Recent reviews by dalmationblack

If you liked Portal 2 there's basically no reason not to play this. Co-op is great addition to what was already a single-player package I'd have gladly paid for even if it weren't free.

Getting the moon berry was one of my most frustrating gaming experiences ever (seriously, ♥♥♥♥ that blowfish) 10/10

The definitive version of Tetris. The particles and music syncing up to the gameplay adds a lot more than seems from videos of the game, especially in VR. The zone mechanic adds more than I thought it would too, especially in the very addictive Zone Battle mode.

I still haven't left the VAB but I'm assured that the rest of the game is cool too

I'm not quite sure why they added a skill groups feature when it never seems to change

Got this game months ago, decided to finally review it with the latest update (glad to see that the dev is still alive ;p) and after 100%-ing it.

TL;DR

This game has perhaps my favorite movement system that I have ever experienced in VR, and for that alone I think that it is worth the asking price. Although it has some flaws, if you have your VR legs this game is worth experiencing, period.

MOVEMENT

It's hard to explain why exactly the movement system is so good. I think that one of the problems that VR has always struggled with is how you're often:
a) limited to roomscale movement, which severely limits how big your game can be, especially when you need to accomodate small room sizes.
b) using teleportation, often combined with movement, which is prone to abuse (getting where you shouldn't be able to) and just generally feels artificial.
c) relying on smooth locomotion, which has the benefit of better emulating walking, and so works well to better immerse you in a game. However, it still doesn't feel right to combine in-game movement with irl movement, and that disconnect harms immersion.

A physics-based system like the one in this game solves the immersion problem (although isn't super friendly to those without good VR legs) by making it so that your movement always has an in-game explanation.

This is not to say that this is the only game with this type of movement system, games like Windlands have also used it very well. I do think, though that this game has the best implementation of it I've seen.

When you boil it down to its basics, this game is fundamentally about momentum. The jets and gun build momentum, the hookshots and hoverboard redirect it. The biggest difference I've seen between this game and others that use physics based movement is that it creates these distinctions, forcing the player to manage multiple tools.

This creates a really satisfying system with an incredibly high skill ceiling, allowing those who know how to use all of their tools build insane speed and get themselves anywhere with little effort. At the same time, it is enjoyable even knowing very little, as obstacles that a more experienced player could launch themselves over become interesting physics puzzles when one doesn't go into them with as much speed.

NEGATIVES

I'm gonna list off a couple things that irk me in this game, in no particular order:

1) The tutorial really ought to be updated for the index controllers. I spend several minutes trying to figure out how to equip the hoverboard (may be my fault, partially)
2) Some parts of the lead-ups to bosses don't lend themselves well to high speed, at all
3) The modifier hidden in the mountain next to the exit to the tutorial is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ evil and there is no way that anyone should be expected to find that. Also, I'm not sure if it's possible to actually get in or out of there without clipping into the map.
4) It's too easy to clip into the walls, in general.
5) While I don't hate the low-poly look of the terrain, it's not the best experience when on a hoverboard in extreme spin.

Fundamentally though, I think the biggest flaw in the game is just that it doesn't have that much content. I have a bit under 13 hours in the game and I've already 100%-ed it, now all that's left to do is either race people around the map or speedrun (neither of which are bad, per se, but it'd be nice to have something else to do).

Of course, this is just from the viewpoint of someone who loves the game and just needs more of it. For the price, and for a VR title, it's perfectly acceptable.

MORE POSITIVES

Modifiers: Now that the latest update has added a way to find them efficiently (thank god) I managed to get my hands on all of the modifiers. They're really, really fun. Definite favorite is the extreme spin modifier, it takes a stomach of steel but is the only way I play the game any more because of how fun it is. Being able to stack modifiers is the icing on the cake, but it definitely makes the system feel more complete.

Multiplayer: IT HAS MULTIPLAYER. Everything's better with friends, and this is no exception. Being able to race people around the map (as mentioned earlier) recontextualizes a lot of the movement system and the island itself, and is one of the few things that will keep you coming back for a while.

VERDICT

A perfect 5/7. level editor when