When I first started hearing inklings of a sixty-hour long RPG in VR, I will admit I was worried that most of the time, I don’t have the mental capacity for a standard console RPG unless the story and gameplay are fantastic. So when I finally got my hands on Asgard’s Wrath 2, I was not only stunned but surprised when I found it difficult to put down, and every day, all I could think about was getting back into the world of Asgard’s Wrath. Is it perfect? No, but it is close to one of the best examples of AAA VR, and for Virtual Reality enthusiasts, it’s a new bar for how to develop for VR.
After the god Loki betrays us and leaves us trapped in a prison, but before long, we are adventuring throughout the lands of Egypt, conversing with gods, creatures, and companions alike. The story, while sometimes a little confusing, trying to keep track of who’s who is overall well-told, especially in the VR landscape. There were a few surprises I was not expecting that made for some of the most climatic scenes I have experienced in VR.
However, given the setup, I understand why these are not shown in first person, as the majority of the story is us as gods melding with characters, so we take almost a back seat. But, for example, the intro sequence has a particular character bobbing and weaving while going through a temple, Indiana Jones style while we are just following the action. It’s an interesting style, and it took a few hours to get used to, but eventually, I started appreciating the cinematic ingenuity.
“The biggest surprise during my time with Asgard’s Wrath 2 was just how much like a fully-fledged console game it felt.”
The biggest surprise during my time with Asgard’s Wrath 2 was just how much like a fully-fledged console game it felt. Usually, VR experiences come a little leaner when it comes to story and scope. But Sanzaru Games has gone all out when it comes to letting the player live in the world. Between daily quests, rogue-like dungeons, and an incredibly massive open world. But that’s not all: there are also deep and lovable companions that take on a whole new level of intrigue in VR.
The gameplay in Asgard’s Wrath 2 is astounding between the fluidity of hand-to-hand, which has to be the strongest point for me. Usually, there is a form of lag between the movements in VR or some wackiness to how well the game interprets my swings, but I found none of that present in Asgard’s Wrath 2. Not only that, but when it comes to the thrown weapon or the bow, I found it very compelling just to sit back and snipe enemies from far away. When things did call for some up close and brutal melee, it was always a fun endeavour.
The issues I have with Asgard’s Wrath 2 are in its accessibility options. For those of us who get motion sickness, your best bet is to just stay away for now. There are some tunnelling options along with the usual snap turning, but the fluid motion movement still causes some nausea, especially when playing for long stretches. There are a few other minimal issues at play, but that has to do with battery life.
Using the Meta Quest 3 headset, when not constantly plugged in, I could muster roughly two hours out of the battery before needing to stop and plug it in. This would usually be okay, but when spanning a fifty-plus hour RPG, sometimes the battery would be dying just as things were really taking off.
During the campaign, I ran into a few issues. A few times, the game textures didn’t look amazing in the environment, but the character models looked good. Five times, the game crashed on me, forcing me to replay long swaths of the game again as the autosave feature tends to be hit-and-miss. Asgard’s Wrath 2, despite its issues when it comes to the comfort of players, is a great game.
The way VR players talked about Half-Life Alyx is how I feel about Asgard’s Wrath 2. The fact that it comes bundled with the Meta Quest 3 is an insane deal. With a great story, compelling gameplay loops, and being built out to have a grind for equipment for the more hardcore players, it’s clear that Sanzaru Games is setting Asgard’s Wrath 2 up to be around for a long time, and I am excited about it.
