Format: PSVR2
Genre: First-Person Action
Developer: VitruviusVR
Publisher: VitruviusVR

From its jungle-and-temple setting, with abstract stained-glass window gothic castles, ancient artifacts, and lizard-like space alien inhabitants, Arken Age's world is pleasantly reminiscent of "Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver". The player character can even siphon energy with his hands! There are two graphics modes-- performance, and quality. The former is recommended by the game's developers for a reason: 90fps makes things almost surrealistically butter smooth. The game's underwater caustics are incredible with the PSVR2's HDR support. The scenery is somewhat lacking in variety, although there are indoor tunnel spots to explore.

Arken Age's music is Hollywood-orchestral, but not in a way which gets annoying. Hints of the "moaning woman" trope can be heard in spots, but the rest of it has a lot of techno instrumentation, and some of the melodies actually have hooks which make it possible to even remember them once the game has been quit. The robot enemy noises, from their walking to their announcing of their presence, does a good functional job of alerting the player to danger. The combat and gun noises are equally solid.

Like seemingly all first-person VR games, Arken Age involves grabbing from hips and shoulders: left shoulder grabs an ammo canister; left hip grabs the sword; right hip nabs the pistol; right shoulder retrieves the rifle. Quick buttons allow the easy grab of a shield or healing item. The combat is primarily melee, and it is 100% physics based-- this means the sword can be used to strike from any angle: enemies can be knocked down flights of steps, off ledges, into water, or even cartwheeled via a hook of one of their legs. The levels are "Metroidvania" in nature, and it's addicting to explore their puzzle-like layouts. The downside? Unlike any other VR game this reviewer has even played, items-- swords, guns, pickups-- are constantly getting "stuck" to the player's hands, and an unprecedented lack of precision makes this game hugely frustrating compared to its peers on the platform.

Playing Arken Age feels like wrestling a bear: abilities don't activate when they should, items take seven or eight attempts to grab, and so forth. This reviewer has zero issue with myriad other games, running on the exact same setup. And this is a shame, because absent these issues this might be the best game this reviewer has played on PSVR2-- in fact, he consistently couldn't stop playing even with the problems, so well paced are the levels, and so fun is the melee combat.