Games

The reason it's forgotten because most people aren't able to play it. If valve really did put important story in a game that they knew most gamers would never be able to play that's kind of shitty

Incredible game. If you ever get the chance I 10000% recommend playing it.

It is such a beautiful game. One of my top gaming experiences.

The environments, the pacing, the story telling, the interactivity - just excellent.

If you are interested in playing it and you don't have a PC with a 1060 or better; or can't afford PSVR2 or Quest 3s, then consider giving it a go at a VR game cafe.

Five years and I still don't have a VR headset lol. These things are enthusiast tech and I am not that enthusiastic about having one.

Half-Life Alyx wasn't called Half-Life 3 because it came out on a platform most people don't have/can't afford. It's essentially a really cool spin-off that I will never play.

Cool that you liked it though, love that for you.

What's the status of VR games on Linux? With headsets that don't require weird accounts (Meta)

I was really hoping for a PSVR2 port of Alyx, and the timing with a lot of PS games coming to Steam had my theorizing that was a compromise they made with Valve to make it happen but I think that was just wishful thinking now.

It wasn't "my" Half Life but it was a damn good one. It felt true to the series and that brought a tear to my eye. The writing, the environments, the soundtrack all felt very Half Life without compromise. I didn't like that it was a VR title but I understood why they went that route. In 2D, it would probably lack in depth (in more ways than one).

I borrowed a VR set from a friend to play it and bought the game at 60% off, which it frequently drops to. I'd urge anyone who has a VR capable PC to try and play it some way but VR is always going to restrict access to this. I'll probably play through it in 2d Mode (via mod) some day in the future to try and relive it. And if non-VR is the only way you get to experience it, at minimum, use headphones... and dont go online saying it sucks after because, remember, it was made for VR.

"But... the future refused to change" -- game over screen, Chrono Trigger

Somewhat hot take... I'd argue Boneworks (not Bonelab) was "better", at least if you're used to VR and if you judge by freedom and replay value. Don't get me wrong, playing through Half Life Alyx was fun and engaging, but to me it had little to no replay value, since for all it did great in visuals, audio, accessibility, and especially story, it failed dramatically in physics. Since I played Alyx right after Boneworks, I kept trying to pick stuff up which I ended up not being able to for larger objects, and the first time I tried to knock a Combine over the head with a pipe I was so sorely disappointed. Alyx has absolutely everything Boneworks is missing, yet that physics core is what kept me coming back to the latter. It really clicked for me when I noticed how many things in Boneworks one can solve in alternate ways by "abusing" physics. Climbing is a learned skill and combat can be as much shooting as it can be using knives, fists, shoving someone off a ledge, or grabbing an enemy and throwing it at others. It's what truly made me realize how much potential VR had, being able to interact with a full physics simulation, where even your own body is a physics object, with your physical hands is amazing.

I should probably go finish it.

I would lo to be able to justify buying a 1500€ vr set. But using it for one or two games does not make the threshold for me.

I hope they make more really good games so it become justifiable.

I played it last year. It was certainly interesting, though it showed me the challenges of VR games. Before, I always hated the idea of using the teleport feature because it seems cheesy. However, after several tries without it, I can say it’s necessary. You end up feeling very nauseous otherwise. But, as a player you’re just way less capable than non-VR games. You can’t move around as easily and so you can’t take on as many enemies or maneuver as easily around the map. In most encounters with enemies, you can only fight a max of maybe 3, before you start to feel overwhelmed. Even 1 is usually enough to feel stressed and when those saw drones fly at you, you’ll panic and possibly yank a cable or get disoriented and bump into something in the real world. Crouching behind cover and shooting is pretty cool though — possibly the most immersive part.