Henry has been a longtime Oculus Rift short that has been converted into the Oculus Quest. It is a good example of how visual storytelling can be done on the Quest. The movie’s voice acting is top-notch and brings a sweet, emotional connection to Henry’s troubles. It’s worth noting that the Henry movie is on Quest, but it doesn’t take advantage of any of the more physical aspects of the platform. There are no Touch controllers or other room-scale movement capabilities besides teleportation, so if you do see this on OQ then don’t expect to be able to move around more than a few feet in
any direction.
The art style is very basic but has some good character animation. Through the story, Henry’s expressions are brought to life with some adorable animations that bring his sadness and happiness to your heart. The voice acting also adds a lot of personality to the characters, making it easy to care about what happens next in their journey.
The short film also uses sound design to great effect in order to create tension or emotion around various scenes. The short does a great job of setting the tone and making you sit at the edge of your seat. There are jump scares, but not too many that would turn an audience off
The game is simple in terms of controls, with only four buttons for teleporting around the map and a simple grab function. There is a lot of focus on Henry’s puzzles to progress through the world. None of them is too demanding, but you don’t want it to be easy either or this would make for a very short playthrough. This keeps players focused on their goal and puzzle-solving without too much distraction from story.
The game is very short, with only an hour of gameplay. This allows you to quickly experience the story but leaves you wanting more. The VR experience makes it so much easier to relate to Henry and his struggles, leaving me craving for a sequel that would be even longer than what’s there already. It also does a great job of setting up for a sequel, but at the same time, you don’t feel like it’s unfinished if there isn’t one.
Overall, Henry is an excellent showcase of art and storytelling that knows how to keep your attention throughout the journey. With such little interaction, it would be easy for this to become boring or lose focus of what matters, but everything is done so well that it leaves the audience satisfied and craving for more.
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 9/10
Entertainment: 8/10
Replayability: 7/10
Price to Worth ratio: 5/5 (Definitely a great deal at only $5)