There are fairly a number of VR builders in Seattle, so every time the Penny Arcade Expo involves city, a number of aisles are dedicated to VR and AR. One among this yr’s PAX West exhibitors within the unofficial “VR Part” was Isekai Leisure, who showcased the upcoming Quest 2 launch of Sword Reverie.
Presently obtainable in Steam Early Entry, Sword Reverie is a single-player motion RPG the place you play a Hero who’s been summoned by the Guardian Magnus, tasked with defending Magnus’ folks in opposition to a hostile military of elementals. You may watch gameplay footage beneath.
Sword Reverie hit Steam in 2022 after a profitable Kickstarter marketing campaign in 2020, and you’ll learn our interview with Isekai’s co-founder Frank Zhang right here. Nonetheless, it has been quiet ever since. Zhang instructed me at PAX that this was primarily as a result of low gross sales; Sword Reverie wasn’t doing nicely as a PC VR unique, so that they’re hoping to discover a new viewers on Quest.
In line with Zhang, Isekai has spent the final couple of years “constructing a group that may ship on the promise of our Kickstarter.” That features enhancements to the sport’s talent system, a 3-4 hour single-player marketing campaign, and redesigned enemies. The PAX construct of Sword Reverie ran on a Quest 2 and came about firstly of the sport, throwing gamers immediately into the motion by siccing a number of waves of hostile elementals on you.
The “sword” on Sword Reverie comes from the magic swords you’ve in both hand, which you’ll attune to five totally different components. Your swords’ present aspect additionally impacts their energetic abilities, corresponding to a close-range area-of-effect spell or a long-distance nuke. These abilities burn by mana rapidly, however mana may be recharged by partaking enemies in melee fight.
There’s nonetheless some tweaking left to do with the PAX construct, which incorporates higher methods to revive well being, however the model I performed was simple to know with stable mechanics. Among the abilities have been actually highly effective – for instance, the water swords allow you to unleash a high-pressure geyser that stuns something it hits – however since no two waves of enemies have the identical elemental vulnerability, you’re continuously compelled to alter your method.
Sword Reverie is coming to the Meta Quest 2 in late 2024 or early 2025, and the early entry launch is accessible now on Steam. In a YouTube remark, the studio confirmed there are “no plans for [PlayStation VR2] at this second.”
