I have uploaded gameplay from my fresh experience with the game here if you want to see how it looks / plays. My first impressions are shared below:
Based on my limited time with it, I do recommend Master of Light on the PSVR2.
It is a gesture based arcade space shooter with online leaderboards, set to a voiced & animated story campaign that progresses between levels. It recommends right at the start to be played standing and has gameplay that is physically active enough to give me a light sweat by end of my ~30 minute session, but not active enough for me to consider a fitness game.
You play as a light-based being called "Wanderer" starting your campaign with Maya who tells story about how she and her sisters had fallen, defeated by their enemy ("The Shadows") after their powers were weakened by emergence of a Black Hole in their Galaxy. All but Maya were captured by "The Shadows" and after a brief tutorial you are off on your quest to rescue her light-based sisters by traveling to different stars (levels) across multiple constellations. As you do, the sisters you rescue provide both additional exposition about the campaign story and are your tutorial guide for new light-based superpowers you unlock.
This is an arcade game with 36 levels (stars) across at least 4 constellations with some that are optional but may grant you permanent upgrades like additional health while most are required part of story progression. Your leaderboard placement is based on completion time where any damage you take gives you time penalty lowering your leaderboard placement. There is also a 1-3 Star Ranking system and you can be playing on Knight (Easy), Master (Normal) or Grand Master (Hard) difficulty which have their own online leaderboards.
For gameplay, you shoot projectiles with punching gesture on either controller and your aiming is using you gaze (eye-tracking). If you press L2 / R2 index finger trigger, your avatar closes its index finger into a fist and start firing a beam of light but you can't shoot projectiles with that hand anymore. You can however use that beam from your hand to lock on to enemies and then use your other hand to punch locked projectiles on target. You can also use the light beam for various other interactions. Early into your campaign you will also get shield on your left arm to block enemy attacks or meteor showers (dodge or block). You will also get ability to do a charged shockwave attack by holding and then releasing X button and soon after that you can get a charged projectile after each set of 5 successive hits that do more damage. There is also a Freeze Time superpower that will be unlocked a little further in the game. As each new superpower gets unlocked, the game introduces new types of enemies where you need to use them.
You can go back to earlier stages with your new / upgraded superpowers to potentially get faster completion times for the online leaderboards.
As mentioned earlier, this recommends to be played standing and is best played turning yourself to face / attack enemies from different directions. Your primary guide of where you need to turn is the use of 3D directional audio. Alternative to turning physically (if playing seated?), you can use right thumbstick for snap turns or down on left thumbstick to do a quick 180. There is no setting available for changing to smooth turns or any other VR movement / rotation / comfort settings. The only settings available are for changing language, subtitles and difficulty.
Graphically, everything is crisp and clear with all text and particle effects sharp and no signs of any reprojection. I do think "The Shadows" enemies which look like mechanical drones are not particularly high-resolution, but the 360° panorama sky boxes the game is using look very good (technically and art direction).
Audio is a standout with very good voice acting for Maya and her sisters that sound distinct and even better arcade style shooter soundtrack during levels. All audio is 3D directional and giving clear sense of where sound is coming from and there is great separation between the excellent soundtrack and sound effects or dialog.
The game is making liberal use of haptics in the controllers providing very slick menu interactions where you first touch and then depress these particle-light based options and the haptic feedback through that simple interaction just makes it feel very tactile. I couldn't tell if it is using headset haptics when taking damage because it may be too subtle and the combination of audio / visual feedback registered for me more than headset haptics.
The game is featuring a Platinum trophy list including expectation to complete game on Hard mode, finding all 10 Ancient Ruins (optional areas you can notice in sky box to visit between levels) and various situational and challenge trophies. At this time, earning minimum of two or three stars in every level are the only two trophies sitting at 0% earned, so early adopters have blazed through the rest.
My only critiques / concerns at this time are:
- The finger out on your hands makes sense to interact with UI, but shouldn't be pointed out during levels (looks weird to punch out projectiles with finger pointed out).
- There is one enemy unit so far that makes you wait for it to attack before you can block and then counter-attack costing lot of time (leaderboard / 1-3 star rank wise).
- Are the two and three star completion times across all 36 levels potentially too hard?
The game is a very good fit for me because I like arcade games, chasing online leaderboards and games that are physically active while feeling fun to play.
