STRAYLIGHT

I actually did a first look with the devs blessing you can check out here: https://youtu.be/t40sMaElgk4 The game is a fun combination of VR physics and platforming, you feel like space Spiderman!

A complete gem of a game. Addictive, challenging gameplay. Very few other games utliize the VR capabilities the way this game does.

Despite ugly looking UI (and Steam store page for that matter), Straylight is a great grappling hook VR game, up there with Windlands series and Jet Island, and even better than Yupitergrad. Although technically you are not using a grappling hook: Straylight has different more arcadey physics that allows extremely high movement speed and mobility. And levels are designed for that: they are huge and full of obstacles, yet still can be beaten in a minute or two by an experienced player moving at full speed. This is what sets the game above Yupitergrad for me: the difficulty of courses here still allows constant fast movement without a need to stop and wait for the opening in deadly traps. The campaign seems to have only 11 levels on Normal and Zen difficulty, but after you beat 11th level you will be thrown and the biggest and toughest 12th level and the whole Hard mode with another 11 levels will open. And unlike Zen difficulty, that uses the same layouts as Normal, Hard provides completely unique courses through the same levels. Also mastering Normal levels to get into the leader board is quite fun: there are a lot of shortcuts and not obvious movement paths through every course. Works on Reverb G2

Edit: After some more playtime and updates I'm changing my opinion on some things and mentioning things that were changed. TL;DR: Going from a somewhat positive review to a very positive review. The game ran very smooth and I didn't notice any bugs at all in my short time of playing. Which is very nice to see for an early access VR title. Some things I would like to see changed: [strike] The physics in this game aren't very intuitive. While you're grappled on a star, There is no gravity whatsoever. But when you're not grappled to anything, the gravity suddenly comes back on full force and you very quickly lose most of your forward/upward momentum. This threw me off a number of times and I feel like there should be some universal gravity in the game rather than zero g when grappled and super strong gravity while falling. [/strike] ----Okay so I'm not sure if the physics were tweaked or I just had some weird expectations but the physics feel great and intuitive to me. Maybe it just takes some getting used to. [strike] Another thing I've noticed is the hit boxes are somewhat inconsistent. Sometimes I'll just barely noclip through an object but most times I "crash" into it from 3 feet away. Personally, I think the player's hit box should be reduced to the size of an average person. [/strike] ----The hit box was changed in an update and it feels great, so no complaints there and big thanks to the dev for listening and responding! [strike] Something I would like to see added: The background of the most/all of the stages is a low res sky above the "horizon" and solid black below it. It doesn't seem to match the colorful geometric shapes in my opinion and kinda threw me out of the game. It would be nice to see a detailed space scene all the way around and lose the "horizon" since the game takes place in space. (Unless there's something I'm missing and it's supposed to be on or near a planet or something.) [/strike] ---- Okay another thing that I guess I had weird expectations for because it honestly looks fine. [strike] Some constructive criticism:[/strike] So I had something here about the narrator and how I didn't like it, but I think I was waaaay too harsh and I apologize for that. There's a slider for the voice volume in game so you can have it on or off depending on what you want. Overall I like this game and I think it has great potential for growth. It's a fun VR platforming/parkour-ish game that won't give you motion sickness. Definitely worth buying, even if you don't get HOURS of playtime out of it.

While some levels can be rather challenging, overall, the game proves to be an enjoyable mix between serenely coasting through the air or the exhilarating rush of trying to whip through the level to beat your best time.

The heart of this game is its locomotion. It is intuitive in the beginning, yet has some intricacies you can learn to use later in the game. I am somewhat sensitive to other types of VR movement, but this one did not affect me at all. Would be a good introductory game to folks new to VR. I quite enjoy the aesthetic of the game. You do feel quite alone and you can lose yourself in the visuals and music while casually hopping around the orbs. The level design is nice in that you can either slowly navigate while enjoying the sites, or try to rocket through it as fast as possible, if that's your thing. Overall, I'd recommend this, and given that it's in early access, should get better as well.

[b]TLDR: Straylight is a great platforming-esque game with fluid movement that is easy to pick up and very hard to master.[/b] The soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal and fits whether your just vibing or pushing for a speedrun. The game could be a little short for those that only want to clear each level, but is otherwise very replayable. And the gameplay WILL keep you coming back. Note: I'm reviewing this 3 days before its release. A lot of the other early access reviews are from 2020 when it first entered early access. (I have a beta code from the devs for their live build to test WMR controls. Seems like the early access build from 2020 is a bit different) [b]VR Movement as advertised[/b] If you read the store page description and you want to know if it is [i]actually[/i] any good, it is. I have long played vr driving sim and space sims, but wasn't as interested in Straylight. I bought early access a few days ago and was instantly hooked. The movement is just really satisfying. The videos of this game do a good job to capture the spectacle of the levels and speed, but they come nowhere close to describing how good it feels to actually play. [b]Easy to pick up[/b] The movement is very easy to pick up, and very natural. It feels great to be swinging at maximum speed through a level, and even better if you can find a way to launch yourself across a gap or over an obstacle. Navigating through some of the tighter more hazardous levels feels like platforming puzzle, trying to time when you build momentum to get over a death orb, or dropping below a ring at the last moment so you can still reach the next grapple point once it has passed. [b]Hard to master[/b] It is also incredibly hard to master. Because your only method of movement is "pulling" (done by making basically any motion with your controllers) yourself towards a grapple point, positioning and momentum are incredibly important and must be constantly on your mind, especially if speedrunning. And the amount you "pull" to a grapple point will affect your movement. So even pulling to the same points with very similar timings can result in wildly different trajectories if your motion control is inconsistent. I played on an HP Reverb G2 with the WMR controllers tracked via headset mounted cameras. Its tracking is alright. I think one of the systems with dedicated tracking might help things feel even better here, but I have no experience with them. With the headset camera tracking, I really needed to remember to keep my hands in front of me as much as possible. [b]Soundtrack[/b] While your careening through the void, Rob Kovacs/88bit's soundtrack fills your ears with banger after banger. Most songs have a very chill soundscape that makes you think this will be a relaxing experience. And it can be. But they all have an underlying intensity that fits right in with the more challenging gameplay sections as well. Seriously this soundtrack is amazing. Its the only thing I've been listening to for the 2(?) days its been available. [b]Replayability and other tidbits[/b] Straylight is also very replayable. While the 11 main levels + ending can be cleared in just hours, you will then unlock the hard mode stages. These are just 11 more stages that seem to roughly share the same giant structures as some of the regular stages. I've only cleared 1 at time of this review. The regular stages also have collectibles hidden throughout. Some of these require a pretty straightforward deflection from your normal path through the level, but others require some careful setup to get in the right position with the right momentum to reach them. These unlock ghosts for each stage, which you can then race against. I'm not really big into speedrunning, but I think I've already spent 2+ hours running a single stage. By the simple fact that runs are timed, you are encouraged to push. You find yourself thinking things such as: "Hey! I bet I can jump that gap.", "I wonder if I can go over that orb instead of around it", "How can I get through these moving obstacles without slowing down". Just remember to take of the headset and check the time once in a while. [b]Buy it already[/b] Honestly this game is WAY better than I expected. The gameplay is addicting and satisfying. If you read all the way to here, you probably will like it.

I'm fairly new to VR and I had no trouble getting the hang of the very few controls you need to learn. The game does a good job at easing you into the experience with each level getting more and more challenging. Somehow falling to your doom is fun, and it makes you want to try again! I enjoyed the music, it definitely fits the look-and-feel of the game. This is a nice, casual VR experience - would recommend!