If you clicked on this blog you may have some questions.
What the heckin’ heck is Ma[PSVR]ch?
After finding out that Sony was making a new PSVR headset I instantly wanted one, but I also remembered that I barely played with the headset I bought over 4 years ago (wait is that possible…oh no. 4 years?!?!?) I came up with the idea of playing PSVR every day in March and blogging about it to see how I really felt about VR when giving it a chance. The fact that I’m staying away from using my PS5 controller for now just seals the deal, since my PSVR is still hooked up to my PS4, and that controller doesn’t hurt my hand. I initially wanted to commit to at least an hour a day but that seems too hard given how schedules work so I’m just going to try to play some each day. I may not blog every day because if I only play 20 minutes I might not have anything to say.
Why now?
Did you read my answer to the first question? Because of the announcement of the new headset and…just look above.
Do you have enough VR games you haven’t played to fill 30 days?
No comment. But yes. Sadly yes. I have picked up so many VR games over the years in sales or such. Playing on PSVR is something I always want to do in theory but never actually get around to.
But why blog about it?
Because it’s fun. And it’s a way to remember how I felt about VR when it comes time for the release of the new one.
But why now?
Oh for Pete’s sake!
It’s a catchy title though. Ma[PSV]Rch. Rolls off the tongue.
Thank you.
I was being sarcastic.
Rude!
With all the questions out of the way, let’s start with:
DAY 1:
The headset:
It has been an embarrassingly long time since I touched my PSVR headset, even though I have it sitting near my TV on a stand on a small side table. The first order of business was to untangle the very long cord that goes from the breakout box to the headset itself. This was a bit of a pain but the fact that you can detach the headset itself from the line in box made it at least possible. I then checked to make sure the lenses themselves weren’t too dusty (they could maybe do with a wipe but not too bad) and hit the power button to see if it would work. It did! Unfortunately the earbuds that came with it are dead, but they are nothing special and I just grabbed a random pair of 3.5mm headphones and I was good to go.
Adjusting the headset itself was…a pain. Brad recently said that it’s still the most comfortable VR headset he’s ever tried, and maybe that’s true, but it’s still fiddly as heck and when I get it the proper distance from my eyes so that the image looks clear it loves to slide down my nose. I finally found a good balance where it was clear, but the rubber eye sockets seem to have dried out a bit so they didn’t seal my eyes in and I could see light underneath the bottom. So I had to take the headset off and turn off all the lights in my apartment. That worked and I was finally able to get it comfortable and clear, but that’s the thing about VR. Even the most comfortable headsets are a pain. From memory back when I played this thing a bit more you get better at putting it on and such, but it’s still a pain.
There’s also the fact that I wanted to start playing this morning, but I’m having a minor family issue (nothing to worry about but I need to keep my phone on me and attend to it if it rings.) VR is incredibly impractical, and PSVR was the most practical headset at the time. Finding a block of time, getting the headset on and comfortable, and getting my headphones adjusted while blind from the VR while not jarring the headset out of focus was quite the ordeal. No wonder I never play this thing! It’s a whole operation.
Once I got the headset comfortable I was struck again by the low resolution displays, which have aged really poorly. I’ve been using 4K consoles for a long time now, and this looked rough, far worse than I remember. I’m glad they’re going with a full refresh.
TETRIS EFFECT:
I only really considered one game for the first day of Ma[PSVR]ch, and that was Tetris Effect. It was Giant Bomb’s Game of the Year in 2018, and I’d played some of it but hadn’t even finished the main journey mode. I enjoyed my experience with it and considering it was sort of PSVR’s killer app it just made sense to finish that off.
The thing about Tetris Effect, and probably the reason I never finished it, is that it’s a lovely VR experience that doesn’t really feel like it has to be a game. I love the environments, the music, the particle effects that at times immersed me so much I could swear that I could smell the little specs of pollen or whatever wafting into my nose, but the actual playing of the Tetris feels very disconnected to me. I feel like I’m in a beautiful VR art installation, loving the sights and sounds, but someone is making me play Tetris to advance between the exhibits for some reason. I like Tetris, I certainly respect Tetris, I would even say that Tetris is probably the greatest game ever made, but I don’t need to play Tetris just to view a bunch of backgrounds. The VR experience itself really comes from the explosions of light and color and the shapes and images flying by your head and underneath you. At times you’re suspended above a beautiful island…playing Tetris. Sometimes you’re orbiting twin stars…playing Tetris. At other points a pod of celestial dolphins is swimming beside you…while you play Tetris. I understand the synesthesia effect of your actions influencing the sounds and sights and how moving and dropping the pieces creates a feedback loop with the environment, but it feels like you could be doing anything to achieve that. The gameplay never fully meshes with the backgrounds for me. The images are creative and gorgeous and immersive…and then there’s the Tetris.
It reminds me of CD-I Tetris in that it takes a cool tech demo, slaps Tetris on it, and calls it a game. Tetris Effect is more than that; the backgrounds do change as you move through each level and the game increases and decreases the speed level in tandem with music and background changes so it’s a whole experience, but it just feels arbitrary to me. I also like Tetris as a laid back chill experience, and the journey mode ramps up the speed as high as 13 at some points, which to me is borderline unplayable. I managed to get through it but the last level (which requires 90 lines to clear, 30 of which are extremely fast) took me several tries, and by the time I finished I didn’t care about the backgrounds or music anymore. My mind was wandering and I just wanted it to be done. Nothing takes me out of immersion more than having to play a bunch of high speed Tetris over and over until I get it right.
So did I enjoy getting back into Tetris Effect?
Yeah. It’s a gorgeous game. It’s like an interactive art exhibit. That makes you play Tetris.
I know there are more modes to Tetris Effect (and even more with the Connected variation) and I will get back to it at some point during the month but for now I’m glad I finished Tetris Effect’s Journey mode, and that I didn’t miss the start of Ma[PSVR]ch. It did feel good to turn on the old headset and finally tick the end of that mode off my “get back to it someday” list. Next I’m going to dive into a game that’s a little more uniquely VR (since Tetris Effect doesn’t even require VR) and see how that suits me.
Shoulda been Lumines. Don’t @ me.
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