Recording summary · April 2020
Why I regret buying Half-Life - Alyx
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Overview
Daniel purchased an HTC Vive Cosmos and Half-Life: Alyx for £45 after watching PewDiePie, despite earlier viewing VR as a gimmick.
Daniel regrets buying Half-Life: Alyx and cannot refund it after logging roughly 20 hours, finding the gameplay repetitive, the globe-aligning puzzles annoying, and enemies like zombies and ceiling tentacles unchallenging, with only soldier gunfights engaging.
Daniel experiences severe motion sickness and nausea from turning during sessions over 40 to 50 minutes, exacerbated by cord tangling when turning physically and thumbstick turning inducing sickness, alongside long loading screen times.
Daniel lowered the rating for Half-Life: Alyx from a 6 out of 10 to a 2 out of 10 because of motion sickness and does not recommend the game.
Themes
Purchase and impressions of the HTC Vive Cosmos and Half-Life: Alyx.
Critique of Half-Life: Alyx gameplay mechanics, puzzles, enemy design, and loading screens.
VR motion sickness, turning mechanics, and hardware limitations.
Rating and recommendation for Half-Life: Alyx.
Developments
Daniel bought an HTC Vive Cosmos and Half-Life: Alyx for £45 after seeing PewDiePie play.
Daniel logged around 20 hours in Half-Life: Alyx, reaching the point where the player character's father falls into a hole and is saved by an alien creature.
Uncertainties & gaps
Whether the motion sickness problem in VR gaming can be fixed or overcome through building tolerance.