Eolia

The controls/UI are super unintuitive and inflexible, and I'm not even using hand controls. Take the inventory for example. Any time your palm is up, the menu activates, which is really annoying. Then to access your storage pouch, you have to grab it and put it horizontal in the air -- wrong angle and it'll just fail. Then to store objects, you can't just drop it at the slot -- you have to drop it at a (unintuitive) icon. And to retrieve it, you can't just grab it out like in every other game -- you have to poke it with your finger, which will select it, then you can grab it (from another location). There are many things that could've been done better, such as when your hand is over some interactable object, it should be highlighted. Locomotion is also very clunky. Acceleration is very slow (which doesn't actually make it less nauseating), and it hinders my ability to do running jumps. Collision physics is also not good. There are many more examples. Now, the good parts -- scenes/graphics, music/sounds/voice (though not nearly as good as Ionia), and maybe story. If you are *really* patient or somehow think exactly like the designers do, maybe this is worth a try. Also, riding the animal was extremely nauseating.

I had played Ionia, the previous entry which was polished but short, so I was expecting a similar experience with Eolia. I was impressed with how much bigger this game felt. Not only does it have lengthy story campaign, but there is a great mix of large outdoor spaces and detailed interior environments. The gameplay is focused on puzzles, platforming, and finding collectibles, but the boss level late in the game was a nice challenging addition. I tried the hand tracking controls for the first hour which work OK but not perfectly, so I switched back to controllers after that. The story is music-focused and may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's encouraging to see that there are developers willing to make a unique single player VR adventure that isn't just another wave shooter or rouge-like.

The graphics and music are great, but the hand tracking is difficult to get working smoothly. Even in the Tutorial the walking movement wasn’t readily recognized, and the turning was so glitching that I felt dizzy and nauseated. So I stopped playing, and will let one of my older grandchildren give it a try. I may try it with the controllers in the future to see if I have better luck.

This game has surprised me. It has enchanted me in so many ways. The graphics, the art style, the massive buildings, the sometimes labyrinthine level architecture, the lore, the puzzles, and last but not least the music. Everything fits together well in such a pleasing way, that I cannot really understand, why the devs could not spend a bit more time to get the controls right. They are not always working as one would expect, regardless of whether you are using hand tracking or controllers. Is it still justified to give the game five stars? Yes, because it is one of my favourite and most memorable experiences on the quest.
With the controls fixed this game could be a major success. I really hope, the developers continue the series. Looking forward to part 3.

If you experience motion sickness in VR, be warned there are no comfort settings in this game! Those snap turns and fast movements will have you puking in no time! I couldn’t go past the first minute of this game! 🤢

Interesting gameplay. A bit fkaky in places but overall original and engaging. Stuck in the Tower atm :(