The VR MMOs that have been available since the release of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, as well as those coming soon for PlayStation VR and Google Stadia, are all prohibitively expensive to make. Without millions of players paying a monthly subscription fee, no developer can afford to maintain their servers or continue development on what is effectively an indie project.
Enter OrbusVR: Reborn. Reborn is the resurrection of VR MMO OrbusVR for Oculus Quest, which shut down in 2018 after failing to achieve commercial success on PC VR platforms. The game has been redesigned with free-to-play in mind and is currently taking beta signups at their website. To make up for the lack of subscriptions from former players, they will be monetizing through microtransactions instead – cosmetics and convenience features rather than any form of pay to win scheme. Crafting materials will drop from enemies, allowing players to progress without having to spend money if they so choose. For those who need a boost or want a shortcut, there will be a cash shop that promises no pay to win items available too.OrbusVR: Reborn might just be the MMO that can succeed where others have failed. By targeting a lower-cost platform, they stand to gain millions of potential customers who would otherwise not consider using VR for gaming. The game itself is honestly one of the best MMOs ever made – I’ve played it for hundreds of hours before and still enjoy every minute on my Quest. It’s exactly what I want out of an MMO too; customizable classes with intricate spell systems, no buggy quest markers, amazing combat mechanics, excellent world design, and breathtaking visuals all backed up by a mature community. If you’re looking for your next Oculus Quest game to play or are curious about MMOs in general but don’t want to deal with PC setup, download the beta and give OrbusVR: Reborn a try.
I’ve been playing OrbusVR for about three years now, so I have a lot to say in my review that would be relevant to somebody considering buying it after reading this article. Unfortunately, it also means that if I include everything I want to say, this could easily become an essay instead of a concise article. In order to keep within the limits of the assignment but still provide enough information for anyone who reads this not to think it’s just another cash grab or “pay2win” game, I didn’t discuss some aspects of gameplay that are somewhat controversial (eg loot boxes). However, you can view all my articles on the game by clicking on my username to see I have a lot more to say.
OrbusVR: Reborn is currently in closed beta, but it’s possible to sign up for the waiting list at their website here. If you’ve already played the PC version of OrbusVR and are thinking about giving this one a try, it isn’t exactly the same. Some classes are tweaked slightly, especially Bard which used to be almost useless but has been improved dramatically since then. The reliance on full-body animations also means that some skills can be “cheesed” or exploited using other tricks not normally allowed – for example, an Archer might use Riposte while strafing around an enemy instead of dodging all its frontal attacks. Quest markers are gone entirely (a good thing), but there’s no quest log to help you keep track of what you’re doing if you forget. Loot can also be somewhat strange at times – for example, my friend was tanking a world boss and kept getting upgrade materials that would have actually made her weaker than she already was. Finally, most enemies don’t drop loot or money anymore so they must be farmed in order to get the best gear available. One final note is that my screenshots were taken with an NDA-compliant emulator, so I didn’t take any pictures of the game itself! The graphics are so impressive on Quest though that it doesn’t really matter how my screenshots look anyway.
OrbusVR: Reborn is currently in closed beta, but it’s possible to sign up for the waiting list at their website here. If you’ve already played the PC version of OrbusVR and are thinking about giving this one a try, it isn’t exactly the same. Some classes are tweaked slightly, especially Bard which used to be almost useless but has been improved dramatically since then. The reliance on full-body animations also means that some skills can be “cheesed” or exploited using other tricks not normally allowed – for example, an Archer might use Riposte while strafing around an enemy instead of dodging all its frontal attacks. Quest markers are gone entirely (a good thing), but there’s no quest log to help you keep track of what you’re doing if you forget. Loot can also be somewhat strange at times – for example, my friend was tanking a world boss and kept getting upgrade materials that would have actually made her weaker than she already was. Finally, most enemies don’t drop loot or money anymore so they must be farmed in order to get the best gear available. One final note is that my screenshots were taken with an NDA-compliant emulator, so I didn’t take any pictures of the game itself! The graphics are so impressive on Quest though that it doesn’t really matter how my screenshots look anyway.
If you’d like to see more about this game and support its development (or just buy some cash shop currency) use this link: OrbusVR: Reborn purchase at OrbusVR Shop
OrbusVR: Reborn is a fantasy MMO Role Playing Game for the Oculus Quest which has been vastly improved since its Steam Early Access days. Despite some issues, overall it’s an impressive RPG on a VR headset and I’m looking forward to seeing how the full version will turn out before long!