PlayStation VR 2 - The Bear and Badger

Moot_Geeza

*Head pop*

You've got it though right?

b0r1s

Yeah bought it digitallly in the sale.

SpaceGazelle

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Halfway through world 2 of Astro Bot. If the ingenuity and joy keep flowing this might be in with a shout for GotY. Videos don't do it justice, obviously, but I never would've guessed they'd be doing the experience this much of a disservice. Watching a couple of review vids before I got my hands/face on it I did find myself wondering 'it looks good but how good could it be really?'. Turns out it's good God good.

"Nintendo does VR". Can't remember who said it but that's high praise indeed.

Moot_Geeza

I'd go with that, the devs would probably be happy with that description. The way almost everything works, despite the uncharted territory of VR platforming, plus the combination of polish, little touches and gradual implementation of new gameplay ideas (that settle in immediately) are hallmarks of Nintendo at their best. I'd be amazed if Miyamoto wasn't impressed.

mistercrayon

I played one world of Astrobot and a bit of world 2. The inability to go back seemed irritating in an exploring stuff game and my neck hurt a bit from craning.

Moot_Geeza

It's not one for long sessions, I guess - presumably like all VR. Doubt I'll be playing anything for more than an hour at a time. I did the first world in one but I'll probably stick to 2-3 stages per go from here on in. The no backtracking works fine, it's almost integral for what it is, but I suppose it could be viewed as artificial lengthening. I quite like the idea that you miss a couple on a passthrough then you'll be told that you've nabbed, say, 1-4, 6, 7 and 9 of them, leaving you to fill in the blanks with rough places for the missing bots. It's not really what I'd call an exploring game, but a big part of it is searching within fairly confined sections within short stages. Works for me anyway, but they're needed for progression gates at the end of worlds, so we'll see if I change my mind.

hylian_elf

Nah Tetris Effect is fine for long sessions. I mean, there’s no camera movement and don’t need to move your head around so little chance of getting motion sick.

jdanielp

mistercrayon wrote:

I played one world of Astrobot and a bit of world 2. The inability to go back seemed irritating in an exploring stuff game and my neck hurt a bit from craning.

I managed to go back to some extent in one of the demo levels by turning around completely, although I was stuck with controlling my robot from a distance. The tracking on the Playstation controller was then messed up when I turned back around again, which made it more difficult than it should have been to do the pinging the robot thing at the end of level.

yourfavouriteuncle

SpaceGazelle wrote:

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Halfway through world 2 of Astro Bot. If the ingenuity and joy keep flowing this might be in with a shout for GotY. Videos don't do it justice, obviously, but I never would've guessed they'd be doing the experience this much of a disservice. Watching a couple of review vids before I got my hands/face on it I did find myself wondering 'it looks good but how good could it be really?'. Turns out it's good God good.

"Nintendo does VR". Can't remember who said it but that's high praise indeed.

Hello!

Cupatay

Moot_Geeza wrote:

It's the light gun games that are on my mind at the mo. I'm hoping to grab VR Worlds from Argos on my way home, mainly for London Heist, but I'll be all over Until Dawn: Rush of Blood at some point as the demo was superb.

With the exception of Rush of Blood, the on rails shooters haven't realy had great reviews. I was hoping to find a good Time Crisis or Ghost Squad equivalent but no luck.

I've played Firewall with the aim controller, it seems to work well for everyone else that have been playing for months but I couldn't hit a barn door. I'm sure it would be great with 8 players of a similar ability. I'm not gonna give up on it yet anyway.

yourfavouriteuncle

Rush of blood made me feel really fucking unwell within about ten minutes. Took a long time to recover too. The bit I remember was great but now i darent go back.

Kernowgaz

Is it cos you were scared ?

tigersgogrrr

Rush of Blood does a lot of good stuff but the tracking isn't great. It's a fantastic intro to VR though, and one worth showing off to people curious about how absorbing VR can be.

Moot_Geeza

It's £7.99 in the current sale too.

tigersgogrrr

I got it on PS+ waheeeeeey.

Sorry. Its worth that price for sure.

Moot_Geeza

I guess that means I forgot to download it on Plus. Fuck.

Edit: ah yep, missed Bound that month too.

Kernowgaz

The bizarre thing regarding motion sickness and VR, as I’ve got older I suffer from it more, where as I never did before. Even on fairground rides with my boy or sat in the back of the car when the wife is driving. I always thought I’d be ok using VR but I never have a long enough period of playing it that frequently, so I always have to get my VR legs again and again.

Kernowgaz

tigerswiftly wrote:

Rush of Blood does a lot of good stuff but the tracking isn't great. It's a fantastic intro to VR though, and one worth showing off to people curious about how absorbing VR can be.

I’ve only played it with a controller but can imagine it’s better with Moves.

hylian_elf

Moot_Geeza wrote:

I guess that means I forgot to download it on Plus. Fuck. Edit: ah yep, missed Bound that month too.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say you missed Bound. It starts off ok but outstays it’s welcome. In other words, it’s shit.

Moot_Geeza

Yeah, file alongside Abzu as the sort of thing I'd like to try but I doubt I'd pay for.

Moot_Geeza

Astro Jones, the rails ridin' section in world 2 of Astro Bot. I could play a whole game of that.

Moot_Geeza

One year ago: Fuck putting a plastic helmet on and looking like a twat in my front room.

Last night:

SpaceGazelle

Just wait until PS5 and a 200 degree fov.

Moot_Geeza

Is it looking rosy enough for VR in general? I assumed it would fizzle out like 3D tellies and basically end up as a footnote again/a 32X that you strap to your forehead, but there seem to be a lot of games to choose from on PSN.

SpaceGazelle

It's not doing great, but tbh the tech isn't there yet, but it will be soon. What's required is a massive resolution jump and a full fov. Apparently a wider fov makes a huge difference and people who have tried the Pimax say they find it hard to go back to the limited view offered by the main crop.

The main obstacle is GPU power, but eye tracking solutions and foveated rendering are helping to solve this and it'll be common tech in the next gen headsets.

The other issue is games, and it's a bit of a catch 22. Why make the games if the tech isn't cheap or good enough? Sony have done most to solve this, as the PSVR is not only cheap but they have the skills to make good games from what they have - another benefit of a closed sysyem.

It'll get there, and it's here to stay.

SpaceGazelle

What I was also going to say, and what you don't really get with the PSVR, are sometimes startling emotional responses and it's to do with the resolution bump you get with PC. It's still not good enough, not even with the Vive Pro or Pimax, but the res can be just enough for you to gasp in wonder.

I mentioned this in the other thread but I was playing Elite Dangerous in VR and was in a SRV pissing about on some moon when I got stuck in a crater. The thing was half upended and wouldn't budge, and I didn't know that there was a small booster that could get you out of these situations, and it was all quiet and I was looking over the lunar distance, with the huge star silently flaring above, and for a few seconds I actually started to panic and wonder how I was going to get back to my ship. I was totally there, in the silence, and helpless. It was a scary and amazing few seconds before I realised I was in VR and it wasn't a life-threatening problem.

It's going to be balls out amazing when it's 4K per eye.

SpaceGazelle

I have no idea why that formatted like that.

Edit: Fixed.

SpaceGazelle

Or that.

Moot_Geeza

I'm surprised it looks as good as it does tbh. I was expecting a sizable nerfing of fidelity (like putting a PS3 on your face, perhaps), but certain games look more than appealing on boggo PS4. I certainly wasn't expecting Astro Bot to pop and strut with such style. Obviously things like Until Dawn: Rush of Blood can present a glossier package than something like Farpoint as they're on rails. Personally speaking I'd rather they kept the tech cheap and cheerful (still rocking a 720p telly), but obviously a 4K image per eye would be an outstanding thing to behold.

SpaceGazelle

It'll all be cheap enough soon. Sony are doing it right though. Like you say, cheap and cheerful are some of the best gaming experiences to be had right now. Have you tried the Star Wars add on for Battlefront?

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0006-CUSA00640_00-BATTLEFRONTPSVR0

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