The physicality of the Oculus Quest makes this game seem more like a toy than an actual, proper video game. I’m trying to think up some sort of witty metaphor or analogy here, but if I had to pick something with which to compare it, I might have to go with…bubble wrap? No…that doesn’t work at all! Well, whatever the comparison is that I’d use for it being more of a “physical toy” than an actual “video game”, that’s what comes to mind when playing Waltz of the Wizard on the Oculus Quest. The title basically just begs you – in theory – to pick it up and play around with it, pushing the boundaries, testing out the limits of how far you can fling objects and where they might end up. I was actually pretty excited about playing this game on the Oculus Quest. It’s not like I’m really into VR or anything (I’m not), but I do enjoy some of what it has to offer; namely stuff that requires physical activity.
This game turned out to be a lot more fun than I’d expected…it’s like an entire year’s worth of fitness packed into 30 minutes! But, for realsies though – there is one big problem here: The virtual floor; or lack thereof. You see, Waltz of the Wizard makes use of room-scale tracking in order to interact with various objects within the game. However, you can’t actually see your virtual floor. This caused me to step forward once only to walk straight into a wall, thinking that it was part of the next room I was supposed to be exploring. Speaking of which…I’m almost 100% sure there were no rooms – just one massive room which is apparently made up entirely of different sets/stages or something, placed right on top of each other with barely any effort put into making them look different from each other.
Anyways, I’ll spare you all the grumbling about how unimaginative this game turned out to be and instead focus on the good stuff! So yes, Waltz of the Wizard plays more like an actual toy than an actual VR game, but I think that’s what makes it so much fun. As you progress through the game, you’ll find yourself picking up one thing after another…trying out different combinations and collectables, playing with fireballs and lasers…it’s pretty dang kooky! Although it will all be over before you know it; Waltz of the Wizard is very short – about as long as a round of Tennis (I’m bad at analogies). The puzzles themselves are rather simple too; nothing like some other games on Quest like Space Pirate Trainer or Virtual Virtual Reality (which is not to imply that they’re easy by any means). If there was anything negative I could say about this game, it’s that the achievements/trophies are basically just collectables.
The fact that it’s so short is really my only complaint here, though. The “extended edition” part of the name definitely makes sense now! I’m not sure how much Waltz of the Wizard usually costs on other VR platforms, but to me, it seems like a pretty small amount for what you get out of this Quest port. It would be nice if there was some sort of multiplayer mode or something added in for good measure, and perhaps even an option to alter time and speed and stuff (like most video games have), but all in all it’s still a fun little toy with lots of potentials – especially once they update/patch out any issues users might find. And if nothing else, it’s a very simple and straightforward game. It does one thing and it does that one thing well! That said, I do recommend players give the trial/demo for this title a try to see if they’re interested before purchasing the full version.
So yeah, that about wraps up my review of this game by Carbon Studios on Quest! I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it – thanks for stopping by everyone!