Cross poast.
I've got my Kickstarter Rift at home and spent a good part of yesterday evening playing a bunch of the different games. I don't have the financial resources to try everything as Giant Bomb did, but I'm happy with my purchases, which at this moment are (including free stuff):
Herobound: Spirit Champion, Chronos, Lucky's Tale, Eve Valkyrie, Weird alien planet things with a name I forget, Ethan Carter and Pinball FX2.
All of these feel like proper games, although I can't talk about amount of content other than in the case of Pinball FX2 (three tables for $15 is a bit steeper than you'd pay normally, but they've clearly had more work done on them) as I only played each of these for half an hour or so.
Spirit Champion I rebought, because I have it and love it on Gear VR. It's an old school style Legend of Zelda type of game that plays out in miniature rooms infront of you. At a smooth 90hz with positional tracking it's even better.
Chronos I spent way too long just wandering around the first few rooms looking at everything (and listening to everything, the storm sounded amazing), can't really comment on gameplay yet.
Lucky's Tale is awesome. It would probably still be awesome if it wasn't in VR, but it wouldn't be equally awesome. VR adds a lot to a game like this and I think most people who haven't played it don't get that. Lucky feels real. He subtly reacts to you. The art style looks way better in VR and at 90 fps the game controls brilliantly well. It's one of the best Mario knock offs I've played in a long long time, and everything about it is great. Best 3D platformer I have played in ages. Probably my favorite since 3D Land (3D world just didn't do it for me)... and it might surpass that as the difficulty ramps up and things presumably get crazier.
Eve Valkyrie I wasn't expecting much of. The beta didn't really click for me, but I liked the intro missions I played. I'm probably going to be disappointed by the amount of single player content in it, but it didn't cost me anything so it's not a big deal. I will try the multiplayer when I feel a little less terrible at it. It looks great and controls well though.
Ethan Carter. Oh, Ethan Carter. How beautiful you are in VR. Not everyone will get on with stick driven locomotion, but Ethan Carter is going to make those that can't jealous of those that can. It is beautiful. I haven't finished the first two puzzles yet, but wandering around in that starting forest, over the rundown bridge towards the area down by the water, it's everything I imagined (non room scale) VR games to be. Some hall marks of it not having been originally designed for VR remain (I almost fell over on the bridge trying to avoid some of the massive holes in it, that aren't really holes), and to really appreciate the visuals (display at 130%) you need just a shade more horsepower than I have to avoid occasional drops... but the cost of lower rendering resolution is for me greater than the occasional small stutter here, as it kills the details of the individual leaves and blades of grass. I've never played this past the first two puzzles before, because I knew it was coming to VR. I'm looking forwards to spending more time in this world.
Weird alien planet thing is surprisingly engaging. I will be visiting the space forest today to see how varied the content is and if it will keep me coming back. Space fishing was fun. The creatures were bizarre and interesting to look at, and I enjoy the teleportation system and the small scale overview of the world you can pull up. Biggest issue is that it's a bit patronizing. It's a very cool game though, that definitely feels like something that leans into VR really well.
Pinball FX2 I am going to play the shit out of in VR. I've always preferred Pinball Arcade to Pinball FX2. I didn't like how fantastical the FX2 tables tend to be with all sorts of things that couldn't be done on a real table... but when the cabinet is in front of you and feels like a real cabinet it no longer feels fake, but instead it feels like the most expensive high end pinball table you've ever played on. The sound design really works in VR too, with the sound really feeling like it's coming from the speakers on the cabinet and the audio of the ball rolling around and bouncing off things feeling just right. Of all the things I played, this felt the most like really being there. It was super cool. NB: I love pinball.
I'm still excited for whatever is next. I am all over Edge of Nowhere when that launches next month still and I plan on picking up some more games when they drop...
But now more than ever I want Touch motion controls, and the wait for them to launch is going to be harder than I originally envisioned.