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.

Space Junkies does what games have done for decades: it brings a smile to your face. It’s the kind of game you can either play for one match, or accidentally lose hours to. The matches are fast-paced and frenetic, the weapons are fun and varied, and the customization brings a deeper level to it all. Frankly, it’s fun in a way that is sometimes missing from more serious affairs. It’s already an exceptional experience and if it evolves and gains new content it will become unmissable. Now, if you’ll excuse us, there is a slingshot with our name on it.

On the gamut of magic-based first-person action games, The Wizards: Enhanced Editions is definitely one of the better ones. Its spell-casting system is interactive without being too cumbersome and the campaign mode packs a solid amount of content. Plenty of collectibles, a replayable Arena mode, and lots of mission augmentations add up to this being a really fun journey. But some of the repetition, relatively short length, and recycled wave-shooter-style mission structures left us wanting a bit more creativity. I absolutely enjoyed my time with The Wizards, but with a few additions it could have been the definitive VR spell-casting game.

Shadow Legend probably isn’t going to blow any minds or make believers out of anyone that has decided VR isn’t for them, but it does deliver on its promise of offering a feature-filled single player VR RPG that tells a complete story with action and intrigue. Production values and clunkiness aside, the mere fact that Shadow Legend feels like an actual game probably says more about the state of the VR market than it does the quality of the adventure itself. At the end of the day when I lay down my Knight’s Templar sword and finish slaying demons, all I could think is how badly I wish there was more.

Dick Wilde 2 is inarguably an improvement on the first, for what it’s worth. This by-the-numbers sequel remains a decent wave shooter with a rock solid foundation that never elevates itself beyond the limitations of its genre. It’s just a little more balanced, a little less creepy and there’s a lot more of it. Co-op support may be underwhelming, but if you’re still craving the core thrill of simple VR shooting, you could do a lot worse than Dick Wilde 2.

Originally released in 2015 for PC, Mac and Linux before eventually making its way onto consoles, ChromaGun was initially both hailed and mocked for (lightly) scratching gamers’ itches for a new Portal-like in the absence of Portal 3. Following its long-awaited VR port, ChromaGun VR is definitely not up to the bar set by the Portal series, but its puzzles are satisfying nonetheless.

Were the aforementioned bugs ironed out, Xing: The Land Beyond would be an easy recommendation for adventure game fans and anyone looking for a title that succeeds across both traditional displays and VR. If you’re willing to complete the entire game in one sitting to avoid bugs, you won’t have much to worry about, but everyone else should likely wait until White Lotus has time to iron out its issues.

Despite its good intentions Eden Tomorrow rarely breaks free of its many issues. An intensely disagreeable sidekick, dull pacing and by-the-numbers plotting will put you on autopilot for 90% of the game. There are moments of magic here but, for the most part, Eden Tomorrow is simply a slog.

Intruders is a welcome case of less is more. It’s an engaging little short that largely keeps its ambitions in check with enjoyable if unremarkable sneaking. You likely won’t remember much about Intruders a week or two past playing it, but it keeps you hooked while it lasts. For a home invasion game, it’s perhaps just a little too safe.

Just like its PC counterpart, The Mage’s Tale on PSVR 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 sub-genre forward in big ways. Despite the hardware limitations of the PSVR and PS Move controllers, the inclusion of improvements such as smooth locomotion, an Arena mode, and optimization fixes all together for launch on this new platform helps The Mage’s Tale on Sony’s headset remain a must-play for RPG fans.

Holopoint Chronicle is a fitting follow-up to a VR fitness gem with some welcome additions. This remains one of VR’s most engaging active games even if it requires a strong stomach (in more ways than one). But developer Alzan Studios could definitely push things a step further to encourage more people to keep playing. The Holopoint series has the foundations of active VR gaming down. With a little more structure, it could be one of its most essential experiences.

From slow-motion shootouts to trips across the universe and stories of loved ones lost, VR has already proven that each of its core design tenants can be tamed. But A Fisherman’s Tale might be the first to achieve a perfect storm of gameplay, immersion and narrative in a single experience. Though brief, it fuses experience and interactivity to really show what this medium is capable of. This is exactly what old seadogs aren’t meant to be capable of; something genuinely new.

Ace Combat 7’s VR support makes for one of the most convincing, bombastic games you’ll see in a headset. It’s a powerhouse display of roaring engines and teeth-grinding tension that’s never anything less than relentlessly enjoyable. And yet it’s painfully short, over before you can even pinch yourself to see if you’re dreaming. But, to hell with it, it’s left me with a heightened pulse rate, sweaty palms and the biggest grin VR has yet put on my face. If I can’t praise that, then what’s the point? Now let’s start the campaign for more of it.

Red Matter is nothing short of a textbook example of how to do VR adventure games right. It emphasizes design and experience, putting immersion front and center, making a bullet-proof case for why it needs to be seen and played in VR. Short length and some troublesome puzzles betray its winning streak to some degree, but don’t change the fact that this is one sci-fi story you shouldn’t miss out on.

Vestige rewards your endurance with a bittersweet reminder of the power of memory and how lucky we are to be able to make them. That’s what makes this short trip through despair worth it; a tough lesson in holding onto what you have, what you love, and making every moment count. Don’t miss it.

RollerCoaster Tycoon Joyride serves as a decent proof-of-concept for PlayStation VR, but more than two years after the headset launches, is that really what we need anymore? During our time with the game, we also experienced three crashes and a bug that forced us to restart it completely, and without a large group of players interested in designing their own courses, it’s going to end up like many of the worst RollerCoaster Tycoon theme parks: empty and dull.

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.

Gungrave U.N. is a leaner version of an already short game with utterly vapid side-scrolling sections and the same dated design as its predecessor. Don’t do it to yourself.

Gungrave was a poorly received shooter in 2002. 16 years on, Gungrave VR copies and pastes its mechanics, tacks on pointless VR support and builds about 50 minutes worth of new content into the game. That’s not exactly a recipe for a runaway hit, is it?

As a competent piece of mature storytelling, Awake’s first episode has few equals in VR. It’s a piece that understands the purpose of telling a story in VR and isn’t afraid to wrestle with new ways of involving you in a story. For that alone, you need to see it.

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.

Echo Combat is a polished and well-balanced VR shooter in zero-gravity that mixes the locomotion from Echo Arena and Lone Echo with the team-based dynamics of shooters like Overwatch. It feels great to play and has a ton of action for fans of the genre. While it may not be quite as creative and groundbreaking as Echo Arena was at the time, Echo Combat scratches a very specific itch in a way that only a AAA-caliber development studio like Ready at Dawn can.

Scraper: First Strike is a game that initially promises so much, yet never makes good on any of its promises. It offers the most basic mechanical trappings of what could later become a linear action RPG, yet never uses any of its design foundation for means greater than rote tasks and wave shooter combat. And while it continuously implies its intentions to segue into a larger narrative, it never comes close to giving you a reason to care.

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.

Beat Saber on PSVR is exquisite. Overall it’s a more polished, feature-packed, and expanded version of the Early Access PC title, while still retaining the core of what made it a viral sensation in the first place. I rarely missed the better tracking afforded by the Rift, Vive, and Windows VR platforms and actually found myself enjoying the crisp visuals and appropriately shaped PS Move controllers throughout it all. The new tracks are almost all excellent, the campaign mode is a great addition, and it overall feels like a complete game now.

Normally I’d try and separate a game I’m reviewing from the piece of hardware it’s running on, but Oculus Go is a weight around Covert’s neck. Sluggish controls and limited tracking keep the game from the stealthy slickness its otherwise excellent ideas and execution deserve. I suspect we might see Covert arrive on other, more capable Oculus headsets in the future and, when it does, it’ll easily be an instant recommendation. For now, though, this is only for Go owners that are starved of richer content.

Transpose is a stunning VR puzzle game that elevates the genre and delivers an out-of-body-like experience about manipulating gravity and bending time. There isn’t much of a story to follow and not all of the puzzles are as satisfying as the rest, but fans of the genre would be doing themselves a disservice to not play this excellent adventure from Secret Location.

It’s got a few idiosyncrasies with its controls that need to get ironed out, and it would feel better with free movement, but Witching Tower is an okay hack-and-slash bolted on top of a nicely spooky horror-themed adventure. It’s good for a solid, creepy weekend of puzzles, and is likely going to clean up at VRcades.