With endless replayability, Battlezone offers one of the more robust PSVR experiences available at launch. It is also exceedingly immersive, and its online co-op multiplayer makes for a unique experience in the VR gaming space. It's too bad that a lot of the underlying gameplay design decisions weren't better implemented. The extreme challenge is just one thing, and could be fixed in a future update for that matter. But players simply won't find themselves that drawn back into the game after the first couple of rounds, mostly due to frustration, or an overall sluggish feel.
Mario Party: Star Rush had one good idea, but lost sight of everything else that makes the series great. Ditching turns, and having players roll and move at the same time is interesting and does fix a problem that many have had with the series. But in making this change, and reshaping so much of the game, most of the fun was lost along the way. It’s admirable that Nintendo is aware of the problems the series has had, and is trying to fix them, but there’s just nothing here to keep players interested, unless they’re dying for a new multiplayer experience on the 3DS.
The Walking Dead: Michonne Episode 1 is a very rough start for an extremely promising series. Pacing and story issues abound, and the feeling at the end of the 90-120 minute adventure is that it was all setup with no true payoff. Whether that payoff comes in future episodes will determine if this is a worthy successor to the excellent series.
Minecraft: Story Mode continues its mixed experience with Episode 2 "Assembly Required". Writing is still enjoyable, though the overall story isn't coming together quite as well as usual. Glitches, especially those in animation, take away from the fun.
Fatal Frame: Maiden of the Black Water is a game that horror fans will want to love, but will end up causing frustration due to broken controls and an annoying mission structure. The scares are still there though, if you can forgive the other mistakes.
Harold is certainly enjoyable to look at, and occasionally is fun to play. The high difficulty level and forced practice sections keep it a strictly middle of the road experience though.
Rack N Ruin takes great elements, mixes them together, and then adds a ton of frustration on top. There are things to like here, but they are hidden behind bad controls, confusing design, and annoying gameplay elements.
If you loved every minute of Portal, The Witness, Obduction, or other sorts of puzzle adventures then Relicta does have something for you. But it's not as well polished as those titles, and doesn't offer as much creativity in puzzle solving, or variety in the puzzles themselves.
Following off the stellar Metro 2033 and Last Light, Exodus feels like a misstep for this series. This series has built a reputation on its quality, but Exodus falls flat in some ways that truly matter.
Kirby Star Allies won't bring any new fans to the series. It sticks to the tried-and-true gameplay strictures of the franchise for better and worse. Co-op is nice, and the HD visuals do bring Kirby's world to life in a fresh way, but overall this is a totally by-the-book sequel that adds little of value other than a chance to play another Kirby game.
The core of Out of Ammo is a decent strategy/shooter hybrid, offering a unique take on both genres. What kills a lot of the fun is the lack of PSVR customization, taking a room scale game and putting it into a much more restrictive space. Once you get past this it will be a decent amount of fun, but the lack of variety does diminish the real value of the game.
Attack on Titan 2 falls prey to the same problems as the first game, but worse. The story is less enjoyable, as it covers very well trodden ground. This feels like a sequel that didn't know what it wanted to be, so it just became a retread of the first game. It's unfortunate, as the first was just fun enough to be a real fan pleaser, but Attack on Titan 2 falls flat where that one soared.
Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2 - Episode 5 doesn't stick the landing, but it also doesn't fall totally on its face. It's a suitable conclusion to the season, but if you haven't bought in yet, there's not much reason to now.
The graphics and voice acting totally put you into the world of the show, and even offers some decent gameplay, if you're new to VR. For non-fans and VR veterans there's simply not enough here to warrant a full recommendation. You'll get a fun hour or so out of the game, but it's not offering much new outside of being set in the Voltron universe.
The story is cliche, the gameplay is simplistic, and the entire package just doesn't come together in any significant way. Still, the game does look good and when the action is hitting it hits well. If you just want a new action shooter for PSVR this won't disappoint too much.
Minecraft: Story Mode Season Two starts off a bit rocky with a content-filled but overall kind of dull episode. Jesse's story continues here with some tried-and-true story beats that might keep younger players engaged, but more experience gamers will want to wait for more episodes to see if this hits Telltale's usual level of quality.
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - Episode 4 is a bit of a mistep for this promising series. It's not a bad episode, but it does feel like just a small stepping stone to the finale. It also has some story and technical problems that make the whole thing feel a bit rushed compared to the previous episodes. The finale could be great, but this episode does little to enhance the excitement.
Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns will satisfy fans of the series and genre, delivering the life and farm simulation that they've been addicted to for years. It won't do much for those who haven't jumped on the bandwagon though, offering little new outside the titular towns.
Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 6 brings on some YouTube talent that will please their fans, but disappoint everyone else. The central story, which involves a spooky house and a murder mystery, has its moments, but the overall feeling is that this was not the episode that fans waited so long for.
Fated: The Silent Oath is unique among the current slate of VR games, in that it has an engaging story and a fully realized world. However, the short time spent in this world could be vastly improved in many ways. Those who have a VR headset and want to see how a traditional story-based experience could work should be intrigued, but others might want to skip this adventure.