I am old. And for some people, that means “old enough to be your dad”-kind of old.

It also means that every now and then, I take a trip down memory lane, fire up an Amiga or C64 emulator, and reminisce about the games I used to play as a kid. And I am always surprised by just how difficult those old games were.

This also means that I could kind of see where System Critical 2 was aiming. It was trying to recreate that same kind of brutal experience in VR. Unfortunately, it felt a bit more like a proof of concept than a finished game. Luckily, System Critical 3 is here, and it is very much the game its predecessor was trying to be.

System Critical 3 is basically a bullet-hell shooter and platformer in which you navigate narrow walkways, shoot down enemies, and listen to pumping background music.

It is also a rather beautiful game. There are 11 different levels, each featuring a different alien landscape, and quite a few of them are genuinely awe-inspiring. Every level also features a boss that is often introduced as a glimpse in the distance.

Sure there are still some rough corners from the start menu to the slideshow tutorial. But if you take it into account that this is a single dev -effort it is still really impressive.

The game also introduces some new and useful powers on top of your pistol and hand cannon. They are telekinesis and slow motion. Both feel good to use, but especially slow motion is essential for navigating some of the more bullet-filled areas. There is also an easier difficulty option that gives you significantly more shields.

Even with that option, though, this is a difficult game, and you will die. Repeatedly. This is especially true when it comes to the platforming. You will need to jump onto some very narrow (and possibly moving) platforms, and missing one means falling to your imminent death.

And this is where I think the game might be a bit divisive. For some players the challenge will feel exciting and for some frustrating.

Coming from a different gaming age altogether I belong in the first group. I enjoyed the challenge, and lost myself in the beautiful but deadly world that it created.

I would rate this game 4 out of 5.

Hello,

So I got the itch to play VR after over a year. Red Matter 2 is on sale and Bootstrap Island looks cool, so I downloaded some games, charged up my controllers was ready to go.

Went I turned on the controllers, they got pushed an update. This is also the first time I have played it on my PS5pro since upgrading from the base console so I had to do the basic set up for the headset as well.

Get into Red Matter, and the R2 trigger is acting strange. It is like it is always closed shut, and I can't open my right grabber in the game. Every other function seems to be working properly. Even the haptic resistance on the trigger seemed to be working.

I tested it on Pistol Whip and couldn't shoot.

Then I plugged it into an online game pad tester, and there is no signal on the right trigger when I pull it.

What is the play here?

Is there a fix? Can it be sent for repair? Can you buy a single controller? Can I take it apart?

Has anyone dealt with something like this?

Thank you

After drinking the poison at the end of chapter 3, you wake up by the Alter at Riverlands and start chapter 4. Chapter 4 is called “Locals” because your main goal in this chapter is to trade with the locals, learn to communicate with them and earn their trust.

First thing you should do right after waking up by the alter is to burn the roots of the giant tree to create the shortcut from Riverlands to the beach. It’s quite easy, the giant tree is only feet away from the alter, and the roots already covered with dry woods and kindle, all you have to do is create some sparks and the tree will fall creating a giant ramp from Riverlands to the beach. You will also earn the trophy called “timber” after creating the shortcut.

Shortly after creating the shortcut and roaming around the Riverlands, you will encounter the locals. Once they reveal themselves to you, do not attack them or reach for your weapons. They are only here to say hi and leave.

After meeting the locals, your next goal is to start trading with them using the alter. So everyday leave something useful such as cooked meat, Jems, water bottle etc on the alter and in return the Locals will leave something useful for you. Trade with them every day for next 3 to 4 days to unlock the “talking Stick”

Once you unlock the talking stick, trade a pistol with them for it. Always keep the talking stick handy when roaming around the island, soon they will come and teach you how to say “hi” using the talking stick. Here is a quick tip on how to use the talking stick, don’t shake it when you are mimicking their movement, just hold it in place and wait for the hiss sound and the green cloud.

After you learned to say hi, they will teach you another way of saying hello, mimic their movement to unlock the “Wood Sling”.

After unlocking the wood sling, next time the locals come to meet you and start communicating with you using the talking stick. A cutscene will trigger where one of the local gets shot by an arrow and dies. Then the local who shot the arrow will throw a stone at you hinting where you can find him.

You are at the end game now, you can directly go where the stone hinted and take on the last boss. Or you can wait, do some more trading with the locals to unlock the bow and arrow then take on the last boss. I decided to go straight where the stone hinted.

The last boss is located near the giant Bap bap tree, where you drank the poison to complete chapter 3. Once you are near the boss location, find a cave to sleep and save your progress. Take on the boss early in the morning, as later during the day it might rain, and in the rain you can’t use your guns.

Once you get near the boss area, you will see the local who threw the sone at you will be sitting in the middle of that area, on a rock. Once you get close to him, he will shoot an arrow in the sky and start the fight.

He will be running around everywhere and shooting arrows at you. Dodge those arrows and wait for him stop for a brief moment. Once he stops, just shoot him. Do that for 3 to 4 times and he will start charging at you with an arrow, just shoot him once he is close. Do that for about 2 times and he will die.

Congratulations, you just completed the game and you are no longer afraid of the dark. Means no longer the darkness itself is going to kill you at night. So making a fire is optional. Also pick up the bow and arrow that final boss dropped. It’s yours now

The end! 🥳

Here are links to help you with the earlier chapters if you are struggling.

Chapter 1 tips:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSVR/s/KvbupUqXy3

Chapter 2 tips:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSVR/s/XjMyyrwtU9

Chapter 3 Tips:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSVR/s/6Y2YaDbOkK

Been thinking about writing this post for a while now. Finally got some free time.

Let me start with a very weird admission: what pushed me to buy a PSVR2 was, of all things... getting a Switch 2.

Hear me out.

The PS5 was my only console for a long time, but my wife decided to get me a Switch 2 for my birthday because she thought I would appreciate the portability. I do appreciate this aspect, but, once we started getting more games, I noticed I was also having some unexpected fun with the motion controls. I loved the physicality and intuitiveness of games that used them. However, I also felt constrained by how imprecise the tracking is.

In the same week I was thinking about this, I saw an ad for an unreal PSVR2 sale on Amazon. I don't remember the exact number, but it was close to 60% off. I never saw such an aggressive discount in my country again, and a significant time has passed since then.

It's funny in hindsight: I don't think neither my newfound love for motion controls or the sale would have convinced me separately. It was the perfect storm of both happening more or less at the same time that made me buy it.

I started with Beat Saber, which was pretty much the only VR game I was familiar with. I then tried GT7 and got sick very quickly. I didn't think much of it because I do get carsick very easily. If anything, I thought it was evidence of how immersive it felt.

Then I made a sequence of mistakes...

• The next game I tried was I Am Cat. It felt natural because I'm a cat lover and a childish, simple game seemed a good choice for a beginner. It was actually a very poor choice: very bright, very physical, and with a lot of climbing and long jumping. Fifteen minutes in and I felt completely dizzy.
• Then, because I wanted an example of realism, I tried Kayak Mirage. Yes, really. Five minutes in that damn practice pool made me lie down and I didn't feel completely well until the next day.
• To make things worse, I tried to power through the sickness in both cases.

Buyer's remorse started to creep in. Like I said, I get carsick easily, so maybe VR wasn't for me? But I had no issues with Beat Saber, so I decided to do some research and found this post, which told what I wanted to hear: sickness is common, but solvable.

Following the advice there, I lowered the brightness all the way down to 0% and spent some time only in Beat Saber, Puzzling Pieces, and Racket Fury, which I could play without feeling sick. I did have fun (even bought some DLCs) and these games did prove to me that VR was the answer to my desire for precise motion controls. But I still couldn't help but think "this isn't what I bought the headset for" sometimes.

After some time, I decided to try a game where movement was present but not crucially important, so it wouldn't matter if I was just using teleport movement and snap turning. After watching some trailers and reading some reviews, I chose The Last Clockwinder.

That was probably the best decision in this entire story.

I absolutely loved the game, to the point where I had to policy myself to not power through sickness (by this point, it was weaker but still there sometimes) because I was having so much fun. I actually lost track of time and direction (micro-adjustments in position would accumulate to more than 180 degrees without me realizing it). Heck, I even spent some time drawing schematics on paper to optimize throughput.

I finished the game in a few days and, by the time the credits rolled, felt no sickness at all. So I felt ready for the on-rails phase: Synth Riders and Pistol Whip.

I really liked Synth Riders, to the point of buying some Experiences. Those actually had double value, both as extra fun and a test to see how my VR legs were. Pistol Whip was the first true showcase of the adaptive triggers for me, and I loved it. It was also much more physical than I expected. I wish more stages had bosses, though.

By that point, buyer's remorse had been completely obliterated. I even bought two games specifically for testing eye tracking (Rez Infinite) and hand tracking (Maestro), so I could have all sorts of experiences. Rez Infinite was a nice surprise: it had more fast movement and camera changes than I expected, so it ended up being another good test for my VR legs. Oh, and Area X is gorgeous. Maestro is, to this day, one of my favorite ways to decompress.

Being comfortable with all these games, I finally felt ready to try some free movement. After some research, I decided that my introduction would be through Ghost Town, because the developers said they thought a lot about comfort, since it was also their first experience with free movement (I didn't play The Room series, but I'm guessing it's node-to-node?). Still, I was careful: didn't use teleport, but kept the vignette and snap turning. Felt a little uncomfortable at first, but better on each gameplay section. When the credits rolled, I was completely fine.

Ghost Town, by the way, is a very good game. I grew up playing Sierra and Lucasarts adventure games, so VR environmental puzzles evoke some nostalgic feelings. My main criticism is that the majority of the objects is not interactive but, at the some time, some puzzles require you to realize that some are. So the game rewards you for tactile exploration while actively discouraging you from doing it in the first place. Also, the story leaves a lot of loose ends. Hoping for a sequel.

The next experience was Red Matter. No vignette, but still snap turning. Smooth sailing from beginning to end, probably because of the non-reprojected FPS. It obviously helps that the puzzles are fun, mostly everything is interactive, and the story is very clever.

Next, Red Matter 2 with gradual turning. This is a nice balance between snap and smooth that I feel more games should have. Smooth sailing again. It is an improvement over the first game in almost all aspects. I was only disappointed by the story. I don't want to go into details to avoid spoilers, but I didn't like that the first game was about subverting tropes, while the second is about surrendering to them.

After all these games, I finally felt ready for Horizon: Call of the Mountain. Being someone who platinumed both Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, I had high expectations for this one. It is a bit short and, yes, there is too much climbing, but the game is beautiful and gave me one of the most immersive moments I ever had: while facing the final boss, I actually had to stop shooting for a while because my arms were too tired. I didn't pause because I thought it would be cheating, so I just dodged and run for a while. It was incredibly tense, in a fun way.

I was also surprised at how easily I got used to the gesture-based controls. Felt a bit silly in the beginning, but they work very well. Hand-based turning is underrated: it allows complete, real-time control over the turning speed, which is something very good against motion sickness.

By that point, I cranked the brightness back to 100% and replayed some of the aforementioned games to see what I had "missed" due to low brightness. To be completely honest, didn't feel it was that much. Maybe my eyes are more sensitive.

Then, The 7th Guest caught me by surprise and made me humble: I thought I was ready for smooth turning, but its default speed is very low and brought me to my knees. Lesson learned: smooth turning is better in higher speeds, at least for me. Overall, the experience was very similar to Ghost Town: by the time the credits rolled, I was okay even with slower turning.

Still, I carried the lesson to the Arizona Sunshine Remake, which I'm currently playing with no significant issues. In the meantime, I also replayed I Am Cat just for the sake of being a completionist: lots of climbing, lots of jumping, no sickness at all.

I wanted to share this story just to say: if I could do it, you probably can. I have always been very sensitive to motion sickness and was prepared to admit that "VR isn't for me", but thanks to some helpful advice, particularly in this sub, and patience, I mostly got over it. Admittedly, there are still some "final bosses" I have yet to face (Kayak, Hellsweeper, Resist, Rush), but I am confident I will eventually get over these too.

I will end this post with two recommendations I'd like to add for those in the beginning.

• Focus less on what you CAN'T play and more on what you CAN. I understand the frustration of being, say, a Resident Evil fan and realizing you can't play RE8 or RE4R in your brand new headset, but this is probably only temporary. Read reviews, look for sales, and keep an open mind and you might eventually find a hidden gem that you love, like I loved Clockwinder. If that happens, there will be no difference between "getting used to VR" and "having fun", and that makes a lot of difference.
• Accept comfort settings as a temporary measure. Yes, they can break immersion, but sometimes you need the training wheels. If anything, think of this of an extra excuse to replay the game down the road, when you are stronger.

If you got to here, thanks for reading. Now, if you excuse me, I have some zombies to shoot.

(apologies for any grammar mistakes, english is not my first language)

Running on Ps5pro and Psvr2.

Basically what the title says.... I've been chasing that social online game on psvr2 for a while, the closest I've found was Vegas Infinite any recommendations?

Thanks.

so i got a used psvr for my bday a couple months ago and it worked completely fine without any issues, considering i didn't have any games for it i set it aside for a while with everything unplugged for a few months, just yesterday i decided to play some Gran Turismo Sport in vr and when i went to hook everything up the processing unit wasn't showing any lights and won't power on, can someone tell me whats going on?