Spent the whole day playing this today.
Whilst I wouldn't call it a killer app, it's definitely a turning point and offers a tantalizing glimpse of what the future of VR could be if enough folks get behind it. There are moments, for example riding my horse towards an enemy whilst swinging my axe, that I just completely lose myself in. Despite the technical limitations, and despite this being built on the framework of a 6 year old last-gen title, I'm in Skyrim being a bad-ass, and my lounge feels like it's a million miles away. I took of the helmet, eyes red, and felt like I'd just come back from a short vacation.
But, despite this being a bit special; it's important to also set the bar quite low in terms of what to expect from it as a game. The graphics are, well, bad.
That's not to say it doesn't have it's moments. But essentially you're inside of a Playstation 3 title, not only in terms of polygons and texture quality, but also things like pop-up. The first time I saw the tree's just pop-in 50 meters away, it was like being reminded of a long-lost age of video games. In the caves and caverns it's not an issue at all, but in the open world you are reminded at every literal turn that this isn't a current gen title. Also the character models, some are passable, but the majority were always hideous and coming face to face with them only amplifies this further. It feels, to me, like I'm in some sort of westworld, interacting with audio-animatronics rather than living breathing people. Just the thought that maybe the next generation of VR could offer the current generation of fidelity is so fucking exciting, as a medium this thing is going to go from being 'passable' to 'mind blowing' so quickly if given the chance.
Having said this, some sections of the game hold up pretty well. The caverns and caves look pretty incredible; it's clear they somehow crank up the settings in the enclosed environments as everything is far more detailed with little or no pop-in. and there are also times in the game, where despite all it's flaws, it somehow comes together and looks breathtaking. Climbing a snowy mountain, watching the sun set as the music gently shift, then seeing the stars come out.
The tracking is also amazing, my biggest gripe with PSVR is often not knowing if it's going to have 'a bad day' - when it pulses and drifts with a mind of it's own, despite all the hours I've spent trying to get my setup just right. No idea what Skyrim is doing, maybe using a new SDK or something. But it's the only PSVR game I can play for more than a few hours that doesn't drift. I've racked up 20 hours, even played in shitty lighting conditions that would make YouTube VR into a pulsating mess. And it's fucking flawless, no idea how/why but it's a very positive sign for PSVR that they've somehow cracked it without a hardware update.
The game plays really well with a pad, but if you have move controllers they improve the experience in almost every way. I did love how with the dualshock, you can aim just by looking at something, but felt this made range weapons simply too good. As an archer, using the dualshock turned me from being a bumbling amateur into Hawkeye on steroids with constant headshots before they could even get close to me.
The motion controls in combat work far better than they have any right to, I started just waggling the weapon and doing damage which is where I thought the learning curve would end. it's one-to-one motion mapping, rather than just being a gestured trigger. but gradually I figured out how to parry, and when to do light blows and when to strike them with more powerful ones. My only gripe is after mastering the sword, I picked up a wand and then wished I'd rolled a wizard character. Wands are fucking amazing in this version of the game.
I made the mistake of imagining how much cooler the game would be if it had co-op play. this game has made me even more excited for what the future holds for VR. Sword Art Online style worlds in the next 10 years seems like a safe bet if things carry on at this pace.
TLDR; Buy it you fools
