The Tale of Onogoro

This game feels like it was made for ages 12 or younger. The puzzles and the combat are not difficult, and you are at all times accompanied by a character who tells you what to do. Haru practically never stops talking - I quit before I played an hour because I was tired of hearing her tell me things I could have figured out on my own or delivering setting exposition that wasn't necessary to advance the gameplay.

I love this game. It's a casual puzzle game where you only interact with the puzzle elements, all remotely using two "guns", so it doesn't have the physical VR immersion I usually go for. What it does have is an adventure with a kawaii anime waifu, and it absolutely delivers in this regard. The most emotionally investing game I've played in VR. Incidentally it also justifies lorewise the lack of direct physical VR interaction, even referencing the fact that the player is in VR at the start of the game. The puzzles are not just static problem solving, there are timing elements that get harder as they game goes on, but your two "guns" have laser sights so it is not a test of your skill at FPSes, more just your ability to activate the parts of the puzzle with the right timing. The puzzles start off very easy, everything up to the first boss is basically just a tutorial, but they do improve from there on. There are also enemies, but they are essentially also puzzle elements; they are killed in the same way that puzzle objects are activated, and simply stop you from standing still in certain areas while working on the puzzle. The bosses are basically also puzzles, there is an action element of moving around to not get hit, but as with the normal puzzles it is mostly about executing the right steps with the right timing. They can be a bit slow paced (especially the first one), and as it is a puzzle and not really a direct fight, you have no control over the pacing. The story is delivered via the waifu's monologues, of which there are many, giving details about her and the story and the world. She also helps with the puzzles, in that you can move her around to activate things (which again has a timing element) and must keep her out of the enemies' line of fire. If I had to sum up the game in one word, I would say "charming". It's a lovely little trip through a lovely little world. I hope this studio makes more VR games.

Only got past the first boss but so far the cutscenes are painfully slow and the combat is beyond grandma basic. Idk why I thought the trailer looked good. I would like to believe it gets more complex but it doesn't look like it does.

I can't believe this game slipped past Steam's adult rating system; you literally hold hands with a woman in the first 5 minutes of the game. 10/10 ---- Jokes aside though this is a pretty neat puzzle game, if a bit on the simple side (at least at the time of this wrting). I'm not too deep into the game yet so I'll update the review as I go along, but it appears the game features a scoring system which is tied to how quickly you finish each level as well as how many secret orbs you destroyed. It's an interesting feature, but it's certainly not something I expected when first jumping into the game. The overall graphical presentation is pretty decent too; it won't blow your socks off by any means, but it does the job well enough to make the levels look pretty and fun to navigate. Your companion is very chatty too, which some may love it or hate it depending on how much they like listening to the game's lore and casual banter. All in all, so far it's pretty good game; it's not mind blowing like HLA, Boneworks and the like, but it's still a good time waster if you like calm-ish puzzle games with some action elements.