sale, and downloaded a mess of demos. I'm hoping to play around with it more today, assuming the kids cooperate. Turns out being in VR and dealing with a toddler and infant aren't super compatible. I'm still trying to decide if I want to get Beat Saber at full price, or wait for a sale. Probably wait for a sale.

Chaz wrote:

So I did get the PSVR yesterday, along with some games and PSN credit. I hooked it up and had everyone try the ocean descent thing in PSVR Worlds. It was super amusing. My brother and sister in law both tried the shark one, and there was a lot of jumping around and ducking. Very funny. I got to try a little of Superhot, Tetris Effect, and the Job Simulator demo. The stuff with the Move controllers is very cool, and I want to try more of that.

I grabbed a few games on the current PSN sale, and downloaded a mess of demos. I'm hoping to play around with it more today, assuming the kids cooperate. Turns out being in VR and dealing with a toddler and infant aren't super compatible. I'm still trying to decide if I want to get Beat Saber at full price, or wait for a sale. Probably wait for a sale.

Yeah, little kids make that really difficult. I end up waiting for vr stuff for when they are asleep and even then, it’s hard to hear them if they wake up.

Same situation with a toddler. I only hook it up when he's asleep.

Got PSVR a week ago myself. Been playing some Tetris Effect and Wipeout Omega Collection. It's my first taste of VR and I'm just blown away!

Started Resident EVIIL today, but only got about 5 minutes in before my toddler woke up. Not sure how I feel about the "turn in 30°" increments, but it probably really does reduce the motion sickness.

I feel like such a dunce. I started up my PSVR for the first time in ages to hop in and try Tetris Effect. It was lovely, but it didn’t seem as amazing as everyone kept saying. I closed the game down after 6 or 7 stages. I hop in the next day after a system update (causing the game to close also). I throw on my headset and the screen prompts me to plug in the PS Eye. Turns out it’d been so long since I last VR’d that I unplugged the Eye from the USB and never thought to plug it back in. So I wasn’t really VRing the last time I played, it was just on the massive screen that the headset provides. I plugged that sucker in and holy cow. So, so much better. The everything is so gorgeous. I just want to watch and listen to the level and music without the stress of the game at times. (And I think there is a setting to do that). What an amazing experience.