PSVR2 + Resident Evil Village Preview – p.1

On By Garmin Philip
PSVR2 + Resident Evil Village Preview - p.1

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You don’t know me as the biggest Resi-8 fan, that would be my colleagues Benjamin and Hagen. But if I get to try the PSVR2 at the Tokyo Game Show with Resident Evil Village…

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All photos are from GamersGlobal, the game scene screenshot from the manufacturer Capcom.

That’s why I was in the press queue this morning (15th place or so) more than an hour before TGS 2022 opened because I had a definite goal: to rush to the Capcom booth in Hall 7 to get there Resident Evil Village to play. Not because I think Resident Evil Village is great, but because rumor has it that it’s there PSVR2 would be playable – which means the first public appearance of Sony Playstation VR2 in a specific game ever (and my first encounter with it).

When we were finally let in, almost five minutes late, quite un-Japanese, I goose-stepped off, soon eyeing the Capcom booth. Instead of reporting to the press desk, where experience has shown that it takes forever and three days to find the right contact person (i.e. generally at TGS, not specifically at Capcom), I simply queued up as one of the first visitors to the but missed the very first play group by exactly one place (six people could always play at the same time).

The friendly Capcom gatekeeper then talks to me like a horse, keeps pointing to his schedule, I get the impression I’ve missed my Resi PSVR2 chance forever or at least have to come back three days later at 11:15. But an English-speaking colleague translates: just wait here, it will be your turn in 50 minutes. While I’m happy for a small moment to get so much playing time, the first half-dozen are led away and only come back from the depths of the Capcom booth a quarter of an hour later.

There lies the beautiful piece – the headphones on the far left. Good to see: the easily accessible rear adjustment button on the glasses.

Order must be: Instruction in PSVR2

When it’s my turn, after I’ve sprayed both hands with about half a liter of alcohol solution, I also know why: Inside, we first get a very detailed briefing on the subject of VR, Resident Evil Village in VR, and the miracles a VR controller. At least, that’s what I’m assuming as a Capcom employee kicks off staccatoly in Japanese, apparently closely following a script in a notebook.

I have been assigned my own interpreter, who translates the most important things from Japanese for me, which I have already read on the three laminated operating instructions anyway. That’s why we soon find ourselves joking (while quietly, of course!) about how to look like a criminal with a virus mask, sweat mask around your eyes and a Riot Police-looking white PSVR2 half-helmet. We are explained in detail how to put on the welding mask (in the real world), use the knife (in the game), draw the pistol and reload. We are told, no, not “safe words”, but quasi “safe gestures” – if we get sick, we should squat down or cross our arms behind our body. Wait, if I’m staggering, should I still…? “Or you can just call me,” says the English-speaking Capcom waitress.

Then it finally goes outside, to one of the play stations that can be seen from the outside. Heck, did I really need to get the corner position? Now I have to pull in my stomach even more! Incidentally, despite the briefing a few minutes beforehand, I manage to put on the welding mask the wrong way round, which fortunately two Capcom employees notice.

The PSVR2 goggles are relatively large but don’t feel bulky on the head. A large button at the back makes it easy to adjust the temples, and there is a button on the bottom right of the glasses to adjust the inclination of the front part until you can see clearly. I adjust the interpupillary distance with a small wheel at the bottom left, which is also monitored in the setup software. Once both eyes are in their circles, there’s a blue tick (and praise from the interpreter). After that you have to keep your head still and follow a point first on a black, then on a white background with just your eyes – you know that from the ophthalmologist, but this is my first contact with the eye-tracking of the PSVR. Then I put on my headphones, briefly switched to black and white lookthrough mode (the already delicate interpreter looks even smaller now), so that I can grab the two controllers, and off we go.

The operation is good VR standard: you run with the left stick (if you press it down, you run), with L1 or R2 you grab objects (actually with the middle finger), and attacks or shots are released with L2 or R2 off, i.e. the triggers. The right stick is used for turning, which was done in 45-degree increments during the trade fair demo (empirical Jörg Langer estimate).

And here the PSVR2 from the front. Kind of like a cyborg head or a riot police helmet, right?

The Three Sisters – really scary thanks to PSVR2

Since I’ve only played Resident Evil Village for a few hours and have an incredibly bad memory, I’m definitely going to tell you totally old stuff from Level 2 below, but: It’s old stuff in a new PSVR2 guise! Well, it goes up a flight of stairs from a wall, out into a short snowy section, before I push open another double door and find myself inside a magnificent property. A little digging around, opening an empty drawer here, standing in front of an inactive excerpt there, and I end up in a ballroom of sorts. When I want to leave, some bees or other insects suddenly come flying through the door gap, become a big buzzing cloud and then three black-robed sisters with a penchant for gothic make-up who don’t look like a safe evening companion. At least they look like sisters. In one script sequence, they push me to the ground, then use a sickle by my legs to drag me down several hallways, where they introduce me to an oversized female with a hat.

Being able to look around the room, still lying motionless on my back, and spot two meat hooks hanging from chains behind me doesn’t necessarily leave me happier. The horror sisters look damn good, or rather, damn horrory, and boy does their mother (so much I understand in Japanese that the three smaller witches address the matron as “Okasan”) look huge, especially from this ground perspective! Okay, I can google it myself, the “big vampire lady” is Alcina Dimitrescu, her bloodsucker brats of normal size, but still towering over me in the VR room, are called Bela, Cassandra and Daniel. They should wipe the clotted blood from their faces from time to time, one could advise them.

After a short speech, Mama Alcina cuts open the palm of my hand, delights in my lifeblood with pleasurable tongue-smacking, laughs nastily and then gives two of her daughters an order. Then the meat hooks are driven left and right through my hands, which feels uncomfortably authentic in VR, and I finally stand upright again. All right, I’m hanging. The nice family leaves the fireplace room and leaves me alone for the time being. But not for long, as the muscles in my right hand don’t resist the steel hook for very long – gravity… and the high-calorie food here in Japan, I guess. ratchet! And after a bit of tugging with the now free right hand, the left hand also tears open, ratchet again, and I’m free.

Believe me, no matter how you experienced this scene in normal gameplay, it’s way more intense in VR! Since you “really” see her in the room and from below, the white-robed woman vampire mama looks a lot bigger than here.

Reference-www.gamersglobal.de