Thrasher combines the exhilaration of chasing moving targets with a unique visual style and a superb soundtrack. Yet, unfortunately, its beaming esoteric personality is dulled by some technical hiccups that keep it from feeling like a total success. Regardless, Thrasher’s uncompromising vision and challenging but approachable gameplay are to be admired.

The small gameplay tweaks aren’t enough to rewrite a game that was designed around four-player co-op, but the core of the experience is so strong, rewarding, and entertaining that it serves as a feature-rich and exciting VR shooter in its own right despite its flaws. If you’re looking for a PSVR game to really sink your teeth into with dozens of hours of content, then Borderlands 2 VR is still an easy recommendation.

Megaton Rainfall may not be the most immersive VR experience out there, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun to play and often jaw-dropping to behold. It’s a new type of superhero game that comes up with an elegant solution to the problem of giving the player too much power and is always waiting to show you new ideas. In terms of sheer playability, it’s one of the best games to hit PSVR in a while.

Once you get past the annoyances of the slow locomotion and uninspired gameplay, it really does start to feel like you’re there, underwater, trudging around trying to find your way. It’s a rare feat in these early years of VR to find the shine of something special, but Narcosis does have the glimmer when you stumble across those perfect moments. If you’re okay with a 2-3 hour adventure that’s a few jump scares spread out between searching for oxygen tanks with an intriguing narrative to guide you through, then Narcosis has enough going for it to be worth a look for some, but not all. [Tested with Rift]

The Mage’s Tale is one of the best examples of how to take a tried-and-true existing gaming genre and adapt it for the new VR medium. While it retains plenty of design decisions that make it clear where its roots lie, The Mage’s Tale iterates on principles that truly move the first-person dungeon crawler RPG subgenre forward in big ways. This is easily one of the longest and most involved adventures to grace the VR market thus far and is a must-play for RPG fans.

Using VR’s unique potential to tell powerful and insightful stories with stark, reflective criticism is on display in ways we haven’t seen before. The humor won’t land for everyone and the message will likely get misinterpreted or lost by some, but The American Dream raises questions that are absolutely worth discussing regardless of your stance on gun laws. This VR experience, despite the quirky visual style, is not for the faint of heart.

For everything else, F1 24 remains a fun racer and offers a couple of notable improvements from its predecessor. Career mode is more enjoyable with its new mechanics and handling feels better, though other meaningful changes are minimal. Existing Formula 1 fans will likely have plenty of fun, and I still had a great time hitting the tracks; just don't expect a major upgrade.

Left-Hand Path is just as ambitious as it is unpolished. It’s extremely rough around the edges across the board from visuals to sound design, but it packs enough creativity to be worth your while if you’re a sucker for dark-themed RPGs. The rune-based spell system is satisfying to master and the high difficulty level sets it apart from its contemporaries. It’s just a shame that the slightly janky execution holds it back from being even better.

Arktika.1 is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, it’s an extremely polished shooter with a longer-than-average campaign (for VR) and a structure closer to more traditional entries into the genre rather than the many wave-based alternatives available on headsets. On the other, its repetitive missions, unbalanced weapons and upgrade system and limited locomotion eventually took their toll, resulting in initially exciting levels with diminishing returns. The search for VR’s shooter king continues.

The Zone of the Enders universe is absolutely ripe for a VR game to call its own, but The 2nd Runner’s appreciated if inelegant support perhaps wasn’t the right way to go. There are those expected magic moments of robo-battling ecstasy, but they’re weighed down by archaic design and somewhat awkward integration. It’s way past time for Konami to stop obsessing over the preservation of this cult classic and start thinking about what a great Zone of the Enders game might look like in the years to come. That, I suspect, is where the real magic lies.

Mostly freed from the limitations of early mobile VR, the console and PC versions of Covert finally feel like the game it should have been two years ago. This an often amusing, occasionally engrossing bit of local VR collaboration that will have friends reaching the tops of their voices, if rarely doubling down on deep spy work. Still, if you’re looking for something to play with a friend that doesn’t own a headset or if you want more experiences like Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes, you should accept this mission.

As it stands, Stride has a great foundation that doesn’t apply itself properly. A few tricky aspects aside, the game handles incredibly well, capturing the thrills, speed and exhaustion of parkour. But, while certainly addictive, the three modes on offer in the current Oculus Quest release don’t make the most of the mechanics, and feel like they’re in service to missing, larger modes. Those other options are on the way and we’ll take a look at Stride again once they’re here but, for now, Stride is a fun game with modes that can’t keep the pace going.

While Skyrim VR made a great case for the VR port, Doom VFR brings us back to the drawing board. On PSVR, the game has its moments, largely thanks to the foundations it was built upon with the 2016 original. In the end, though, the real fight is with its awkward control setups that eventually led me back to play with just a standard gamepad. Though the foundations of a hugely enjoyable shooter are intact, VFR’s struggle with the platform’s limitations makes it feel like the VR support is holding it back more than anything.

Farpoint’s best moments are some of the best slices of entertainment I’ve seen in VR to date. When the action is pumping and the tracking is cooperating, I forget I’m even holding a plastic peripheral at all and truly feel immersed in the world itself. Shooting feels great and the atmosphere is convincing. But then the levels start to feel repetitive, the campaign is a bit brief, and the design limitations rear their ugly head. For better and for worse, based on current capabilities, Farpoint is the game that PSVR deserves -- an exhilarating, but flawed, AAA-quality VR shooter.

Against all odds, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son nestles itself neatly amongst the growing number of VR titles that marry compelling, involving narrative with thoughtful interactivity. It’s a game with a welcome amount of heart, refusing to settle for the usual standards of tie-in media. Dare I say it, it’s even a worthy follow-up to a movie you’d have thought best left untouched. Bravo.

Sublevel Zero Redux isn’t a shooter for everyone. It’s intense and demanding, and that simply isn’t something some people will want inside their VR headsets. For fans of Descent and the emergent rougelike genre, though, this is something of a treat. Polished, tight gameplay gives this unique brand of action an engaging edge. 6DOF is enjoying a small resurgence right now and, if that’s something that interests you and you’d love to try the genre in VR, Sublevel Zero Redux is your best bet.

As a VR game this is most often dated and only rarely the eye-opening adventure that a VR game about characters that can climb inside your psyche should be. I’m happy that the Psychonauts are alive and well, however anyone but the series’ most devoted fans should wait until next year for what will hopefully be the coming home party they so truly deserve.

Fracked is a blast to play, even if it isn’t quite the massive shooter epic to round out the PSVR era. By all means, its arena-based action is polished and thrilling, offering refined fast-paced action with intense combat setpieces. But the game’s simply over far too soon, never getting a chance to really expand on its core elements and deliver the rich experience its mechanics deserve. Fracked starts off at a sprint and never really lets up, but the finish line is far closer than it should have been.

Even if the overall package doesn't always reach the same high bar set by the first game, Innerspace nonetheless presents a worthy sequel in Another Fisherman's Tale. It's a game that successfully shoots for a wider scope, while still experimenting with unique mechanics that engage with virtual reality in exciting new ways. Fans of the original should be pleased with how the sequel develops on its predecessor, while series newcomers might find themselves impressed by the originality on display. For either group, Another Fisherman's Tale comes recommended. [Recommended]

Squishies may not be some profound realization of what puzzle games can be in VR, but it’s never anything less than entertaining even if that does often dip into frustration. Struggles with the controls aside, it’s a polished and thoughtfully-made experience with plenty of content and a charming world to explore. As far as ticking the boxes goes, it does so quite admirably.

Ark: Survival Evolved is a good game that gets bogged down by an over-abundance of ancillary features, frustrating bugs, and a horrendous grind. It can be intimidating for new players and playing with friends online is more important than ever. But if you can get past the rough edges and dig into the prehistoric survival fun that makes Ark so special, there is an entirely unique game here that’s unlike anything else you’ll play.

Battlewake is a very solid pirate ship combat game that has great presentation, fun gameplay, and good core mechanics, but it just doesn’t have enough depth. The campaign is over just as you feel like you’re coming to grips with each character, multiplayer lacks the breadth and depth it needs, and generally it’s missing a unifying framework to tie it all together more strongly. It feels like Survios expected the multiplayer to really take off here, but without cross-play or a good reason to keep playing for weeks and months on-end, the buried treasure in this pirate conquest loses its luster far too quickly.

There’s no denying that Arca’s Path is a safe debut from DRI (or at least as safe as you can get with VR), but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth your time. This is a perfectly palatable little marble maze that straddles the line between challenge and fairness with mostly successful results. Most importantly, though, it’s that rare VR game that genuinely feels like anyone can pick up and play. For DRI, I suspect that’s mission accomplished.

While it's ultimately a safer sequel that won't deliver any revolutionary changes, GORN 2 refines the existing premise well for a strong VR arena fighter that should please fans of the original. You won't need long to clear the campaign, the replayability isn't terribly strong, and there are some performance issues on Quest 3. Yet between its vibrant cel-shaded visual presentation, brutally hilarious combat and strong action, it's still a great time.

Falcon Age nurtures a soft spot inside of you, one big enough to overlook many of its technical shortcomings. It’s a sentimental game, one that knows VR’s ability to build relationships is as compelling as and additive to any other feature. It never fully capitalizes on that connection in the way you might expect, but it’s a spark of companionship to be cherished all the same. That’s something the industry could use a little more of.

The Angry Birds Movie 2 VR: Under Pressure borrows not from the forgotten heap of licensed tie-in games of the past and instead looks to mimic some of co-op gaming’s recent hits. It does so admirably and comes out as a game surprisingly worthwhile if you’re playing in co-op. When flying solo, persistent issues hamper the game, but with a flock of friends or family, it’s a happily hectic and cleverly built game for the VR player and their sidekicks alike.

Archangel is an ambitious game, just in the wrong ways. The on-rails gameplay provides a few hours of forgettable fun, but the emphasis on a generic story and cast is to its detriment. VR can blend narrative and interaction together in meaningful ways, but Archangel fails to capitalize on them. Still, this is one of the more polished VR shooters out there at the moment, especially on PSVR, and those of you with itchy trigger fingers will probably find a satisfying distraction here.

In the end, I came away disappointed. A diehard fan of Riven may find appreciation in its meticulous reproduction of a world from their memories, yet even then, it has issues that hold it back, some of which are exacerbated by its otherwise successful shift in perspective. If you’re a newcomer to this world, the choice is obvious: as majestic as its world may be, it’s difficult to recommend.