PlayStation VR2 launch lineup hands-on impressions

The PlayStation VR2 is finally here, and if you’re getting it, maybe you already know what you want to play from the headset’s extensive launch lineup. However, if you don’t, we’ve got you covered. We recently reviewed the PS VR2, which included playing a lot of games from the launch lineup for Sony’s new HMD! Looking for a good game to fill a particular mood? Then check out our opinions on a number of PS VR2 Day One titles below!

You can also check out the launch lineup and our PlayStation VR2 review if you’d like to learn more about both!

Tetris Effect: Connected

We love ourselves some Tetris Effect here at Shacknews. It was, after all, our favorite PS4 game of 2018 and our favorite Xbox One game of 2020. Enhance has only improved this game with each new port and the PS VR2 version is no exception. I specifically called this game out in my Shacknews review for making me weepy with the sheer beauty of the visuals in combination with the PS5’s 3D sound. It also takes strong advantage of the headsets haptics to really make you feel the vibe of the music all over. It’s still some dang good Tetris, and you can play it with the Sense controllers or the DualSense in VR mode, making it an absolute all-around treat.

Jurassic World Aftermath

I hadn’t gotten a chance to play this one when it came to the Meta Quest 2, but Jurassic World Aftermath is a heck of a game in PS VR2. The best way I know how to describe it is Alien: Isolation with velociraptors. If that sounds intense and terrifying, it’s because it is. You run around trying to restore bits of power to the ruined Isla Nublar Jurassic Park facility to arrange your escape from the island, all while dinosaurs scour the hallways looking for a soft, squishy meal. Once again, the haptics on the PS VR2 are the star of the show here. When you’re spotted by raptors or need to hide in a jiffy, the headset and Sense controllers reverberate with the tension and a heartbeat effect. It really drives the fear home. Don’t try this game without a second pair of pants on hand.

Moss: Book 2

Moss: Book 2 is a beautiful and excellent continuation of the first Moss. Once again, players guide the adventurous little mouse Quill through a variety of exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat. One of the best parts of Moss is that it’s not really a first-person game. You actually act as an overhanging entity guiding Quills moves. In this way, it’s more like a third-person action platformer with a VR camera view. I find it far more comfortable and less nauseating than most VR games and the adventure is an all-ages affair that should be as fun to watch as it is to play for many players.

What the Bat?

From the makers of What the Golf? Comes another zany sports-centric puzzle game. What the Bat? modestly asks what you would do if you woke up one day and your hands were baseball bats. So you go through the game solving puzzles in the form of menial daily tasks like brushing your teeth with a bat, frying eggs with a bat, breaking your ringing alarm clock with a bat, and so much more. This game is silly as all get out and the puzzles can be as clever as they can be zany. If you’re looking for pure, comedic VR fun, this might be a good one to explore.

Cities VR

I love Cities VR. Fast Travel Games’ VR remake of the fantastic city management sim is a delightful porting of mostly everything that makes Cities: Skylines good, and I said as much when I reviewed the game on the Quest 2. Leading up to its launch on PS VR2, Cities VR has gotten some updates that make it even better than it was during my look in May 2022. You can now expand your city into further squares of space, there are plenty of new maps to explore, and the game plays wonderfully for the most part. It might be my absolute favorite armchair VR game.

Rez Infinite

Another title from Enhance has gotten some major updates for the PS VR2. Rez Infinite has been improving alongside PlayStation hardware for a long time, and for the PS VR2’s release, Enhance made use of the headset’s eye-tracking capabilities to create a whole new control experience. I’m not joking when I say you can now play this game accurately with just your eyes and one button on the Sense controllers, and while I could go into more detail here, I would suggest you check out my full impressions on the experience of Rez Infinite on PS VR2 to learn more.

Horizon Call of the Mountain

Horizon Call of the Mountain feels like the marquee title that everyone ought to check out on the PS VR2 at some point. There’s a lot of good things here, including extensive climbing, enjoyable ground exploration and object interactivity, and riveting combat featuring bows, arrows, and other weapons. It’s also one of the most beautiful VR experiences I have ever seen, harnessing the world of Horizon in delightfully vibrant fashion. It won’t let you explore as freely as a mainline Horizon game and the sheer amount of climbing is a bit of a drag to me, but this is still a great original title for the PS VR2.

Resident Evil Village

Resident Evil Village is by no means the best of the new Resident Evil games, but it’s also a pretty decent action game. Add VR to that equation and it just might move to a new level. One of the most important updates to Resident Evil Village in VR is that you can double wield with use of your two hands. That means holding a knife in one hand and a pistol in the other. If you run out of ammo in your pistol, you can quickly whip out the shotgun on your back and fire off a one-handed shot point blank to make room. You can also handle many of the weapons two-handed and facing down iconic characters like Lady Dimetrescu in VR is a treat. It seems to me that Capcom learned all the right lessons from Armature’s VR port of the original Resident Evil 4 and, for me, it makes Resident Evil Village all the more fun to re-explore.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution

If Resident Evil Village VR is excellent for its action, then Saints & Sinners deserves full props for its survival gameplay. Skydance Interactive and Skybound Entertainment have been killing it with Saints & Sinners on various VR platforms since Day One. Now Chapter 2 brings a new story, new challenges, and plenty of new toys into play, not the least of which is the chainsaw weapon. And let me tell you, the feel of the haptics on the PS VR2 when you take a chainsaw to a walker is something you just have to feel to understand. This game has always been a ridiculously fun survival adventure and it just keeps getting better.

Cosmonious High

Jumping from the undead to the galactic, I have to give props to Cosmonious High from Owlchemy Labs. This puzzle adventure about an adaptive alien coming to a prestigious school full of other aliens and helping fix the school plays out like wonderful Saturday morning cartoon. The characters are fun, the antics, events, and dialogue are funny, and everything is vibrant and charming. I also love the sheer level of interactivity in this game. You do actual chemistry in chemistry class, athletics in sports class, art in art class, and so on. Plus you collect a number of cool powers as you go that can be used to alter all sorts of things in the world. Cosmonious high is a cornucopia of fun VR design and interactivity that I can’t recommend enough.

Song in the Smoke

Having originally released in September 2021, Song in the Smoke is primitive tool building and survival at its finest in the virtual reality space. You play an unclothed human in the wilds who must craft everything from clothes to stay warm, to tools to gain advantages over nature, to food to stay healthy, to weapons to survive vicious and strange predators. There’s a lot to manage in Song in the Smoke, but the real star of the show is the tool crafting and usage. There’s a lot of sensible interactivity in this game. You’ll make a knife from stone and a stick so you can carve a longer branch into a bow and a smaller twitch into an arrow. Then you’ll carve a rock into an arrow head and turn arrows into fletching, all so you’ve got a bow and arrows to fight with. The whole experience is visceral, fun, and keeps you on your toes if you’re going to survive.

Demeo

If you want another game that can be played comfortably from a seated position, you can’t go wrong with Demeo. Coming from Resolution Games, Demeo might be the most exhaustive VR rendition of a Dungeons & Dragons game I’ve seen. You can go solo or group with up to four players on a single campaign to explore various campaigns. Each dungeon hides randomized threats and creatures that will put your party’s adaptability to the test. Demeo has gotten all sorts of updates since it first came out too, so now there are more character classes to play, a better variety of campaigns to explore, and even a PVP arena mode if you want to test your battle strategies against those of your friends. Demeo is one of my favorite co-op experiences in VR and finds a good home on the PS VR2 where you can play it from your couch if you want.

These were just some of the overall launch titles we tried for PlayStation VR2, but there are plenty more available today and on the way! Do you have a game you’re looking forward to playing on the new headset? Let us know in the Shacknews Chatty section below and stay tuned for more PS VR2 coverage!

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.