The Foglands

The idea is pretty nice but I would not recommend getting this game, here's why:

- There's a few rules in VR game development one is to never move the player without him moving in physical space, this games controls leave you with no other choice but to accept being moved when you press the joystick as well as being moved upwards when you press a to jump. Both already make you quite dizzy but then this game includes yet another way to move you when your head collides with an object instead of just clipping inside the object the player is pushed out of that object.

>> This is how the developer could improve the game: Offer players the choice to teleport instead of pushing the camera with the joystick (the typical implementation where you press the joystick then aim a cycle on the ground and release to teleport there - way way less nauseating and you can still count that as movement in the game for the buffs) - just let people stick their head into objects... Yeah I know it's a bit ugly but it's still way better that having a collider on the camera and just being pushed around when you accidentally come on contact with a box. The jumping so far was not really crucial so I assume it's probably just for like locking off areas of the map or so and that would also be solved with the teleporting

- The story is missing entirely. I bought the game then started a new round and so far I have no idea what's going on and I already faced the first boss. What annoys me the most about this is that the game asked what mode I want to play "challenging where it's focused on game play apparently" or "story where it should be less challenging but more story telling" and I chose story... Yet all I got was the tutorial where some unknown Marion talked to me then died then I was eaten by a worm and ended up in some cathedral looking train department shaking hands with some weird figure and then "woke up" in that same train department with the same figure who barely spoke to me. Then I kinda had to go to the lobbyish thing where there was some woman who apparently knew me and I knew her well apparently... She was kinda but not really shocked the other guy was eaten and then it was like yo let's go and you leave for a "run" and apparently it's super normal that when you die you just come back to her and apparently they all know and find it super normal or something I don't know... Nothing gets explained to you you don't know where you are or what you are trying to do, why there are zombies everywhere or who even died at the beginning. Why is there a strange man that can apparently make you immortal, why are there tarot card like things that give you powers - which btw you don't buy from the guy but buy in a far way room by just opening some lockers like... What the heck is all this?There is zero world building or story telling it's just try to survive as long as you can and then try again

>> I'm not gonna list specifically what the dev could do better here as that should be kinda obvious but to say the least ease players into your world and into what ever story there might be or - if there's no story that's fine but then don't make up mystical creatures and tarot cards and all that just create a simple generic roage like game and ui that's selve explanatory and run with it

To summarize: I'm disappointed this game has potential but it's not really well executed and for the price they ask when it's not on sale this game in my opinion is not worth it. I hope they improve the game and it will become something great but at its current state I don't see me enjoying this very long

tl;dr: this has some good ideas, but the implementation is sorely lacking. I can't recommend buying it.

I really wanted to like this, but it's a buggy mess at present. I saw others mentioning bugs in their reviews, but had hoped they had been patched. However, my experience playing on a Quest 3 as of 12/2024 was largely negative.

Two specific bugs: on my first run, I bought two pistols, both of which disappeared somehow, leading me to enter the run with no weapons. Ok, maybe my mistake, so I tried again. Was able to buy guns and get them in my belt, but then ran into a run-ending bug when I saw some enemies and backtracked a bit, causing a door to close with no way to re-open it, leaving me sealed in an empty room.

There are also just some weird and half-baked design decisions- the guns feel really floaty and inaccurate, and enemies seem to pop into existence without warning. It's one thing to have a more arcadey / cartoony vibe (I actually prefer that), but things should still be internally consistent. It also seems like things aren't well-optimized- there are constant loading screens in the middle of levels, and the lighting suddenly shifts every time a new area loads.

I really liked the atmosphere and setting, and gun-based roguelikes are my favorite type of VR game, but this is just not fun for me in its current state.

Edit: After more play and coming back from Bulletstorm VR this game is about a 7 out of 10. It’s the loading screens before going into each room, the bullets don’t sound or travel like real bullets they’re more like little pellets, the environments are basic. But I will say the intense feeling this game gives you in combat is still top notch and the gameplay balance is well

If you like Drop Dead the Cabin you’ll like this. This game receives A LOT of hate that made me not want to buy it but I took a chance. It’s exactly what I thought it was originally. It’s not a AAA game but it’s a good game from a small studio and the atmosphere, sound, and gameplay feel is there. Not so much graphics but I could say that about most of the games on the quest store and most not AAA games. It’s a fun game for what it is especially if you enjoy the world it puts you in and I do enjoy the semi dark atmosphere because this game fits into a category of its own and it’s a solid 8 out of 10 I gave it 5 stars because I also see the developers are still working on it & supporting the title which is a plus and the reason I bought. I own a lot of games here and from just playing it I rank this among the top because I can see the replay value in it instantly.

EDIT: I have increased my previous score of 3/5 to 4/5

Since the update, the game is much more playable with a better feel overall. The weapon feedback and enemy flinching is a great addition as requested and i think has been implemented well. There was also some slight wall and floor overlap artifacting issues previously which have since been fixed as I can no longer see them.

I would like to point out my frustration when restarting every single time I have to rebuy my 2 free pistols, and collect the free ammo for them every single time. Can't you just add them to my character by default holstered? So that i'm just ready to dive back into The Foglands straight away. Having to continually purchase them and collect the free ammo from the shooting range gets very old very fast. (They are free, and should be on the character by default)

---OLD REVIEW--
The game definitely has potential to be a great game. And is a lot better than the past reviews suggest. But it still needs a fair few more quality of life updates.

Firstly, I love the music and overall vibe if the game.

There needs to be a bit more feedback from shooting enemies. The enemies don't seem to feel pain and walk through most shots.
There's also no feedback to melee attacks, slight controller vibrations would suffice there.

A map on the wrist would also be nice. I've wandered around aimlessly not knowing what I'm doing plenty of times. Or anything to let me know where I need to be going or what I need to be doing. After playing the game for a few hours, I still don't really know what I'm doing or what the objective of the game is.

There is also some texture intersection overlap artifacts present within the walls and floors, which is very visually unappealing.

Those updates alone would make the game so much better.

Well only god thing is story and dubbing. Game is full of glitches fight and shooting is not satysfying and roguelite aspect relly not fun. Graphics is not bad but ganeplay is awful. Even with 40% discount i felt robbed. (Refund)

The Foglands should have never been released in this condition.

I really wanted to love the game but after trying to for almost five months I can’t even really enjoy it yet. There are too many serious technical problems. My initial enthusiasm has waned to the point where I’m giving up on it.

I fear that the developers, despite their best intentions, will never be able to get this game working properly. It’s had several updates and it’s still a mess.

The performance on the Quest 3 is abysmal. The frame rate is generally low and continually hitches and stutters. I don’t recall any other Quest game that runs this consistently choppy.

Basic user interactions like choosing an item from the vendor during a run are incredibly clunky.

The slow motion power up during combat turns your arm into a wobbly mess negating any advantage the slow motion may have given you.

The combat is very poor overall. You can stand right in front of an enemy and swing a weapon at its head and most of the time nothing happens. Yet if you step back and throw the weapon at them it works. Firing weapons feels, and often is, ineffectual. The previously mentioned choppy frame rate generally gets worse during the boss fights to the point where it makes the combat very frustrating.

It’s a real shame. There’s a lot of creative ideas in this game and I love the general ambiance, but the technology is very far away from being able to present these ideas properly. The unrealized potential makes the game even more disappointing.