interested in VR

[gbpxl]

I know that VR has been out for a while and I see advertisements with the lightsabers, workouts and all that, but are there any games where you can just walk around and not be shooting zombies with an AK-47 or dodging fire breathing dragons? Would like a VR experience where you can travel to exotic locales or go diving or something. I dont know if VR is at the level yet where it looks like youre actually there i.e. not CGI but like if youre in Google Street able to walk around or whatever. I looked up Nature Trek VR and this is probably the closest thing Ive found to what Im looking for.

Id prefer something where I dont have to already have a PS4/5 or Xbox since I dont have those. So Im assuming the Oculus is my only option? Also would prefer something where it doesnt require an internet connection since I have limited internet access

[Steve W]

I'm going to suggest that you try VR out first, before putting hundreds of dollars into it. I've been wanting VR since the early '90s, and after getting a PS4 I broke down and bought a used PSVR headset along with some cool sounding games. And they made me sick. Maybe I'm too old for my brain to accept it. I fooled around with a couple of games and really, really felt terrible afterward.

There's an arcade near-ish me that has a little area at the back for VR rentals. I wish I'd tried that out before spending a couple hundred on a VR set-up and games. Maybe there's a place near you that might do rentals too. Or if there's a small game store around you that might let you try one out.

[Cmosfm]

I don't think there's anything out there now that doesn't require a mostly on internet connection. I will say that I just got an Oculus Quest 2, and I'm in love with it. My PSVR was great but this is leaps and bounds better as a standalone headset. It's also the cheapest entrypoint at $299 for the 128GB, which I personally think has plenty of space. Most of the games/apps I'm downloading are 2GB max, most mostly around 1GB.

Also you can definitely get past the initial motion sickness if that happens. VR is absolutely a game changing experience.

I've had 3 mind-blowing, stand-out, gaming moments in my life:

1. Seeing an NES for the first time as a small kid, a neighbor was playing Super Mario Bros. on it.

2. Playing a demo kiosk at Toys R Us in 1996, showing off Super Mario 64.

3. Playing VR at my friends house. I couldn't stop thinking about it for months.

VR is amazing, I highly recommend it.

[Steve W]

That's one thing that really disappointed me about the Playstation 4 VR helmet, it was lower resolution than I thought it would be. It made the graphics look a bit crappy. You'd think with most phone screens having retina displays, resolutions so high the retina can't see the pixels anymore, that they would have put a higher quality LCD screen(s) in.

I've seen used Oculus headsets at game stores, and I've been curious about them... but not enough to ask one of the employees to let me try it out. I haven't had good luck with VR.

[kupomogli]

VR is the future! Seriously though, VR is an experience that's impossible to have on another console, problem with the original PSVR is that it was half assed and used Move controllers or the regular controller only, while if you want the true VR experience you need to play PC which is sadly digital only. There are good games on the PSVR but not as many on PC. PSVR2 on the other hand is making the jump as it should have been in the first place, of course you need a PS5 and a PSVR2 so that might be a little rough if you weren't already planning on getting a PS5 soon.

For the people who have motion sickness issues, what you want to do(and myself included) is when you try VR use the 35 degree movement settings that games recommend, it actually will completely eliminate any motion sickness you might have. Another thing you should do is buy Battlezone. Despite Battlezone having free turning, there is no motion sickness feeling with that game possibly because you being in what's essentially a hover tank and your brain sees that. Playing Battlezone a lot may actually help you out with motion sickness on other games.

One thing you don't want to do at all. DO NOT force yourself to play through it. Once you start feeling sick quit immediately, don't try and push through another 20 minutes, don't even try to push through another five minutes. I remember I tried Doom VFR and turned off all the options when I first started VR and less than 10 minutes I had to lie down I had to hold myself and even sit up straight. 10 minutes and it just felt awful.

[Steve W]

Another thing you should do is buy Battlezone. Despite Battlezone having free turning, there is no motion sickness feeling with that game possibly because you being in what's essentially a hover tank and your brain sees that.

I have Battlezone, it was the first game I played in VR. It made me a little tiny bit queasy, then I slid sideways off an angled ramp and my brain said "nope". That mild sick feeling went to severe.

I keep meaning to get back into VR, but with Dramamine in my system. I've got a bottle (about to expire) sitting next to my VR helmet, I haven't dived back in yet. I've always been fairly prone to motion sickness anyway, so I think this might not work out for me.

[kupomogli]

That's disappointing. I know that I used to get motion sickness with FPS a lot, but I was kind of forced to play them when RPGs and platformers died off on consoles so maybe I got a little bit better with it. Some games I can't play in VR and I never attempted to go back, like Doom VFR, but once I got more used to it I moved onto other games. Resident Evil 7 is just such an amazing experience that is just unparalleled when played in VR compared to just playing the game standard. I've only played Resident Evil 7 with the 35 degree turning angles though, basically the game does a complete turn of 35 degrees, in a single frame of motion instead of seemlessly turning and that is effective at reducing the effect of motion sickness as well.

I'd say look into what games you have that might have 35 degree turning and try those as well, maybe those might assist. Oh, and if you own Skyrim, whatever you do, DO NOT JUMP OFF A HIGH AREA. Holy fu**. I get motion sickness in jumping off a high area in Monster Hunter World without VR, but when I did that with Skyrim VR, I immediately had to take off the headset and go lay down.