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Journal Entry #14
Beat Saber
Created by Ján Ilavský, Vladimír Hrinčár, and Peter Hrinčár
Published by Beat Games
Originally released on PC using a VR headset and controllers
I played the game using a HTC Vive headset and controllers
Beat Saber is a rhythm based game that requires you to use your whole body to play the game to its full potential, the game give you two energy sabers that cut through the obstacles thrown your way. Which have to be sliced in specific ways while also following the beat of the song, songs available are chosen from a specific list and are pretty limited. The obstacles that are sliced with the beat of the song are cubes that are colored either blue or red, blue is for the right saber and red is for the left saber. They can still show up on opposite sides despite being assigned to a respective saber, this allows you to cross your arms and swing your body back and forth which usually helps you flow into the following cubes approaching to be able to hit them on time. Cubes also have certain indicators that dictate what direction you have to slice the cube, the cubes have 8 directions with which you must slice them while using the correct color, along with having an additional indicator which is just a dot in the center of the cube, this particular indicator allows you to slice the cube in any direction you want, essentially allowing you to take a quick mental break so that you can relax on those cubes and instead focus on the ones coming afterwards. Additionally the game has these stone mines that will harm your score if you accidentally strike them with your sabers or ending up touching them with your body; adding to that, there are also red danger zones that will also harm and deplete your score if your body is within their bounds, these two types of obstacles cause you to have to not only move your body in order to strike the cubes but also makes you have to actively dodge these projectiles by taking steps left and right as well as ducking with your whole body to avoid them.
The game has a very futuristic theme with very saturated and neon blues and reds, the background of the game is set in a very dark room that's illuminated along with the pace of the music as well as the score build up. The game is very simplistic but it does a good job at doing so by adhering to its neon, futuristic, Tron-like feel. The visual effects aren't too jarring which was/is a big issue for vr games, especially when vr games were barely starting to be released and developers were experimenting with gameplay mechanics and designs to facilitate long play sessions for their game or consoles. The game doesn't offer too much for customization but it does let you select difficulties and music just like any other rhythm game, but because this game is very broad with its music, it appeals to a large audience that is even mildly interested in a game like this.
The game's programming allowed it to have several mods be developed for it, the most obvious mod choice is the addition of a song, because these songs are being added through mods and have nothing to do with the actual developers, the mods are able to release and update songs that have varying levels of difficulty while including several different tracks that are all copyrighted songs which the developers of the game don't have a license to. They can do this because mod makers are a tricky bunch to go after, and instead they are usually just threatened with legal action for them to take down the copyrighted content. This allows the game to appeal to a much greater audience than before along with adding dozens of times more songs than what the game currently has. This also aided in resolving a common problem that a lot of people that had with the game, which was the lack of song selections as well as having some lackluster songs as well. Hitting the cubes with a very high tempo song is what makes this game the most fun, it encourages a decent amount of exercise while having an extremely fun and engaging way to do it, there are ways to keep the game from being so physically demanding while keeping the game fun which allows for even more ways to enjoy the game. Another fun thing is that it is a relatively common practice to set up the game in a private setting with friends all around in a living room or so and having one person play the game while the rest watch and enjoy the music while also laughing or cheering.
This game firmly fits in the history of games specifically in the aspect of VR games because this is one of the first VR games that quickly became incredibly popular among all types of VR consoles. It became such a common game that if someone owned a VR console, you would quite often expect them to already own Beat Saber. Part of what makes this game so common and already iconic among VR games is how it became widespread, the game was often pushed on VR sections of stores like Playstation, Oculus, Steam, and a few others. Console developers knew how popular the game was among VR players and non VR players so it was often placed in front of most games and highly recommended by everyone. Another thing is that it was included in several bundles and deals which made it very enticing to obtain because of the discounts from its already lower price compared to other games. For a while, Beat Saber was included in a bundle pack with the Meta Quest and Meta Quest 2, which allowed for a quick and easy access for anyone buying that VR console, which just continued to help maintain itself at the highest peak of popular VR games.
3.5/5 Fun game, but I'm not the biggest fan of rhythm games, and much of the content people love about the game is usually added through mods
Beat Saber
Created by Ján Ilavský, Vladimír Hrinčár, and Peter Hrinčár
Published by Beat Games
Originally released on PC using a VR headset and controllers
I played the game using a HTC Vive headset and controllers
Beat Saber is a rhythm based game that requires you to use your whole body to play the game to its full potential, the game give you two energy sabers that cut through the obstacles thrown your way. Which have to be sliced in specific ways while also following the beat of the song, songs available are chosen from a specific list and are pretty limited. The obstacles that are sliced with the beat of the song are cubes that are colored either blue or red, blue is for the right saber and red is for the left saber. They can still show up on opposite sides despite being assigned to a respective saber, this allows you to cross your arms and swing your body back and forth which usually helps you flow into the following cubes approaching to be able to hit them on time. Cubes also have certain indicators that dictate what direction you have to slice the cube, the cubes have 8 directions with which you must slice them while using the correct color, along with having an additional indicator which is just a dot in the center of the cube, this particular indicator allows you to slice the cube in any direction you want, essentially allowing you to take a quick mental break so that you can relax on those cubes and instead focus on the ones coming afterwards. Additionally the game has these stone mines that will harm your score if you accidentally strike them with your sabers or ending up touching them with your body; adding to that, there are also red danger zones that will also harm and deplete your score if your body is within their bounds, these two types of obstacles cause you to have to not only move your body in order to strike the cubes but also makes you have to actively dodge these projectiles by taking steps left and right as well as ducking with your whole body to avoid them.
The game has a very futuristic theme with very saturated and neon blues and reds, the background of the game is set in a very dark room that's illuminated along with the pace of the music as well as the score build up. The game is very simplistic but it does a good job at doing so by adhering to its neon, futuristic, Tron-like feel. The visual effects aren't too jarring which was/is a big issue for vr games, especially when vr games were barely starting to be released and developers were experimenting with gameplay mechanics and designs to facilitate long play sessions for their game or consoles. The game doesn't offer too much for customization but it does let you select difficulties and music just like any other rhythm game, but because this game is very broad with its music, it appeals to a large audience that is even mildly interested in a game like this.
The game's programming allowed it to have several mods be developed for it, the most obvious mod choice is the addition of a song, because these songs are being added through mods and have nothing to do with the actual developers, the mods are able to release and update songs that have varying levels of difficulty while including several different tracks that are all copyrighted songs which the developers of the game don't have a license to. They can do this because mod makers are a tricky bunch to go after, and instead they are usually just threatened with legal action for them to take down the copyrighted content. This allows the game to appeal to a much greater audience than before along with adding dozens of times more songs than what the game currently has. This also aided in resolving a common problem that a lot of people that had with the game, which was the lack of song selections as well as having some lackluster songs as well. Hitting the cubes with a very high tempo song is what makes this game the most fun, it encourages a decent amount of exercise while having an extremely fun and engaging way to do it, there are ways to keep the game from being so physically demanding while keeping the game fun which allows for even more ways to enjoy the game. Another fun thing is that it is a relatively common practice to set up the game in a private setting with friends all around in a living room or so and having one person play the game while the rest watch and enjoy the music while also laughing or cheering.
This game firmly fits in the history of games specifically in the aspect of VR games because this is one of the first VR games that quickly became incredibly popular among all types of VR consoles. It became such a common game that if someone owned a VR console, you would quite often expect them to already own Beat Saber. Part of what makes this game so common and already iconic among VR games is how it became widespread, the game was often pushed on VR sections of stores like Playstation, Oculus, Steam, and a few others. Console developers knew how popular the game was among VR players and non VR players so it was often placed in front of most games and highly recommended by everyone. Another thing is that it was included in several bundles and deals which made it very enticing to obtain because of the discounts from its already lower price compared to other games. For a while, Beat Saber was included in a bundle pack with the Meta Quest and Meta Quest 2, which allowed for a quick and easy access for anyone buying that VR console, which just continued to help maintain itself at the highest peak of popular VR games.
3.5/5 Fun game, but I'm not the biggest fan of rhythm games, and much of the content people love about the game is usually added through mods
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