Swords of Gargantua Reviews
All in all, Swords of Gargantua is just kind of disappointing. It starts off with such an intriguing and involving cutscene and lore dump, but then never really follows up on it at all. What you end up playing is a very run-of-the-mill wave-based sword fighting game, but one that lacks the same depth as so many other VR titles. It never manages to make good on what it could be, and instead seems happy to stick around as another arena battle game, but one where the combat isn't good enough to carry that. There are just better options out there.
At the end of the day, Swords of Gargantua is a dull affair overall. Sure, when it's working flawlessly it can be enjoyable, but the sword play just doesn't feel accurate enough overall to make it stand out among the great VR wave combat games like Space Pirate Trainer, Raw Data and others. There are plenty of things to unlock in Gargantua, and if you have a friend who owns both the game and a VR set up it can be fun to fight alongside them. However, in the end, the core hook of Swords of Gargantua - the sword play - just doesn't feel up to snuff.
Swords of Gargantua is a repetitive slash fest with a small amount of design and enemy diversity, but it has something most games like this don't have: playability. The controls are a little off for movement, but the swordplay is fantastic when you knuckle down into parrying and combinations to elongate your lifespan.
Swords of Gargantua is a short thrill ride of an experience that tries to stretch it out to a length it simply doesn’t have the legs for. Between momentary bouts of motion sickness, dull and uninspiring enemy variety, and a flawed form of gameplay that strays far from the supposed “hyper-realistic swordsmanship” that was slapped on its trailer, I became entirely deflated from my time with the game and simultaneously disappointed that I kept playing at all. Those early hours reminded me of why I love VR so much, and just how well those short burst experiences work for the format. Alas, Swords of Gargantua is like a once-great TV show that simply will not end.
Overall the game is an excellent alpha or early access. The core game play for SoG tries so hard to get out and shine, but unfortunately it’s buried beneath several issues that can’t be ignored. If you can overlook these issues, you will have a blast with this game, especially if you have the convenience of using the motion controls of the Oculus. If you’re on the PSVR like me, you may be better off spending the $30.00 on something more refined.
Swords Of Gargantua is a fantastic top-tier VR experience but anyone with motion sickness will need a barf bag, it's a rough game for us.
Swords of Gargantua is one of those games that feels like a missed opportunity. There is some solid potential to have an interesting story, but the narrative bits never really develop. I am a pretty easy sell on the idea of a VR melee combat game, and to its credit Swords of Gargantua handles pretty well the majority of the time, but there just is not much reason to continue playing after awhile. Progression is shallow and the gameplay really never develops in a meaningful way. Swords of Gargantua is a perfectly adequate game without a lot of incentive to keep coming back for more. It's a perfectly average VR experience, but I had hoped for a bit more.