The VR game
Stranger things VR is a visually intense retelling from Tender Claws. They are known for their bizarre and wild VR experiences such as Virtual Virtual Reality (2017) and The under Presents(2019). While Stranger Things VR showcases the studio’s patently deft art direction, the game feels distinctly like an extended brand engagement experience that’s more concerned with prepping us for the show’s upcoming fifth season than treading any new or interesting ground.
Stranger Things VR Details:
Available On: Quest 2/3/Pro
Reviewed On: Quest 3
Release Date: February 22nd, 2024
Price: $30
Developer: Tender Claws
Gameplay
If you’re thinking of playing the VR game and you haven’t seen the complete four seasons of Stranger Things on Netflix yet, you’re going to be in for some serious spoilers from the moment you get past the loading screen.
And forget it if you haven’t seen the show at all, as you’ll have absolutely zero idea of who’s who and what’s going on, as the entire game is presented in a way that heavily relies on the user’s familiarity with major events and characters from the show. It is “Stranger Things VR” after all, so that’s to be expected to some extent, although it’s a shame the studio didn’t have the leeway to tell a more unique story within the franchise’s universe.
That basically leaves the VR game hamstrung to retread the main bits from the third and fourth season, albeit starting backwards from the biggest plot point reveal and moving into the main antagonist’s backstory.
At first, the game seems dedicated to fleshing out the show’s villain Vecna, as it traps you in the terrifying world of the Upside Down and tasks you with finding your way out, all the while taunted by ghostly memories of Dr. Brenner. The game has some interesting movement and light combat, but the main focus is on navigating through mazes linked by gateways in Demodogs’ minds and giant flowers with Demogorgon’s heads. This aspect is trippy and weird, but I love it. It’s beautiful and surreal, yes, but there is no real payoff outside of that. It’s beautiful and surreal but it’s not worth the effort. This could have been used more effectively in puzzles, boss fights, or even parkour. Instead, you’re ejected from Vecna, and only ever get to use a sliver of those abilities as Eleven, who is significantly less fun as a playable character.
That said, it took me around four hours to complete all nine chapters, and a little more to tool around with the bonus mixed reality games, which are fun but brief. The ending left me feeling about as bored as I was during the entire game, albeit with a credit roll and outro music as the only real indication it was all over.
Immersion
The game’s visuals are highly stylized, and at times can be absolutely jaw-dropping. Despite some distinctly lower quality textures and lesser poly counts than the gameplay trailer above would suggest,
Stranger Things VR
clearly takes the mantra “every frame a painting” to heart.
In contrast to the lackluster gameplay I mentioned above, which at times felt more like a tutorial to something greater that never came, the game’s art and jarring surrealism does a lot of the heavy lifting.Image courtesy Tender ClawsThe game’s clear dedication to nightmarish surrealism and constant narrative switching comes at a cost to ’embodiment’, or feeling like you’re actually in virtual place and not just overly occupied doing some complex task. It’s the difference from being
immersed
Still, the first half of the game does a great job of building up those mechanics that let you traverse chasms and stay out of the Demodogs’ reaches, although sadly enemy AI is pretty dumb, as enemies can oftentimes get hung up on game geometry and wig out stupidly.ComfortThere are two or three momentarily uncomfortable scenes that force artificial movement, and there are also a fair number of flashing lights that could be of concern to photosensitive users–the latter of which shows up as an on-screen warning before you start every game.
That said, it’s a fairly comfortable game thanks to a good number of options available to the user and an overall smart world design that respects the player, even in the face of Vecna’s ability to swing and move around on vines.
‘Stranger Things VR’ Comfort Settings – February 22nd, 2024
Turning
Artificial turning
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Snap-turn |
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| Quick-turn | |
| Smooth-turn | |
| Movement | |
| Artificial movement | |
Teleport-move |
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| Dash-move | |
| (as Eleven) | Smooth-move |
| Blinders | |
| Head-based | |
| Controller-based | |
| Swappable movement hand | |
| Posture | |
| Standing mode | |
Seated mode |
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| Artificial crouch | |
| Real crouch | |
| Accessibility | |
| Subtitles | Languages |
English, Japanese, German, French, Korean, Italian, Portuguese (BR), Spanish |
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| Dialogue audio | |
| Languages | English |
| Adjustable difficulty | |
| Two hands required | |
| Real crouch required | |
| Hearing required | |
| Adjustable player height | |