Recent reviews by CAREFiSH

So the main body of the old review stays the same, but I highly recommend setting your NVIDIA card power management mode to 'prefer maximum performance' instead of 'optimal power'. That seems to have fixed all my previous issues.

Absolutely fun and great game, definitely an enjoyable game.

=== OLD REVIEW ===

Absolutely fun and great game. The crashes I have encountered are getting absurd and frustrating. Can not play the game like this.

I have tried running the game in DX11, still loads of crashes.
I have tried running the game in DX12, without RTX, still loads of crashes.
I have tried running the game in DX12, with RTX, still loads of crashes.
I have tried completely removing OneDrive, still loads of crashes.
I have tried setting the TdrDelay and Timeout values in Windows registry, still loads of crashes.

For people who do not mind crashes as much, definitely an enjoyable game. I just can not deal with the amount of crashes.

=== Leaving old review up for posterity/historical purposes ===

Hello, this is my review of Half-Life: Alyx
Alyx is a familiar face, we have encountered her during our adventures with Half-Life 2.
Like the previous installments, this is another technical feat accomplished by Valve and its engineers, well done!
For fans of Half-Life it is an incredible feeling to be ensnared by the Barnacle, it's an amazing feeling to be jumped by head crabs and other horrors.
Likewise, the environment and atmosphere design feels 'just right', I had moments where I thought for a split second I could touch the walls and try to 'feel' the textures, hopefully with advances in force feedback haptic Virtual Reality gloves we will be able to.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this game and will definitely go for a few more playthroughs.
For people that are looking to get into Virtual Reality, I can say this is a must-have game to play.
Everyone should play this game at least once if they are owners of a Virtual Reality headset.
That being said, the story progresses at a nice and steady pace all the while dropping hints at what to expect in the next chapters.
How Valve achieved teaching how to play the game is well paced too! I never felt being hand-held and spoonfed the new mechanics.
Really, another accolade towards Valve for showing how games do not have to have tutorials.
Emergent gameplay was plentiful and a joy to explore and learn.
Eventually, there were some hiccups but I think that was due to my hardware setup.
Cases where these hiccups proved to be a challenge were mostly because of loss of tracking and spotty Wi-Fi connection with my headset.
Once I replaced the Wi-Fi access point with a more powerful one these hiccups faded away.
Now this is not to say to upgrade your own Wi-Fi setup as I am sure many people are not yet eager to try wireless Virtual Reality, let alone wired Virtual Reality.
Finally, I wish everyone a great time in City 17 and do not forget to pet your head crabs.
I am anticipating more and more great Virtual Reality games, and hope to write more reviews.
Recently I have been playing more Virtual Reality, and I am amazed at the advances made with the hardware within such a short amount of time.
My hardware used was an Oculus Quest, with Virtual Desktop from the Oculus Store and using the side-loaded version of that to let me play SteamVR games. The Wi-Fi access point used was an Ubiquiti UAP-AC-Pro.
Ending my review with a hearty adieu.
Directly jumping back into Half-Life: Alyx for another playthrough!