All PSVR Games and Experiences I Played (Ranked)

I love platformers, and there are not many platformers in this generation, let alone great ones (not counting Nintendo games). When I first heard about this game I didn't have a VR headset, and I was like: "Why is this in VR, give as normal version, platformers or 3rd person games are not for VR". I was wrong. This game is the perfect example why VR game doesn't need to be from first-person perspective to be awesome. Although this game is a from first-person perspective also, I'll explain that later.

Evil alien destroys astro bot's spaceship and steals its VR visor, a lot of astro bots are scattered around universe, and your mission is to rescue them, hence the tittle. That's the story, pretty simple and straightforward and that's perfectly fine for this type of game. There are no real voice acting, only cute robot sounds, and catchy music.

You're playing as captain astro bot, which you control via DualShock. Like in most platformers, left analog stick is used for movement, cross to jump, and square to hit things. But you also control bigger robot, which is actually a camera. So where you move your head(set), that's what you will see. You will also need to headbutt some things, and occasionally there will be enemies that will throw staff at camera, so you will need to move head in order to dodge the projectiles. Also, DualShock exists within the VR space, and you'll come across abilities that will help astro bot to overcome some obstacles. One of those abilities is the rope. You "fire" up the rope by taping the touchpad, but if you want to raise the rope for example, you'll literally need to raise the controller up. Those three things combined makes truly unique and great gameplay, and it's not easy to explain in words, and not even on video clips, you need to try it for yourself. Controls are very smooth, and everything feels great, beside all those jumping, there are 6 boss fights which are a lot of fun.

Graphics are perfect fit for PSVR, cause realistic games don't look that great on current VR hardware. This looks amazing. Design is great, it's a colorful world full of charm and super cute characters. Astro bots are hidden all over the stages you need to look down in the pits, or up in the sky for them. You'll also need to lean back or forth to see what is behind some wall, those things are only possible in VR. That's really cool at first, but it did annoy me a little later cause my neck hurt from all that "exploration". Bosses are gigantic, because everything is huge in VR, but also because you're a little tiny robot.

Game is not hard. I died lots of time but there are infinite lives, and checkpoints are not far away from each other. Levels are not long, so it never bothered me to replay some level to get all collectibles. My only problem with the game is that you only can move forward, well astro can go back, but the camera won't follow him, so you'll barely see him in the distance. That way if you miss something, you need to replay the level. There are also challenges that are harder than main campaign, and some of them will truly challenge you. Some challenges are very different from main stages, in one challenge you'll only shoot water from DualShock, so no platforming at all.

The game is so much fun. I smiled through the whole campaign, it really made me happy, and I danced with astro bots after each level. There is a lot of variety in the game, each world brings something new, so it never feels repetitive. It's really creative in all aspects, many times I encountered something and thought "this is pretty neat idea". There is plenty of content, there are 5 worlds, each with 5 stages (1 of them are boss fights), and additional 26 challenge stages. The game is really meta, some characters wear PSVR headset, and first boss fight is on the top of PlayStation 1. It reminded me of Mario Galaxy, and Little Big Planet games, but this is on whole other level because of VR. The game is really polished, and I can't remember any bugs, I had some tracking issues but it's probably because of my setup (which is more for standing games). It's not only one of the best platformers on PSVR, it's one of the best platformers I ever played. I got this game, as one of five games bundled with PSVR, but I definitely think it's worth full price. I wouldn't recommend it only to people who hate platformers.


Year: 2018 | Input: DualShock 4 only | Play Area: Seated

Amazing game and experience. This is the game I wanted to buy VR headset for, and I wasn't disappointed. Usually VR games on YouTube look boring to me, but I liked this even on clips from YT. This is the game I was hoping for since I got my PS3 move controllers 10 years ago.

Basically you got lightsabers and you're chopping blocks (by moving your arms with move controllers) to the rhythm of the music. You'll feel like a Jedi, it's a lot of fun, and you will sweat a lot on higher difficulty. It's not a substitute for serious exercise, but it can kinda replace light cardio, and since it's so addicting and you can do it at home, you'll maybe do this more than any other real workout.

I wouldn't listen to any of the songs from the game in real life. I don't like electronic/pop music much. It sounds like a huge flaw, but it's not really, cause all songs are very well fitted for this game, and I have a ton of fun playing them. Some songs I actually ended up liking, and only a couple of them are annoying, others are perfectly fine. On PSVR you're not able to add custom songs, which is a huge flaw, but it's not Beat Saber's fault, it's probably Sony's licensing/politics thing...

Campaign only has around 15 songs, but there are various challenges like: move your arms a lot, song is faster than usual, play with only one saber... so there are 51 one missions and some of them are really hard. Then you have around 20 more songs for free, and you can buy around 40 songs. At the time of this writing, cause free updates and new paid dlc comes out from time to time. So that's a lot of songs if you want to master all of them.

Beat Saber is easy to play, difficult to master game. It's good for parties cause anyone can move arms and chop blocks. When you get to the expert level things gets really difficult, but there are great tools which can help you to learn and then beat songs. You can slow some section of the song to learn patterns, or you can play song faster so when you're playing at normal speed, it would feel slower. So you can spend months mastering this game, it's definitely worth the money, and it's easily one of the best VR games. I bought this game full price (around 27 EUR). I didn't have any tracking issues and would recommend it to everyone, especially to those who like rhythm games (and electronic music).


Year: 2018 | Input: Move Motion Controllers only |
Play Area: Standing

The best thing about this game is that it's Tetris in VR. The worst thing about this game is that it's Tetris in VR.
In one hand everything that this game is trying to do, it does really great. It's a great tetris game, and great audio and visual experience, so in that regard it's kinda perfect. In other hand, this doesn't need to be in VR, kinda. You can look around, but everything is happening in front of you, and it only uses DualShock controller in classic way. So is it just a gimmick? It's not, in my opinion, because it enhances the game a lot. I played this game in regular (flat screen) mode, and although the gameplay is the same, the experience is not.

With directional buttons (arrows) you move tetris blocks (tetriminos), where you want to place them, and you do hard drop with up arrow, and soft drop with down arrow. It's just like I expected to play tetris with DualShock. There is zone mode when you press L2 or R2, that's new, but it's nothing revolutionary. When you enter the zone time slows down, and you can get out from difficult situations or get some crazy score.

What separates Tetris Effect (in VR) from other tetris games is almost hypnotic and transcendent audiovisual experience. I know that it sounds pretentious, but just saying it looks and sounds beautiful doesn't do it justice. It looks and sounds beautiful in flat screen mode. But when I put the headset, and the visuals are coming at me, and sounds are like inside my head, I feel like I'm on some kind of drug, and also I'm much more focused on the game. I'm not bashing the non-VR way to play the game, I'm glad that is it included free of charge. Graphics are crisp and clean on TV, and some people prefer this way then playing in VR, but to me it's nowhere as interesting as playing in VR. Gameplay and all the content is the same.
Sounds and visuals responds to your playing, so when you are good and clear lot of lines, satisfaction comes not only from highscore, but also the music you are making.

Tetris Effect has a campaign mode called Journey, which is a great name, cause the game is trippy, for sure. Campaign is just a couple of stages linked into a couple of sections. There are also times when the blocks will fall faster or slower, for no apparent reason. Probably a metaphor for ups and downs in journey of life. Beside campaign there are a lot of great modes, divided into different sections: Classic, Relax, Focus and Adventurous. There is something for everyone. There is a lot of content and replayability is very high, because it's an addictive game, and you're going to chase that highscore.

At first, I wasn't crazy about the game, but when I get to the Ritual Passion stage, I was blown away. I loved the campaign, and I'm constantly getting back to the game to improve my awful score. It's a great game to zone out and chill, perfect antidote to more physical VR games. Every time I say I'll only play for 10 minutes and I end up playing for hours. I absolutely love the game, but it's difficult to recommend it, because it's tetris, and it's not cheap. Full price is around €40, but I got it for €17 and I think it's worth it. I didn't have any problems with tracking, because there isn't any tracking. It's a very polished game.



Year: 2018 | Input: DualShock 4 only | Play Area: Seated

I wasn't hyped for this game much, because I played a lot of first-person shooters on PS4, and I thought I don't need another FPS. It turns out I need FPS in VR, because this game is so much fun. Graphics are top-notch, it's one of the best looking game on PSVR. There aren't a lot of PSVR games that tried "realistic" graphics and pulled it of this well.

I played it with move controllers and the feeling was great. I needed to actually close one eye so I can aim better down the sight. You can dual wield pistols, or bring hands (move controllers) close and hold the weapon with two hands for better stability. Reloading is not just pressing a button, you need to move controller the right way. For pistol, you need to slot magazine from below, for double barrel shotgun you need to put shotgun shells from above the other controller. That's so very cool, and it really changes the way you play FPS games. I had problems with reloading at first, because you need to pick magazine from your chest with T (trigger) button, the same button you fire a weapon. Needless to say I accidentally fired a weapon when I just wanted to reload, too many times. I got better later, but when dual-wielding come to play, and I was in tense situation, reloading often felt clunky, but still cool. I felt like a badass handling all those weapons.

Speaking of tense situation and badassery there are a lot of great setpieces, and moments that are lifted from big action movies. There are: Car chases, helicopter chases, fight on airplane, jumping trough the window of hotel room, corridors full of enemies and lots of explosions. It's not all gun blazing though, there are stealth missions, and there are other stuff that is not killing. There is a bit of climbing, lock picking, cutting wires, you can customize weapons and more... all this is fun in VR, and welcomed break from all those shooting and action. The game doesn't have free locomotion, you move by selecting nodes and pressing a button, it's kinda on-rail shooter, but you're not constantly moving, and you can choose paths. Some people complain about that, but I liked it, because you can focus more on shooting, it's implemented well, and fit this game perfectly.
I did have a bit of tracking issues, especially when I was playing with two handed weapons. I guess the one move controller blocked the other, so the camera couldn't track it well. It was noticeable, but never ruined the game for me.

Story is a bit disappointing for me. It's not bad, but I didn't care much about characters, it's full of action clichés, and I didn't like the ending much. To be fair about clichés, game is trying to put you in the shoes of action movie character, so those action tropes are what were they going for. It's made by London studio, and all characters have cockney accent and most of them are gangsters. Because of that the game is often compared to Guy Ritchie movies, but it's actually a lot more like Hollywood action/comedy blockbuster.
The story is kinda serious. Ryan got back from the army, his father is dead, and he needs to help his family (all of them are criminals) and save them from another gangster. But throughout the game there are a lot of jokes, and there is a scene in which you are DJing with one hand and shooting at enemies with another. So the story is not meant to be taken seriously, I guess. Voice acting is great, most of them are actors from TV Shows, and production is really great.

Campaign is around five hours long, but there are collectibles and there are also various challenges with online leaderboards. So I think there is enough content, I bought it on sale for €17.71 and I think it is definitely worth it. Although the story didn't blown me away, I really loved the campaign. It was cool and fun experience, and that's the most important to me. I did have some issues with the game, but nothing major. Blood and truth is a very polished AAA title, that is worth buying for anyone who loves action games and/or cockney accents.


Year: 2019 |
Input: Move Motion Controllers (Recommended), DualShock 4, Aim Controller (Only for challanges) |
Play Area: Standing, Seated (Recommended)

Year: 2018 | Input: DualShock 4 only | Play Area: Seated

Year: 2017 |
Input: Aim Controller (Recommended), DualShock 4 |
Play Area: Standing (Recommended), Seated

If you like Rick and Morty (tv show, not the game) you'll probably like this game too. It's created by Squanch Games which is founded by Justin Roiland co-creator of Rick And Morty. He is providing voices for Trover and most of the enemies so everyone sounds like Rick and Morty too. To me it's not as funny as Rick and Morty, but it's still pretty funny, and I enjoyed playing it. If you don't like that kind of humor, and toilet humor in general, this game will probably be annoying to you.

Gameplay is similar to Astro Bot and Moss, if you didn't play those games check my Astro Bot "review" above for more details.
Just instead of robot you're playing as Chairopian who controls Trover an eye-hole monster. The game is also more action oriented, there is not a lot of platforming like in Astro Bot, and Trover has a lightsaber! But it's a shorter than Astro Bot you can beat this game in 5 hours, and even less if you really rush it.

I really love the look of the game. The graphics are simple, the game is made of simple shapes, bold and bright colors, and it's clean and crisp. It's looking like an animated show not a video game, which is the best compliment I can give for this type of game. And of course it is really weird, as you can expect it, since it's a Justin Roiland game. You can play this game in flat screen too, but to me it's much better in VR because of the scale, some characters are huge in VR.

There is not a lot of games that are trying to be funny, so in that regard this game is kinda rare. Especially this kind of rude and not really politically correct humor can rarely be seen in video games. It's nothing trully outrages, but it's not safe humor, that is prevelent in today's media, either.

Year: 2019 |
Input: DualShock 4 only | Play Area: Seated

This is a collection of six mini-games, and it's really free, not a PS+ game or bundle with headset, it's always free on the PSN store. It was the first thing I tried when I put PSVR headset on my head, and I was blown away. I never tried any kind of VR before that, and I was not sure what to expect. Everything was huge, and all around me. The most amazing thing for me was when I turned around and there were astro bots waving to me, instead of my couch and my bedroom. It will always have a special place in my heart, because it was my first VR experience. When my friends come to try VR for the first time we almost always play this game first, then Beat Saber or Ocean Descent. There are many reasons why I think this is a great game for VR virgins. First you're playing all games seated, so no one is gonna walk around and smash something. There is no locomotion, so it's almost impossible to get motion sick. The games are not hard, so even if you're not gamer you'll manage to play this. All games are local multiplayer games so a couple of us can have fun at the same time. Couch co-op is very rare for PSVR but here are a couple of very fun games. Only problem is all games have basically one level, there is not much replayability, but I must remind you, that this is absolutely free.

Games Ranked:
1. Robot Rescue














Year: 2016 | Input: DualShock 4 only | Play Area: Seated

2018

Allumette is a 20-minute animated feature, built from the ground up to be in VR. There is no spoken dialogue, only "mumbling", but the story still manages to be sad and beautiful.

You can't do anything, just watch. City will be in front of you, but there will also be some houses below, and you can move your head to see around some walls. It looks very good. It's free on PSN store, and around 1GB, so I think it's worth watching.


Year: 2017 | Play Area: Standing

This is a bundle of 3 games, which I bought for around 9 euros. Games are: RollerCoaster Legends, RollerCoaster Legends II: Thor’s Hammer, and Sneaky Bears. I boght it for those rollercoaster games, but I ended up loving Sneaky Bears the most. Rollercoaster "games" are 5 to 10 minutes long, and Sneaky Bears is around 2 hours long.

Games from bundle Ranked:

1. Sneaky Bears is a wave shooter. Your buddy is a panda called Buddy and you're shooting evil teddy bears with nerf gun. Humor in this game is deliberately cheesy and campy. I liked some of the jokes, most of them fell flat for me. It's actually well-made game, considering it's a wave shooters with teddy bears. Physics are great, and shooting is smooth and responsive. The game is very easy, so if you want challenge look for another game, but that's good if you're new to VR and move controllers. Problem is - there is not much content and replayability. I had fun playing it, but it's not great game by any means.


Input: Move Motion Controllers only | Play Area: Standing

2. RollerCoaster Legends II: Thor's Hammer
Norse mythology. It's better than first game, because there are faster sections, and the graphics are better. It's okay experience, but nothing special, I was never on a roller coaster in real life, but I'm sure that is much more exciting than this. First time when you finish a ride, you can play challenge mode in which, during the ride, you can shoot some things around you.


Input: Move Motion Controllers optionally | Play Area: Seated

3. RollerCoaster Legends
Greek mythology. Just sit and try to enjoy the ride, there is no challenge mode.


Play Area: Seated

All in all, I think the bundle is worth it, because I would buy Sneaky Bears for €5, and €2 per rollercoaster ride seems reasonable. Sneaky Bears was my first wave shooter, so it was cool for me, but if you played a lot of them you might wanna skip this bundle. As for the rollercoasters - I heard those two are the best, but they didn't amaze me...

Year: 2018 (Bundle)

Just a commercial for TV show, a couple of minutes long with one jump scare. Luckily it was free, but it's 3GB so I don't think it's even worth downloading. Not a great commercial, but not bad either, I'm little more inclined to watch Strangers Things now...



Year: 2017

You can watch Blu-ray movies on a huge screen, that feels like you're in cinema. Just put Blu-ray disk in PS4 and PSVR on your head and that it's it. I like 3D movies more on PSVR than in cinema.

My favorite 3D movies that I watched via PSVR (for now) are:
- Dredd (2012)
- The Lego Movie (2014)
- Ready Player One (2018)