Recent reviews by Artema Heks

DISCLAIMER: This is an ongoing review and opinions are not final. I will cut together a full review when the game is in better shape.

Tl;dr Teleport move is broken in a really bad way, the main menu is sloppy, and the game suffers from incredibly and unnecessarily long load times. I cannot play this game in its current state.

NOTE: This is part of a larger ongoing review for this title! To see the entire history for this game go here! http://pastebin.com/1k82dLrt

======================== 02/13/17 Beta2.7.4

Locomotion is still a big problem for me. The teleport movement is still messed up and I haven't noticed any sufficient changes to it. I have used all 4 different methods and all of them make me want to hurl. It's hard to explain something like this but I'll try my best.

There are 4 different options for locomotion.
1. Trackpad (works perfectly)
a. This is becoming more of a standard form of locomotion among the VR crowd. Basically you touch the trackpad and move in the direction you touch, with the direction your headset is facing being 'forward'.
2. Click (works perfectly)
a. This is probably the most refined form of locomotion in this particular title. You point your controller in the direction you want to go, click the trackpad, and you're off! I've got to say, this method feels awesome and it's a shame I don't have the stomach for it.
3. Teleport (needs adjustments)
a. This game has a unique twist on the teleport movement that most of us know from titles like Rec Room. You point your controller in the direction you want to go, press the move button, and when you release, POOF! You're there! In this game however, in order to match the realism of the Click and Trackpad modes you must hold down the button and watch as your ghost moves for you. When you see the ghost in the spot you would like you can let go and you teleport to that location.
4. Ctrl Move (works perfectly)
a. A variant to Trackpad mode, with this you still use the trackpad to move but this time the direction you point the controller in is forward as opposed to the direction the headset is facing. Arguments could be made as to why one or the other is superior but in reality this one boils down to preference.

Now I haven't the stomach for any other mode of travel besides "Teleport". That being said there is a catch to this mode in this title. For some unknown reason teleport movement in this game does not allow for you to move around your play area at all. If I move left in my play space the game moves right to compensate and places me in the same spot. This action actually makes it WORSE on my stomach than any other mode. You can no longer lean over the table to pick up an item because the table moves away from you as you move forward. It's very hard to explain without showing you and it's VERY disorienting. It also makes the teleport movement option unusable.

After locomotion we have a few more issues to look at. There is no way to use the main menu from inside the game without dying. This sucks as you have to wander around trying to kill yourself before you can change the locomotion settings even if you are in a mode that can potentially make you sick. The only workaround to this is restarting the software which often takes twice as long.

Another issue that I had was with the longbow. I know that this is an experimental weapon but if it's in the game than it's up for critique as far as I'm concerned. Aiming the longbow is simply a hassle when you draw it back. It seems normal at first but after firing it you can tell something is wrong. The arrow fires in a fixed direction no matter how you draw the string. The only way to aim the bow is by rotating the hand holding it, leaving the draw hand as nothing more than adjusting the power. The arrow doesn’t even track to that hand. As firing a bow is complex I expect that this may change in the future but for now it's there.

The last issue I have is aesthetic. The main menu for the game, though improved, is still pretty sloppy. Booting up a VR game takes you to a loading environment while your software starts. In this title you move from the SteamVR loading environment to a title screen. The title screen looks sleek and polished with nothing in it but some text, a curved image and the company logo which you are standing on. The use of minimalism here works great for the look and feel of the game! However (and the game doesn't tell you this) you have to press a button on the controller for it to advance to the main menu. This will leave a new player standing around like an idiot waiting for the game to load.
After pressing the button to transition to the main menu you are greeted with another loading screen. It takes an aggravatingly long time to load up this menu. Then when it finally does load you see that you are standing on a boat in the middle of the ocean (for some reason, as no context is provided) with a pointer for a hand. In front of you, you see a large stone wall lined top to bottom with buttons. The look and feel of this environment is completely contrasting to the previous and changes the tone of the game completely. The use of high poly objects and a fully rendered 3d environment in the menu causes you to load into it FOR NO REASON. That wall of buttons could have easily been inserted into the title screen. Then you'd only need to have one, much faster, loading screen before being able to play.

But I digress, all of the switches on the wall are toggles for different options you can set in the game. Clicking them only turns them on and off with no in-game explanation and no (quick) method of testing them. Meaning you have to set one option at a time and then load into the game. That makes for the third loading screen before you can even TRY to play. If that doesn’t work then you either look for a way to die and get sick from the locomotion method you chose (or didn’t choose). Or you exit the game and wait for 2 loading screens before you can try again. Because VR is such a tailored experience for each person playing you'll inevitably not get the options right your first or even third time around. So that’s waiting through countless load screens before you can even start playing the game. Now remember that bit about there being 4 different locomotion options? This is why having one of them not work is a problem. I have, at this time, just over two hours clocked in this game and 80% of it has been loading time with a solid 19% being testing out locomotion methods and 1% playtesting any further than that.
That's disappointing to me because I KNOW that underneath all of these problems there is a game there to be played and I WANT to play it. I want this game to succeed, not just because I spent money on it, but because I can see that the developer really cares about their product. In an industry full of Mighty No. 9's and Air Control's it's nice to see someone give a crap about their players and their fans. In the meantime, I'm still waiting to give this game a FAIR review so please keep listening to feedback from your play-testers.

I got this game a while ago in a bundle and only played it recently. Its awesome so far (for an alpha), It's definately not a finished game! but it has some great theming and an awesome feel.

Suggestions:
The map slowly rotates as you play, you don't notice it at first and it's an awesome way to confuse your players, however it spins a little too fast. If I stop moving I start geting motion sickness. So I propse you keep the spinning just make it slower...

I'll update this more after I've played it more.

for now 3/5

All I wanted was pro bending matches, but no this is some cheap cash in on what was a great show! 2/10 Uninstalled after playing once...

Cute, quirky, and INCREDIBLY difficult! A+

I am not very interested in games of this genre. That being said I immeadiately fell in love with this title. everything from the graphics to the gameplay to the storytelling is 100% beautiful! This game is a come from behind 10 for me!

Super fun! Please please PLEASE get survival mode up and running!

HOLY F@#KING S#!T THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST GAMES I'VE EVER PLAYED!!!

Loved this game even from a young age!
9/10 solid platformer!

This is an AMAZING game... Just need more players...

So I have a mod called "A Tale of Two Wastelands" installed. It allows you to play through fallout 3 and then play into new vegas. Hardcore mode on fallout 3? Yes it does and I LOVE THIS GAME! 10/10 for both games if you haven't bought it already then do it now!