These are my own personal review of the available demos and unless I tell you to definitely avoid it, I suggest checking them out for yourself and judge your own opinion if you find my comments too harsh, which I can be if the game is lazy and/or insulting badly designed (even for a WIP demo) and might not have much to say if its that bad.



The games are rated 0-5, with 5 being amazing quality. I understand these are not AAA quality games and as they are demos there be bugs and missing features, so they are rated depending on the potential on the idea (and bonus points for originality), how much effort is put into its graphics and gameplay and the content and easy access of the demo's features.



The games will be tested with a Valve Index and RTX 3080 GPU.



I'm very disappointed how many demos are unplayable this time, from broken controls to until to get even started. If I had to guess, many of these would be made to work for the Quest 2, so the Index controls would not be as responsive, but this didn't affect nearly as much experiences as it did in the past compared to this time around. There are a few more games needed to be added to the list (more keep being added as well) but they are currently downloading as the list was the biggest this time around, but sadly most disappointing (no 4.5+ or higher this time around). Anyway here's the list:



The Backrooms Virtual Reality – 1/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1931820/The_Backrooms_VR/

We're off to a good start if we're starting with recent memes. let's move on to something hopefully less stupid (7 gigabytes big!)



Battle Talent VR – 1.5/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1331510/Battle_Talent/

I remember trying this game a long time ago, it wasn't anything special as a dungeon-fighting game but did seem really early to judge, so it was surprising to see this year's later in the demos and it feels... almost exactly the same? I did the tutorial and got stuck on the menu, so by the time I was curious to play nothing was really there so show? All you do is run, pick up a weapon and kill a couple of skeletons. That's really it, I mean, the skeletons DID lose their jaws when attacking, that was neat by everything else was an incomplete by-the-books experience. If I actually had played a working battle, maybe it be rated higher, so unless there's something very important I missed out, pass on this one.



Death Duel VR – 1/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1932360/Death_Duel_VR/

Very clunky and poorly made sword fighting experience. There's really nothing I can say on this one, pass. Not a good opening batch of games.



Gamecine – 0.5/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1298620/GAMECINE/

Oh god I forgot about this crap, why did you have to make me remember this crap. Hey, a Dinosaur!



Grid Leaper – 3.5/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1614990/Grid_Leaper/

Now that's better! I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. This is a block-climbing experience where you have to go reach the end in the quickest time possible, although I'm not certain if you have to touch every block since some missions I got 3 out of 5 stars, so there was something I was doing wrong. It's simple in the best way and fun to play, although by the end of it I was getting a little tired, so a bit more variety and visual interest would make this a solid climbing experience.



Kayak VR Mirage – 4/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1683340/Kayak_VR_Mirage/

I think many people here played this before the festival like me. Really solid kayak experience, with outstanding graphics. I will admit, I'm terrible at this game and can barely get started, but I do eventually get going again, so I wont hold the game against this since I know its generally good (even if its not for me), although I wish I could be the type of player that would enjoy this more than it is and wish the controls were generally easier for me to navigate with, even casually, which is why I can't rate it higher since its a big negative for me, although I understand its done this way for a more hardcore purpose. Regardless, if you've not played this, this is a must check out game.



Maestro – 3/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1327920/Maestro_VR/

A very different approach to the music-genre of VR experiences, and it works for the most part. You have to control the timing of instruments of when and how they get played in your band, and its interesting, although the visual interface is pretty dull and could be presented better (It doesn't have to be fancy, just easier to navigate and understand). I found it difficult to understand the differences of instruments through an icon alone, so whilst I see a good experience, there's a lot of problems inside that I believe can be address before completion. Fine experience, worth checking out if you like kind of thing.



Mayhem on a Rainbow VR – 1/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1594690/Mayhem_on_a_Rainbow__VR/

Ah yes, Bootleg Simulator VR, my favourite! Pass. Even if it was being spoof in its design, it's still a pass.



Plasmatic – 1/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1938360/PLASMATIC/

This game was already dull in its theme and presentation (white room, robot voice, been there, done that many times) so when it wants me to turn objects in the most awkward angle possible and punish you and restart if you fail, yeah, don't bother with this one. Believe me, I gave the turning a fair chance to make certain I wasn't making it harder than it had to be, and it really was just that bad.



Pungi VR – 0.5/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1900020/PunjiVR/

You know when your guns hold in a vertical 45' angle downward, we're going to have a hell of a time. Well, a short time. I can't even pickup the weapons correctly, and enemies kill you in a couple of shot. All I can say about this experience is that it ain't me.



Ruins Magus – 3.5/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1701560/RUINSMAGUS/

This was... surprisingly great. No really, anime and all. First of all thank you for making a tutorial that doesn't go on forever and is generally fair with its information (you're going to need it) but for a dungeon fighting game it looks and plays really great (the opening building looks amazing!), I was enjoying it a lot but it does have a learning curve and you will mess up your spells at first, but I did get better at the very end. Now here comes the big faults and why its rated lower than it should be, the theme, the anime theme, its not great. But terrible but it really puts all the effort put into everything else for this game in a generic garbage looking world. I'm not against anime style, but I am against plain worlds which no creativity. It reminds me a lot like Zenith in its presentation (although this already plays much better), but guys come on, hire some art directions please for the love of god. I would also say I did die on the boss and it wasn't easy to deal with unlike the dungeon which you can take your time, so even the gameplay has its faults, but its overall worth checking but please don't judge it JUST on the anime 101 front, there's more to see than just that.



Shibainu - VR Katana Simulator – 2/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1877780/Shibainu__VR_Katana_Simulator/

It does what it does. You slice things, with physics. I couldn't see much else to it, so I like to rate it higher but its a once slice trick. Although I have to say I don't know if was an Index problem or not, but the gripping of the weapon wasn't that great and made the experience a lot harder than it should be.



Space Salvage Demo – 3.5/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1829260/Space_Salvage/

Now this is more my kind of game, owning a spaceship, picking up loot in a comfy artstyle spaceship. It felt great to look and play... well mostly. it was a little hard to control the throttle, as you're either going too fast or reversing too much and couldn't centralize it a lot, and the demo was mostly the same thing over and over again. It was real charming at first, but got old quick. I really wish this demo had more to do than just pick up loot, because I can see a real winner with this game if had more variety, and something I've personally really want more in VR, well-made simulations and art-styled games.



Spy Robot - Gateways to Humanity– 1/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1834640/Spy_Robot_Gateways_To_Humanity/

I don't really get it. This game is presented as a randomly generated maze with a series of weapons, but the weapons... don't do anything? I'm not a fan of "text-only" tutorials, but I had to double check that I was playing this correctly and I can't really get that far because of this, the enemies just beat you up. Unless its a major bug, I don't consider this game an unplayable demo, just a poorly thought out experience. There's much better games out with similar themes (see Sweet Surrender etc)



Tiny Island – 3.5/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1431430/Tiny_Island/

Almost a solid concept game. You control a spirit that helps people holding chopsticks in an Asian-inspired setting, you pick up objects with the chopsticks (this also includes the environment and clouds!) and it generally looks pretty good. How it plays however... the engine needs some work, I know its chopsticks and all but it was really hard to pick up a lot of objects in this game, I know it mentions you have to be careful and patient but it was still tricky, and since the whole game is based around this core gameplay I would like to try this game again in the future once its a little easier to grab things. Also I had to stop anyway since the tutorial wouldn't let me get any further past the cart, not sure what I was missing.



Tomb Explorer – 2/5

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1969920/Tomb_Explorer_VR/

What an amazing visual to see ingame, that beautiful temple. Ok we're done with the review. But seriously, everything felt flat and empty compared to the opening visual-shot, my first instinct was to head straight to the temple but the bridge wouldn't let pass (you have to follow the markers around it), which was a quick disappointment. But after following the basic steps to arriving at the temple (as great as it looks) it was more of the same thing, pretty basic approach to exploring and climbing without being anything special or stands out from other experiences other than exploring the temple. I admit, I did get further past the traps, but I saw what I needed to see and there wasn't anything left to motivate me to keep exploring as the gameplay felt pretty hollow and basic. I wasn't too certain if this was meant to be a game or a visual tour, I think it would serve much better as the latter.


These games were unable to be tested/reviewed, but are still linked for others to see:


B3

https://store.steampowered.com/app/624950/B3/

The game was not well responsive to the Index Controls, I could not get out the tutorial switching weapons.



Bookstore Simulator

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1706980/Bookstore_Simulator/

This does not load in VR (is it even a VR title?)



Dixotomia

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1367710/Dixotomia/

I can't move or control anything on the main screen. This does not work correctly for me.



Down Fast VR

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1956860/Down_Fast_VR/

This bicycle game keeps drifting me to the left-side, no button seems to work (and it's not my controllers). I did have fun crashing downhill into a tree, but I would really like to actually play the game first.



Burial Stone

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1910360/Burial_Stone/

I've always wanted to see how a turn-based dungeon crawler would work in VR. Sadly I still have to keep waiting, since the controls seem buggy, I can't get out the first room (movement sometimes doesn't work correctly, can't do anything!)



Dream Catcher VR

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1951490/Dream_Catcher_VR/

This does not load in VR



Escape from Mandrilla (2.5/5?)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1936360/Escape_From_Mandrillia/

I was originally going to say I was mixed feelings on this, I liked the horror atmosphere, but hated the lack of interface and navigation. But I didn't realize this was a VR vs Local PC game experience until after quitting (which would explain the lack of enemies), It didn't say anything like this when I played it, so I can't really judge it without playing it correctly. It didn't look too bad, but I had no idea where my gun was (plenty of ammo though) so I don't think I would've gone far.



Flashout 3

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1761870/FLASHOUT_3/

This does not load in VR (is it even a VR title?)



Gardenia VR

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1901690/Gardenia_VR/

I cannot move in this game, it responds to the controllers but no button seems to get me started.



Guardian Mage

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1829740/Guardian_Mage_VR/

The menu button does not respond. I am unable to get started in this game.



Hyperstacks

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1046760/Hyperstacks/

I can't get the dash to work with the Index Controllers (little mini-jumps) and can't complete the tutorial. It seemed charming, but I cant judge the rest yet.



Just Upstream

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1925850/Just_Upstream/

I... I don't know what to do. I'm stuck on the main menu, it tells me to open a menu, I did that... and thats it. I played around the map, buttons and the menu and I couldn't get started. Can anyone help me out with this one?



Mount Wingsuit 2

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1957680/Mount_Wingsuit_2/

It doesn't seem like I can do much to play this one. You fall down, try and aim for the hoops, but no button or turning I've tried can reach it and the map just restarts. I can't tell if its the game or is generally just bugged.



Outmode

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1860700/Outmode/

This does not load in VR (is it even a VR title?)



Paradox of Hope

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1702840/Paradox_of_Hope_VR/

The game is really hard to grip and control items, the tutorial wont let me pass unless I grab everything on my chest, but I spend a good 5 minutes trying to pick up my knife, and I can't really go any further unless its actually playable.



Tin Hearts

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1831700/Tin_Hearts/

This does not load in VR, and this time I do know its a VR title. One I've been looking forward to playing, which is a real shame. I hope they can fix this before the end of the festival.



Requisition VR

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1730650/REQUISITION_VR/

The demo is multiplayer only and I didn't find any players. From what I saw already, it looks ok, pretty much what you expect in a survivasl zombie game without originality or flair. Mediocre at its finest.



Snipe Hunt

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1975370/Snipe_Hunt/

I couldn't really get started, it tells to pick up some items and than gets soft-locked and wont proceed further. I had a look around but it just sends you back to where I started. I don't there's much to check out here even if it did work (and what was up with that awful perspective menu, that was really REALLY ugly!)



Volcanic Core

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1490800/Volcanic_Core/

The game kept drifting my vehicle to the side (much like the Down Fast bicycle game) and was unable to get past the tutorial. It's a shame, since the retro style of this game made it look real promising to play. I'm certain its not my controllers since they work on pretty much every other game I own, so I don't know why certain games today are drifting like this.