Summary

• Playing VR games for the first at Gamescom changed my mind about what I feel about this technology, although it remains an expensive experience that lacks a healthy catalog.
• Dig VR was fun for the most part, but I got frustrated when I couldn't remember simple actions.
• Escaping Wonderland gave me a new perspective when playing sidescrollers. Defintely a highlight at Gamescom.

Before Gamescom, I had never played anything in VR. In my country, Argentina, it’s probably at least four or five times the regular price, which is already very expensive. Also, I don’t have a lot of space where my gaming setup is, so I had never even considered it. My knowledge of what VR games w🌼ere like always cameꦛ from colleagues, media, and some friends.

In my head, it was a cool thing that had Beat Saber, some exercise games, the grou♛ndbreaking Half-Life: Alyx, but that was about it. Many of its releases seemed more like tech demos than actual games, while Sony doesn’t seem to know what to do🍃 with it despite spending a lot of resources and time on it. VR is a technology that is waiting for a breakthrough that never seems to happen.

After playing three VR games at Gamescom – one of which I can’t yet say much about, so bear with me – my appreciation for this form of ente🗹rtainment changed. It helped that they were very different experiences from each other.

Dig VR was the first game I played, and perhaps not the best to have as your debut with this technology. You sit on a special chair that moves in a 360 degree angle as you move the💖 digging machine (another added expense if you want the full experience at home), so I wouldn’t recommend it to you if you get nauseous easily. Luckily, my baptism of fire wasn’t that bad and I felt okay during my 30 minute demo. The first time I put on the headset and started seeing this colorf🌠ul world was something that I won’t forget anytime soon. The actual maneuvering of this machine and trying to dig some dirt? Not so much.

The control ꦦscheme felt alright at first, and there’s a mode for beginners that lets you suck at your objectives without annoying penalties or time limits. However, as I kept going, I started forgetting some basic actions and it made my last 🍨minutes really frustrating, until I decided to quit. Overall, not a bad experience, but it was just like walking a bit into the ocean, letting your feet test the waters. I needed more.

Next up was Escaping Wonderland, a 2.5 side scroller that lets you follow Alice (of the titular Wonderland) as she explores the new world around her and meet some interesting figures that you’ll already know. This one was more of a proper platformer, with you able to change how close you see to Alice's surroundings. You control her with a stick, nothing out of the ordinary, but how you interact with the scenario is where the VR magic comes in. Grabbing some roots around is what lets you see the current room as close as possible, checking every little detail hidden in plain sight. Escaping Wonderland has an impressive art style so it was a delight just looking for tiny plants, books, strange flying creatures, and other secrets floating around, and seeing them in VR brought them closer than ever. The game even encourages you to do this by leaving notes and tapes in specific spots, ready to be manually grabbed by you.

As a platformer lover, I felt like this game gave me a fresh look on how you look at your scenarios. The role of the viewer is more intimate, and looking at the small things feels rewarding. I always try to catch all the secrets when🅠ever I’m playing a platforꦉmer, but having to rely more on my eyes than in doing some hard platforming was an unexpected and lovely change of pace.

The real deal, however, came with another experience I can't go into detail on just yet. Let’s say it made me realize what I already suspected while playing Escaping Wonderland, and what I have heard about Half-Life: Alyx - there are fully-fleshed out experiences that you need to have at least once in your life with VR if you care about games.

When I was younger and VR was only just becoming a real thing, I dreamed of the new possibilities of immersing myself in the worlds I loved to spend time in a more realistic, personal way. Looking at fictional scenarios in a different perspective, interacting with environments like I have never done before, and grabbing a weapon to shoot it in a very similar way to what it would be in real life. Playing this game fulfilled the fantasies I have had since those days, and it can’t put into words how I feel about having a small ta👍ste of where we are currently standing with this technology.

Some of my old thoughts still remain. I don’t see VR becoming a big thing anytime soon – or maybe ever – and while the variety of companies creating headsets have brought some more affordable options, it will never leave its ‘expensive toy’ label. It has been many years at this point, and it feels like you only need one hand and a few extra fingers to list the great VR games you have to try. Having said that, I’ll see how much is in my wallet when I come back home and maybe make a regrettable decision. Half-Life: Alyx, and my mystery game, are waiting fo🌜r me.