I’ll be honest, when I play VR games, it’s not for the breadth of the experience. I put on my Meta Quest headset for the likes of Beat Saber or some other short-but-fun game. But Asgard’s Wrath 2 came along — right near the end of 2023, no less — and blew all of my preconceived notions away. The game is a meaty, replayable RPG with beautiful graphics, fun puzzles and an actual story that sucked me in and kept me interested enough to play more. It’s easily my favorite VR game that I played last year.
In Asgard’s Wrath 2, you’re pursuing Norse god Loki, your betrayer in the previous game, all the way to Egypt. With a little help from the local deities, the player character controls several mortals who each have their own distinctive stories. Perhaps this speaks to my own biases about VR games, but I was again baffled by the scope of this title — while it’s a game you can pick up and put down at leisure, it could easily take dozens and dozens of hours to complete.
Graphically, it may not be the most impressive game that came out in 2023, and the colors can sometimes sear the eyes. But that’s the extent of my complaints so far (I haven’t yet finished the game). I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen so far of Asgard’s Wrath 2 and it’ll take a lot for VR games in 2024 to top it.
What else happened this week
This week, we had our Xbox Developer Direct, in which a handful of studios gave us some more information about their upcoming games. Out of all of them, I’m easily most impressed with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, if for no other reason than they didn’t just make a Tomb Raider/Uncharted clone. Lara Croft and Nathan Drake may be Indy’s spiritual offspring, but he’s capable of carrying a different kind of game. In case it’s not clear, no I don’t care that the game is first-person. In fact, I love it.
Out of the rest of the games at the Direct, Avowed looks like it’ll be the furthest up my alley. If I know Obsidian after all these years, it’ll be a gorgeous, innovative and fun RPG with at least some jank sprinkled in for fun. I also think I’m going to have to go back and replay Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice so I can remember what the heck happened in that before I move on to the sequel later this year.
In personal news, Mike Minotti did not exaggerate when he praised Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown — that game has taken up so much of my time in the last few weeks that I almost haven’t made time for anything else. That said, I’m hoping to finish it up soon so that I can put my whole heart and as much of my time as possible into Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth — I’m most excited to see how the story goes considering what happened in The Man Who Erased His Name — and Tekken 8.
What to play this week
What’s new:
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- The Last of Us Part II Remastered
- Palworld
- Turnip Boy Robs A Bank
- Another Code: Recollection
- Knights of Grayfang
New on subscription services:
- Those Who Remain (Xbox Game Pass)
- F1 23 (Xbox Game Pass)
- Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands – Next-Level Edition (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
- Resident Evil 2 (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
- Hardspace: Shipbreaker (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
- LEGO City Undercover (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
- Just Cause 3 (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
- Session: Skate Sim (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
- Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
- Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
- Surviving the Aftermath (PlayStation Plus Extra+Premium)
- Rally Cross (PlayStation Plus Premium)
- Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace (PlayStation Plus Premium)
- Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection (PlayStation Plus Premium)
- Legend of Mana (PlayStation Plus Premium)
- Secret of Mana (PlayStation Plus Premium)
- Atari Mania (Prime Gaming)
- New Cycle (GeForce Now)
- Beacon Pines (GeForce Now)
- Exoprimal (GeForce Now)
- FAR: Changing Tides (GeForce Now)
- Going Under (GeForce Now)
- The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails (GeForce Now)
- Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (GeForce Now)
- Golden Sun (Nintendo Switch Online)
- Golden Sun: The Lost Age (Nintendo Switch Online)
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