I’ve been getting back into VR with my Oculus Quest Pro after not using it for a while.

I had started doing some exercise with Beat Saber and Dance Central and Eleven Pingpong, but decided to branch out.

I originally started playing “I expect you to die!” but after half an hour or so had to run and get the groceries delivered to the front door. When I got back I spent about an hour trying to get it to launch but it kept crashing out. I’ve reinstalled it since, but that afternoon I wanted to test it on another game to make sure everything was still good with the headset.

I clicked on A Fisherman’s Tale. You play a puppet inside a model of a lighthouse. Above you is a puppet copy of you in a bigger copy of the same lighthouse with the same objects in it. Below you is another smaller puppet copy of you in a smaller model of the same lighthouse with the same objects in it. In fact, you can interact with the other puppet versions of yourself. You will need to in order to complete the puzzles in this game. Maybe you need a larger version of an object which is stored in the upper-level bigger model. Maybe you need the same object shrunk down in size which you can reach into the small model of the lighthouse on the table in the room you’re in. Tons of fun! I completed the game and really enjoyed it. It probably would have taken a lot longer if I had turned off hints (which only occur if you’re really, really stuck anyway) but I’d have been too frustrated if I didn’t figure out the puzzle!

Once I finished that I decided to see what all the fuss is about with Half Life: Alyx. This is a part of the original Half Life game story. I’m playing it in Story Mode as I haven’t really played the other games and didn’t know what I’d be in for. There’s still enough difficult puzzles to figure out and scary action, but it’s not too frustrating as higher levels would be. The controls are great and the graphics are amazingly high-quality and life-like. You get to talk to other ‘people’ in the game to move the story along. I’m not really into alien or zombie games, but this kinda combines them into a fun adventure. I play about 3-3.5 hours at a time untethered. My Oculus Quest Pro still has about 29% charge at the end of 3.5 hours and the controllers still retain 82% each — which is AMAZING! People were sure it’d last maybe 2-2.5 hours from what I read. The first time I played this I had already been playing The Fisherman’s Tale above so I did need to plug in my long USB cable, but it’s powerful enough to charge the headset while playing. I really recommend this if you like some fun action games.

I have completed about 21% of achievements so far and so still have quite a ways to go, but that’s no issue.