izigame.me

Wow! It has been a while since I played a game where I knew I would be sad when I completed it. This feels a bit like Metroid Prime VR. The weapon customization has a lot of variety and experimentation to play with. The climbing is the best I've seen in VR, and I usually skip climbing in games where possible because it isn't nearly this good. The world is fun to explore. The graphics and music are top notch with a wonderful art style. The combo of melee and guns plus interesting AI tactics makes for fun combat, even if it isn't very deep. Everything about the UI just feels extremely polished and made by devs who know how VR is supposed to be played. I would say the only con really is lack of enemy variety, but the ones I have been up against are fun enough, and I'm only part way through the game.
I will update this when I am done, but even at this point this is easily one of my favorite VR games of all time. These devs are the real deal, which is especially impressive considering their size. If this looks up your alley, at all, don't walk to buy it; run!

This is the new big PCVR game period.
I mean, in the vein of Vertigo 2 this is a very well crafted and fun VR game. You have it all here, and nothing is presented as an obstacle or something annoying in the name of realism or something similar. Everything is FUN.
You have swords, and melee fighting is actually fun and works well. I'm gonna be harsh and say it's more fun than Behemoth which I was having fun with before this one. You can behead people and actually stab and parry, it works really well.
Then you have guns which are done well, physical reloading like swinging it back to make the cartridge load. I mean, that's always fun, I remember it was so much fun in Hover Junkers. But it's never clunky, you can reload and drop clips as much as you want but there's also a shortcut to keep shooting. Also it feels good to shoot down sights.
Then you have climbing and it's done well, reminds me of Beanstalkers. But it's also good for finding secrets and different paths which this game has a lot of.
World is visually stunning, very fresh designs and aesthetic. Even if production values are not off the roof, graphics are GOOD and art direction is the carry here. It feels familiar and alien at the same time.
I honestly think this game does everything right and deserves recognition by players all around. It's a game made with FUN in mind and a lot of attention to detail. And it shows. what you get is a fun game to play that engages you with actual mechanics left and right, while immersing you in a wonderful scifi/fantasy world (see? They did it, as they combined swords and guns in equal proportion).
To sum up, this is a fantastic sleeper hit, this is to me the VR GOTY of 2025, I don't care about franchises or licenses or big names. This is a dream come true for all of us PCVR fans.
Get it. Run don't walk as they say. Games like this are what you got the headset for,

Edit: Added the differences between versions below - that is PS5 vs PS Pro vs. PCVR. But first my impressions of the PCVR version:
Great game with melee combat - with sword and shield - and you also have guns. You're visiting an alien world, but my first great impression really was "wow - like Alyx, I can save the game whenever I want!". I'm very tired of games with checkpoints, so really great that we got a proper save game system in Arken Age.
Graphics are awesome-ish. Can't help thinking in some locations that we're getting a game designed for the PSVR2 with sometimes slightly fewer polys and worse textures than the best PCVR games - but then the game greatly impresses in other locations. It's also beautiful to see PSVR2 and PCVR go hand in hand to support each other. Compared to the many horrible low-end Quest ports. Arken Age is by far no Quest port.
After much testing with the RTX 3090 and Index, I ended up using highest graphics settings and Index res 276% in 80 Hz with no motion smoothing - to get solid 80 fps (keep the res scale in-game to 1.0 and set the app specific SteamVR res instead). Basically exactly the same settings as Vertigo 2. Graphics also carry some resemblance to Vertigo 2.
For now I'll rate the game 8/10 - but these are my first impressions. There is a learning curve for the weapons and controls, which can be slightly frustrating at first.
Index is perfectly supported - well, no finger tracking, but you also only got three fingers including a thumb :-)
If you're in doubt about buying the game, jump in, it's great - and you have 2 hours to try it and can refund.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VERSIONS:
PS5 vs. PS5 Pro:
"For PlayStation VR2 players with a PS5 Pro, Arken Age offers two choices. Performance Mode is the developer's recommended choice that lets you play at a native 90fps and 3040 × 2240 resolution. Quality Mode uses 60fps gameplay with reprojection and a higher resolution of 4000 × 4096 VitruviusVR also confirmed Arken Age on PS5 Pro has a 15% resolution boost over the base PS5 console in Performance Mode, and a 25% resolution boost in Quality Mode." Source: https://www.uploadvr.com/arken-age-review/
PS5 (Pro) vs. PCVR:
"Main differences is on PC Super-sampling, AA, shadows, and LOD bias is unlocked, but on PSVR2 there is DFR, HDR, adaptive triggers, and headset rumble. Otherwise both builds are exactly the same" - source, reply from the devs: https://www.reddit.com/r/virtualreality/comments/1i2rkpd/comment/m7ni8fa/?context=3
To sum up:
Only with PCVR you can get getting solid 80, 90, 120 or 144 fps in what must be the equivalent or better version than PS5 Pro in 60 fps Quality Mode (with reprojections). Which version will be best, PCVR or PS5 (Pro), will depend on the capabilities of your gameing PC.