Format: PSVR2
Genre: Roguelike
Developer: Eric Thullen
Publisher: Eric Thullen

As a clear riff on Minecraft, Ancient Dungeon VR has "chunky pixel" low resolution textures married to low-fi enemy and object geometry. Even if the aesthetic isn't anything original, it's interesting to see this kind of style in a VR title. Each area has a different theme: the title opens with lots of green vines and grass, there are brown caves, a blue ruins-style zone, and so forth. Some of the enemies, like the charging zombies, are downright scary! The menus and user interface elements are raw and unfinished looking.

Some Harry Potter-style music is used on the title screen, but otherwise the game focuses more on ambient noises than an outright soundtrack. The title's various sound effects-- whooshes, sword clashes, and so on-- are fairly generic. There isn't much to say about the audio in this game beyond that: it's not actively offensive in any way, but it is minimalistic.

The left and right analog sticks move and freelook, respectively. A ranged weapon can be tossed with the left hand, but it's very difficult to consistently hit things with it. The right hand wields a sword, which can be used to destroy enemies as well as objects such as crates and jars. Money is accumulated and can be spent within shops, of which there is one per area. The randomly-generated levels are pretty basic, but are automapped nonetheless.

The main problem with Ancient Dungeon VR is that almost the entire roguelike progression is locked behind a super difficult final boss battle-- so the player is left playing through the entire game over and over, with very little added to his powers meanwhile, trying to get over that hump. Unfortunately and for most people, patience is going to wear thin way before finally conquering that final baddie.