I got a Quest 2 a while back and played around with it a bit. There were some entertaining games like “I expect you to die” and the first portion of “Lone Echo”, but mostly they just felt like proof of concept demos and I quickly lost interest.
Is there anything actually made for VR and a fully fledged high quality game?
I love how Halflife: Alyx isn’t even being mentioned.
Too scary lol. I got it with my index and never played. Really wish valve included a less scary switch in the settings, because it’s one of the best made VR games.
Just can’t do it. Not built for it.
I read some interview about how they had to “nerf” the headcrabs by making them latch on to your chest instead of actually your face because it was too intense for VR, haha
Loved the game!
I had no idea it would be so scary and played through it out of sheer will to enjoy the experience. I have no idea how I made it through.
The half life games are right at the limit for me in terms of scary video games. They tread the line just enough imo. I think it’s because it’s not just horror the whole time, there’s tons of non scary puzzles and gun-slinging going on to cool down.
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Right? It’s literally bundled with one of the most popular headsets.
Though there are still plenty of indies that still exude quality and love from their developers. Things like Compound, Budget Cuts, Until You Fall, or Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades (if you’re a gun person) are all a bunch of fun.
Though there’s that Walking Dead game if you want something with more money behind it (and are less anxious than me).
Seriously haha, arguably the best VR game out there
For me Half Life: Alyx was not even the best VR game but maybe one of the best games i played in my 20+ years gaming experience. It really shows how great VR can be if developers put an immense amount of time, effort and love into a game. Other honorable mentions: Pavlov VR, Blade and Sorcery (especially the Star Wars mods) and War Thunder
Completely agree. I had experiences in Alyx that were unique to any other game I’ve ever played. Things that are just not possible outside of VR.
Grimlord, Into the Radius, Among Us, Vertigo 2. And then there’s some impressive mods for Fallout 4 and Skyrim. There’s also some nice crossplay games with pancake players: Phasmophobia and the more recent The Break In.
And then I like Pavlov for its Push mode and custom content like the Escape from Tarkov map. Obviously most of this is PC, but some are available on quest and you can also use Remote Desktop VR to stream to your headset.
Into the Radius, to me, had the best “controller” scheme so far and I hope it becomes standard. I played Bonelab afterwards and constantly got frustrated by how often it would have me take out the magazine in my gun when I’m just trying to hold a pistol with a second hand.
I think Pavlov is my favorite, but I’ve also played it for >200 hours 😬 Overall I still prefer the invisible and lenient item points all over your chest that Pavlov has, but Into the Radius’s inventory management is solid once you get used to it
Assetto Corsa has a great VR mode, No Man’s Sky, Half life Alyx, V-Racer Hoverbike, Walkabout Mini-golf , Box VR (My workout game), Arizona Sunshine, Observer (great game but too short)
Seconding Walkabout mini golf. By far my favorite VR game.
After the Fall
Project Wingman and Subnautica can both be played entirely in VR if you’re into dogfighting or the indescribable horrors of the deep, respectively
There is no way I could handle Subnautica in VR. I was scared enough playing normally.
I played the hell out of Subnautica a few years ago. I loved it, and it’s one of the few recent games I played up until the end, even though I spent 90% of my time just exploring and not worrying too much about the main quest.
That said, back then the VR experience for the game was considered pretty bad - like a pasted-on layer that was largely ignored by the devs. If that has changed, I might think about getting a headset.
Try the Submersed mod, it adds full motion controls!
I cannot wait to one day be able to play Subnautica in VR. Wanting it makes me feel psychotic though because that games scares the shit bejeezus right off my socks.
Myst, Superhot VR, Beatsabre
Man, I haven’t played through Myst since… the original Myst. I heard that Firmament was a bit of a letdown, but I really should go back and play Myst in VR. Thanks for the reminder!
I play a lot of vr, although some of the games may feel like “proof of concept” as in they are very limited, unlike Half life Alyx, Boneworks or Walking dead saints and sinners that look a lot more like proper fully fledged works. This post could be a little lengthy, some are full pc games translated really well into vr and some are original.
My favorite game is beat saber, it is a simple rithym game were you slash blocks with lightsabers, thing is, once you download mods and start engaging withe leaderboards, the game changes completely. The skill ceiling is insane and since the gae is physical you feel awesome moving around. (Just don’t play around someone it may be extremely cringe)
Then any of the racing simulators are a great fit, project cars 2, assetto corsa with mods (the original) is really good to this day, dirt rally 2 is insane, you actually feel a sense of speed and at least for dirt rally I feel I drive better (maybe a bit slower lol).
Phasmophobia, it’s kind of a puzzle game where you try to discover which kind of ghost is haunting a place, try to get some friends to play even if they don’t have a vr since most people play on desktop, it’s up to 4 people coop and really fun, you are not a ghost hunter, more like a ghost detective.
If you are into space exploration, elite dangerous is probably the most beautiful. No man sky is a ñot more game like but much more fun IMO.
Blade and sorcery, this is a physics based sword game with a huge variety and mods. The game is still in early access (At least from ehat I remember), but it has progressed a lot and is in active development, despite that it could perfectly be considered a finished product.
Tetris Effect, it’s the same game but VR makes the environments even more beautiful (if you smoke weed seriously try this out, sorry to be that guy but it completely changes this experience, if not the game is still great)
Into the radious, this is probably the most inmersive survival vr game out there, it’s stalker but vr. Some of the things that make it great is for example that you have a compass and map and you have to track your position phisically, you have a backpack but there are no slots, you just put things there and they remain wherever you left them and when you need them in a hurry you will have such a mess over there it will be really difficult to take what you need. Combat is intense and exploration is suspenseful.
Lastly, please don’t underestimate vr chat, it is that popular for a reason although it’s not really a “game”.
There are a few more games but they are either proof of concept, too early on early access or just plain poets of good pc games but that aren’t especial on vr.
VRChat in particular has been degrading in quality and experience ever since they needed to start pleasing investors. You can give it a try if you want, but there’s a lot of toxicity there. Platforms like ChilloutVR or NeosVR have a better (but smaller) community.
Although some titles like BONELAB or Pavlov do feel a lot more like “tech demos”, they are still great titles. Some desktop titles also have VR ports that are worth playing, No Mans Sky and The Talos Principle come to mind.
The modding scenes of a lot of games have good VR mods too, “Vivecraft”, if you’re into Minecraft. Subnautica has a good VR mod, Half-Life 2, Deep Rock Galactic, Outer Wilds, and much more.
Haven’t tried bonelabs myself but I heard the campaign was lacking so I just recommended boneworks instead since to me at least back when it released it felt like the most complete vr game.
Haven’t tried the vr chat alternatives, I don’t know if it is because I mostly visit Spanish talking communities but my experience has not really degraded. Admittedly I’m not a hardcore user who spends a lot of hours there, but I have fun whenever I hop in. I will try them zometime but since they are smaller they will probably have limited communities in my language, and speaking in english is a bit uncomfortable for me at least.
I had no clue DRG had a vr mod??? Literally my first time hearing about it… Lol
Lastly, I can vouch for the minecraft mod, if you set up a server correctly you can even play with friends that have it on desktop together, there are also movement commands that were fun instead of ussing the buttons on controllers.
There is a great discord server called the Flatscreen to VR Modding Community. They do a great job on following new mods or existing mod updates. DRG VR mod is pretty good. The one for Valheim is nuts. The first time I came across a troll I nearly shit my pants.
I forgot to add Roborecall!!??
This might feel like a “demo game” to some people, also it’s from 2016~ which is an era that didn’t produce that many diverse and interesting vr titles, but this one feels really good.
It’s an arcade shooter where robots have gone crazy and you have to kill them, the action and combat is fast, you can grab and dismantle robots in melee. One thing though is that like many of the games of that era, this game is teleportation movement based (like half life alyx when you play on the default mode) which is a bit annoying, at least for me.
Thanks, this is really helpful!
SuperhotVR. BeatSabre.
Superhot is fantastic.
The two biggest reasons driving me to get a be headset! I played beat saber at a friends a bit and I just love it
And I played super hot on my Mac years ago, and got to play it a bit in vr at a con and can’t wait to actually be able to play the whole thing
PCVR is where the high quality games are. Quest and Pico do have quite a few gems now though!
You can always connect your quest to pc right? (Hope OP has a good computer to do that, haven’t checked the quest 2 but I remember how much worse roborecall looked on quest 1)
Indeed you can. Same with Pico.
Like others mentioned, Subnautica, No Man’s Sky, and Skyrim are fun in VR, but not made for it. No Man’s Sky, though, almost feels like it was. Also Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is really good in VR (and spooky). For “VR-First” games, obviously Beat Saber, but also found Thrill of the Fight (Boxing) fun and a great workout. On PC/Steam, many of the Steam Home places are very cool.
Skyrim can almost be modded like Skyrim SE, so that’s a huge plus. There are also VR specific mods that give you a more natural VR feel, like HIGGS (Haptic Overhaul), VRIK (giving you a body) and PLANCK (gives you the ability to interact more freely and directly with your environment) This definitely gives Skyrim the VR feel that it needs.
Having something like VR Weapon Throw also gives you a lot more options to play the game, adding thrown weapons and semi-medieval firearms. They don’t make a lot of sense canonically, but the added gameplay value is tremendous.
Another Idea is to add a couple of “Survival Mode” mods, to make it truly immersive. Speaking of Immersion, you definitely should install as much graphical overhauls as your PC can handle, especially for NPCs and Items. You can handle muddy textures in the forest, but it’s not pleasant to speak to a muddy textured face. Or looking at a sword that’s just a blob of grey and shiny.
Yup my only used games are beat sabre, thrill of the fight, and eleven table tennis. My 13 year old loves bar fight though
Forgot about Drunken Bar Fight. I have the Halloween one and can vouch for it as well.
Skyrim is next level in VR. Not sure if you can play it on the quest, but the level of immersion in the obscenely large world and exploring it in 3D makes the older engine feel entirely irrelevant.
You can 100% play on the quest (2 at least). I thought it was really good. The scale of everything hits a lot different. Not every mod works but a lot of them do - even the big ones. Archery is super fun.
The unskippable “boring” introduction we’ve all seen 1000 times in VR is wildly better. You really feel like you’re being carted through a town, hearing people all around you talk their shit. Then the dragon.
I didn’t actually get that far because space constraints became an issue with where I had my setup, but going to the little town then white run felt like an adventure on its own.
Walkabout Mini golf is incredible.
Yes, this so much! VR minigolf is amazing, you barely need any space to play. The skill ceiling is jogh and the multiplayer is really enjoyable (you only see floating hands and it plays like normal minigolf)
The maps are colorful, the themes really interesting and also they look really special, like you are on an incredible theme parl of sorts, the inmersiveness of this game and gameplay are unmatched.
Boneworks, Vivecraft mod for Minecraft, Vertigo 2, Half-Life: Alyx
Vivecraft mod for Minecraft
Can’t overstate how great it is if you’re into Minecraft. Stepping into the world gives such a difference sense of scale to things.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned The Last Clockwinder yet. It’s a automation puzzle game in which you create clones of yourself and get them to all work together. It’s not too hard to progress in but makes it easy to try to optimize your solutions if you want. The theming and story is cozy too. Really great game!
Came here to say this. The Last Clockwinder and The Room VR are some of my favorite recent puzzle experiences
I just made a comment about this on Kbin last night! I play on the reverb G2, but you should be able to play on Steam with the Q2 no problem. It’s a copy paste, so if something seems off it’s due to the context of the other post!
Here’s some of my favorites:
Vertical Shift: fairly short and barebones but it’s got a full range of powers for you to play with around an open world. Fun VR mechanics worth the sale price, despite the minimal gameplay.
You mentioned Boneworks and Phasmophobia which are also both a lot of fun, but motion sickness and multiplayer can make them not as convenient to always be ready to play. Of course, if we mention Boneworks then we have to talk about Duck Season. Blade and Sorcery should be on the list as well, it’s just too good to pass up. And well, if we’re talking about B&S we can’t ignore GORN.
Pistol Whip is basically a rhythm John Wick simulator. Very worth the cost of the game, lots of content, multiple free content updates - just a stellar game through and through. Also much more engaging than BeatSaber IMO, never been a fan of flailing my arms to slash blocks on beat. But shooting and dodging? Give me more!
Bonus: They just released a map creator. The life of the game is virtually infinite now, so that’s exciting :)
Superhot VR pre-content removal. Still a great game without the ending though.
V-Racer Hoverbike is a great VR game oriented Hoverbike Racing. Great sense of speed and feel, motion sickness is somewhat a given given the nature of the game…
Rez Infinite for anyone who remembers Rez for the PS2.
Pavlov VR is also a good popular fun game for your VR FPS itches. For more, there’s Into the Radius, Arizona Sunshine, ARK and ADE, Naked Sun, Bandit Point, Risk of Rain 2 VR (mod).
Speaking of mods, Subnautica in VR…
And one of my favorite pass-times, Holo-ball! It’s basically racquetball :)
There’s a couple party games that are fun as well, Wii Sports style with Pure Bowl VR, NVIDIA’s VR Funhouse, Tennis Arcade VR. All pretty decent (particularly compared to others that are available). Oh, also check out VRNoid which has brickbreaker and Hyper Psychic Gauntlets for a unique game. You can also play all your NES roms in VR with 3DSenVR which is pretty awesome. While we’re here, give Metroid Prime a playthrough with Dolphin VR, or all 3 if you get it running :)
Then there’s the whole world of productivity/not quite gaming programs.
I love, love love SynthVR. It’s just one of the smartest uses for VR, period. Create your virtual environment and just make it a giant music setup. Absolutely stellar. Similarly, Vinyl Reality for using your own music to DJ and mix! There’s also a drumming program called Paradiddle which is awesome for the same reasons. For painting, Vermillion.
If you’ve got a HOTAS or a racewheel there’s also a number of games that work great in tandem, Elite Dangerous for your space trucker sims (for this one, be sure to get SCRCPY for your android phone and run XS Overlay or OVR Toolkit to bring your phone with you in VR), Star Wars Squadrons, Drone Hero.
Also check out Podracer VR on GitHub!
Also much more engaging than BeatSaber IMO, never been a fan of flailing my arms to slash blocks on beat. But shooting and dodging? Give me more!
Personally I’m more interested in flailing my arms than shooting and dodging.
Pistol Whip is just a much better execution of its concept than Beatsaber is of it’s own. Though Beatsaber is a pretty decent execution of Beatsaber. It just falls slightly short of its potential. Whereas Pistol Whip shoots straight past any expectations you’d have for it and finds new ways to be better than it strictly needs to be.
What’s they remove from super hot?
Spoilers below:
spoiler
Throughout Superhot you are slowly doing more and more egregious actions, like robbing airports and stealing planes and whatnot. As you go through the game accomplishing these tasks given to you after you put on the headset, you become very familiar with following orders. By the end of the game, the last level, you put on your headset and continue as normal. Upon finishing the game, you remove your headset. A knock comes at the door and it’s a being (either a drone or a person can’t quite recall). Your character is then at the edge of your roof. You look left, nothing. You look right, empty. You look up, sky.
You look down, and you see the ledge. The only place left to go is to step off.
It’s very powerful. It has quite an impact and I understand why they chose to remove it, however I wish it were made an option because it is such a strong story for those who feel comfortable with the subject matter. I am very glad that I played it a few months before they pushed the update removing that ending.
For anyone interested, you can still download that version of the game on Steam.
