STAY ALIVE MY SON (VR): A True Story About A Father's Relentless Search For His Son

Wow wow wow! I totally recommend this one. A deeply moving experience, telling a heartbreaking story and a true story! The story and visuals are outstanding, and by the end, I was in tears!! After it ended, I researched about the Cambodian genocide and this man! I didn’t expect to be so emotionally invested by a VR experience. It feels more like an interactive film than a traditional game, but it's definitely worth experiencing!

First, the program ran perfectly with Pimax "open XR" on my Crystal light, Windows 11. It is a compelling, moving true story, dark in its presentation, quite literally, but with an uplifting ending. The interactions are cleverly done so that you are drawn in to the story: this is not a "game", but more a cinematic experience, and it succeeds in this. It does seem expensive, unless on sale, and it is not well optimised. For a very small part, towards the end, my system struggled, but a definite thumbs up for the overall experience.

"Stay Alive My Son" hit me harder than I expected. Living in Greece, we see the news about refugees and families separated along the coastline all the time. You see the pictures, hear the stories, but it's easy to feel disconnected, especially even now where conflict and war seems to be everywhere…and it breaks my heart for these families… these families! "Stay Alive My Son" though, ripped my heart out and made me feel it. The desperation of the father, the fear for his son, the constant struggle for survival... It's all too real, echoing the stories we see every day. And when the inevitable happens, when you are forced to make impossible choices with heartbreaking consequences, it's like a punch to the gut. "Stay Alive My Son" isn't just a game, it's a window into a reality most of us can only imagine, and it's left me deeply affected. So if you’re looking for an experience that is more than just mindless action, but with real heart, craft, and meaning, you must experience this story.!”

"Stay Alive My Son" is a masterpiece of interactive storytelling. From the moment you meet the old man Yathay, you are pulled into his world of memories and emotions. The ceremonial moment when you become him is a brilliant mechanic, making you feel every ounce of his sorrow and regret as him. The labyrinth is not only a stunning metaphor but a reminder of his internal struggles and also the people. This game does more than entertain, it educates and makes you feel so many deep emotions. An absolute triumph in the world of immersive storytelling. Must see!!

Interesting but very bad technical/VR implementation: No seated VR option (for no obviou reason). No subtitles or language options. Very hardware demanding (for no reason, graphics are mediocre or just ok at best), had graphics issues all the time. Killing bugs (abandoned game due to leaving a necessary object at an inaccessible spot). Not tested on popular controllers (have Pico4 but I read of issues on Meta also), had to find walk-around solution... There are many interesting free experiences (its really not a game) with no such issues, so price is unacceptable.

This MUST BE experienced!!! I don't have much to add because all the reviews say everything I felt and wanted to say. Great job folks!

"Stay Alive My Son" offers an immersive and heart-wrenching journey that stays with you long after the game ends. This game is not just an experience; it’s a deeply emotional journey that touches the soul. Highly recommended!!

I read the book a while ago as part of a genocide class and when I found out that it was turned into a VR film I had to try it! You know how when you read a book you form images and ideas in your head of what the people or the world looks like? This is like going into your own thoughts and literally being transported into them!!! It was so real - beyond what I had imagined reading it because you are living every scene and moment in the headset! While reading Yathay’s book I had obviously experienced emotions based on his rich descriptions - but none compares to the intensity of what I felt while living it! I wish more books were made into VR films, especially ones that are made for all the good reasons.

A touching story, and recommended - even if it's highly unpolished and you'll need an RTX 5090 for good performance and high levels of super-sampling. The game looks very blurry with lcd like Index, but looks great and sharp with my Rift CV1. The app feels like made for CV1. This app supports native Oculus drivers for optimal performance.

This was worth a look! There's a lot to like about it, also a few less likable things... The good stuff Great use of realistic meta human character with eye tracking who's gaze follows you - adds to realism and connection, and the choreography was good - helping to feel in a real person's home/presence. The story is incredibly sad and there's clearly been some research done to put this together. The Volumetric video scenes are nicely placed amongst 3D environments, and tell the story fairly well and the world design was nice towards the end. There was a button to dip the graphics quality which improved performance and look marginally. The not so good stuff Dungeons of skulls, candles and guns felt a bit insensitive to the real world story, and kind of cheap, and despite the really quite sorrowful storyline, I felt like it's emotional impact was lost amongst the fantasy. A lot of the interaction felt a bit pointless and walking around all the time was a bit blah. The big one - frame rates and visuals almost ground to a halt at times - this thing is heavy on your processors and desperately needs optimising. Summary There's not enough good cultural content out there with decent production budgets - so thumbs up! Felt I'd learnt a little by the end, and managed to stagger through the whole thing on i9 cpu and GeForce 3070 on Quest 3 using Virtual Desktop.