Swords of Gargantua is the first ever VR game I bought. My purchase history shows that I bought it on 16th July 2019, which is probably when my Oculus Quest arrived. Still, I am truly nowhere close to completing the game, having not really bothered to get good at it. Yesterday and today, I revisited this game with the mindset of taking it seriously and trying to get better at it (see my post on getting better at stuff here). While this game also has multiplayer, I concentrated on consolidating my basics in playing on my own.
The game does have some limitations, admittedly. Firstly, as far as I can tell, the game merely gives a bit of backstory at the start before going into the tutorial. After that, there is no more story to be had. Having forgotten the controls (mainly which button activates the dash function in sync with you leaning in a direction), there was no reminder of how I could do it in the settings. I had to literally remove the headset and search for how to do so on Google (Thankfully, I got lucky and managed to quickly find what I was looking for).
Anyway, with a storyline basically non-existent, the game is basically about completing levels of increasing difficulty. You start off in a pre-game lobby where you get to choose your weapons. Then, you begin by moving forward and entering level 1. Moving in this game is done with the left analog stick, while the right analog stick turns your field of vision some degrees without you having to physically turn. When you think about it, it is only natural, really. If you were to physically move about in the battle arena, you’d require lots of space. Hence, for VR games with wide area movement right now, you’ll generally either navigate with an analog stick or a teleport function. You will naturally find, of course, that physically turning around can replace this analog stick ‘snap turning’ function used to adjust your field of vision.
On to the gameplay.
The first level is pretty simple. There are only three enemies, and a single strike is enough to bring each of them down. You can really finish it in mere seconds. At the end of each level, you will get the option to change your equipment (you have 4 slots, each of which can hold not just weapons but also stuff like shurikens and potions. Then, you can move on to a subsequent level. Yeah, it isn’t like your typical game where after level 1 you go to level 2. Instead, there are usually two or three options available to you. For example, upon your completion of level 1, you get to choose between your advancement to level 3 or level 5. The benefit of this is that after a loss in an advanced level, while you will still have to restart from level 1, you will not have to play every single level to challenge it again. The 3rd, 4th level you play may already be in the double digits.
Weapons in the game include swords of differing reaches and functions, shields, rapiers, axes, maces etcetera. For now, I’m still working on the swords. I use a heavy sword with my right hand as well as a normal length sword with my left. A natural limitation here is that the swords do not carry actual weight. In real life, I think that one would have to wield a heavy sword (greatsword, whatever) with both hands. In some games, characters are limited by weight of their equipment, level or stats or some combination of this. Even so, this game allows us to wield two swords as if it were nothing. I’m not complaining, though. Just an observation.
Overall, I think that the simulation of the weapon-wielding is pretty good. The obvious consequence of this as a VR game as is that you do not simply left click your mouse and have your weapon strike an enemy. Instead, you literally swing (or stab) your virtual weapon, as seen through your headset. The system tracking tracks the Oculus Touch controllers and feedbacks it to the system and all that. An essential component of actual swordplay, parrying, is replicated. When the enemy swings their sword at you, you block it with your own to avoid taking damage. This sort of technique basically cannot be experienced in non-VR games. Now, this itself is quite interesting to learn. Oh, and if you parry, a green circle (weak point) appears. If you hit that, you deal extra damage.
I learnt quite a bit from this experience. First, the length of the sword matters greatly in parrying. The longer your sword, the more effort you must exert to adjust its angle while wielding it in its entirety. Physics, really. Next, when playing non-VR games, you often do basic attacks. You click, you slash. You click, you slash. This was different. I could slash in one direction then immediately in slash the opposite direction to deal damage twice! Also, I realised I had a sword in my other hand too! What about that? I could actually swing both sword in left hand and sword in right hand at the same time. But would this overextend me? Should I leave one hand at the ready to defend? Should I employ a hit-and-run tactic or stay in melee range throughout (avoid or parry)? My parrying wasn’t very successful, to be sure, and I realised over time that parrying with the sharp edge of the blade seemed to be recognised by the system whereas doing so with the flat of the blade is useless. Hm, is it also like this in real life?
Personally, I consider this more of a dojo game, one where you play for the sake of upping your combat skill and defeating new enemies etcetera. Don’t expect easy entertainment and thrills without putting in the corresponding effort. Think about what you are doing, analyse how you could potentially improve and try out new things. I used to not do that while playing VR games, preferring the thrill of reaction speed utilisation. However, reaction speed only gets you so far! A solid foundation must be built to be good at battles, and this is surely what Swords of Gargantua is all about – melee combat.
Edit: Chanced upon tutorial the next day under ‘Other modes’. Really not very intuitive to find though!