Asgard’s Wrath 2

Review game Asgard’s Wrath 2, This open-world action role-playing game raises the bar for VR and is on par with the greatest available anywhere.

Asgard’s Wrath 2 may be the highly anticipated, open-world reason you have been waiting for, if you have been patiently waiting on the sidelines for VR to give you a reason to get off the couch and flail your arms around. This exceptional follow-up not only skillfully imagines what a grand, high-budget VR role-playing game might look like, but it also remarkably reinvents itself multiple times over the course of its ninety-plus hour runtime, making the time pass by quickly. The four playable characters are very different from one another, and getting to know them all is a lot of fun. The combat, exploration, and puzzles make each new dungeon an action-packed, incredibly satisfying adventure that easily tops nearly everything that has been done in virtual reality before. The deep RPG mechanics and a ton of secrets to uncover make it a seriously troubling habit. It’s mind-boggling that there’s also an excellent roguelite mode that one could easily lose dozens of hours in, and that’s just thrown in as an extracurricular activity for fun. With so many amazing games released this year, Asgard’s Wrath 2 is the kind of historic game-changer that only happens very seldom. It’s undoubtedly one of my favorites.

Asgard’s Wrath 2 may be the highly anticipated, open-world reason you have been waiting for, if you have been patiently waiting on the sidelines for VR to give you a reason to get off the couch and flail your arms around. This exceptional follow-up not only skillfully imagines what a grand, high-budget VR role-playing game might look like, but it also remarkably reinvents itself multiple times over the course of its ninety-plus hour runtime, making the time pass by quickly. The four playable characters are very different from one another, and getting to know them all is a lot of fun. The combat, exploration, and puzzles make each new dungeon an action-packed, incredibly satisfying adventure that easily tops nearly everything that has been done in virtual reality before. The deep RPG mechanics and a ton of secrets to uncover make it a seriously troubling habit. It’s mind-boggling that there’s also an excellent roguelite mode that one could easily lose dozens of hours in, and that’s just thrown in as an extracurricular activity for fun. With so many amazing games released this year, Asgard’s Wrath 2 is the kind of historic game-changer that only happens very seldom. It’s undoubtedly one of my favorites.

The good news is that it was a wise choice to switch from the now-overdone Norse mythology to the Egyptian pantheon, which offers us a welcome change of pace, a new group of people to get to know, and some new places to see besides stone halls and frozen mountains. Little progress is made in telling the main story because of this diverted focus, but that didn’t bother me because I was more interested in the endearing cast and the sandy pyramids of Egypt. I really liked hanging out with characters like Horus, the abandoned god who is desperately in need of a friend, and Castor, the brave jock who assisted me in making traps and bait. More importantly, I was more engaged with the four stand-alone stories told through each of the playable characters, which functioned as bite-sized narratives that carried the drama of the moment while the larger cosmic conflict loomed in the background.

The most astounding thing of all is the quantity of content! Virtual reality games are known for being succinct and sweet, but Asgard’s Wrath 2 goes against the grain. I didn’t even attempt a completionist run, and even though I made an effort to finish most side missions and kept an eye on all the chests that were just out of reach in the open world, I still found myself sinking in an astounding 91 hours before I rolled credits. While at the hideout, you might choose to take a break from the main quest to play a minigame similar to pinball or a slingshot shooting gallery. You might also happen upon a story tangent where you have to possess a monkey, or you might make special bait to entice a gigantic scorpion to come out of hiding and fight you to death.

This RPG doesn’t feel constrained by VR or take any short cuts.
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While exploring, you may also come across sporadic encounters where reality rifts transport you to a pocket dimension where you must accomplish a mini-goal, such as puzzle-platforming your way past obstacles or fending off enemies. A few of these even feature entertaining mixed-reality elements where you fight evil minions in your real house through portals torn out of your living room (a great use of Quest 3’s augmented reality features that won’t work on older hardware).

I’m not sure what kind of dark alchemy creator Sanzaru Games used to make this massive RPG run on the fully wireless Quest 3 (there’s no PC version to tether to like there was in the first one), but this isn’t an RPG that feels constrained (at least not in scope) by the VR medium. In contrast, it embraces that immersion and never stops providing you with reasons to live there for a while. To ensure you don’t get lonely out there among the fires of Muspelheim, you can even engage in some lighthearted dancing or leave a projection of your avatar out in the world to help others find their way.

There will inevitably be a lot of fighting when assisting four mortals in realizing their dreams, and Asgard’s Wrath 2 excels in this department as well. Although the combat in the first entry was excellent, it was mostly melee-based and required you to play defensively by wearing down the opponent’s shields before launching an attack. However, you have a lot more freedom in the sequel. You can now use your whip to bring down flying enemies, go on the offensive to break through enemy shields, or use your special abilities to perform fancy maneuvers like charging at a magnificently toned humanoid lizard and flattening it on its back.

Combat also benefits from the enemy AI’s surprising cunning, which will become aware of your tricks if you rely too much on one. For instance, if you insist on flinging your ranged weapon at one of the peculiarly attractive crocodile people on a regular basis, they won’t put up with it for long. Suddenly, you’ll see them grab your weapon in their powerful hands and lob it back in your face. This implies that you won’t be able to just spam encounters; instead, you’ll need to use all of the tools that are available to you on the hero you’re playing and respond quickly. When it all came together, I felt like a total badass. There’s really no better way to experience that than in virtual reality. I was able to take out enemies with my sword, shoot an arrow at another across the room, and swat an enemy projectile back in the face of a third chiseled reptile—all without taking a single hit.

It presents a significant challenge to those who pursue it.
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In terms of combat, the enemy variety is unquestionably one area that needs work. You will encounter a good number of bipedal crocodiles in the first half of the adventure, and I personally found them to be rather attractive. I also enjoyed fighting with them. Filling in the remainder of your bestiary requires some time, even though those scaly adonises did stir within me a part I never knew existed. In the meantime, you’ll see mummies, snakes, parasitic bugs, and less attractive regular crocodiles. Similarly, there are occasionally a few minibosses that are repeated but don’t seem totally necessary, such as the three times I faced a large cat-serpent monster.

And as someone who has completed the entire Odyssey on the hardest difficulty, I can attest that there is a good amount of challenge for those who seek it, so if you enjoy tough combat as much as I do, you’re in luck. My dear lizard folk have killed me more times than I care to remember. They surround you relentlessly and coordinate their melee and ranged attacks to quickly take down unsuspecting adventurers. Unfortunately, boss fights are the exception here. Rather than testing your mettle, they primarily function as a reward system, providing a fantastical power-up to end each act (though those are still incredibly awesome).

Asgard’s Wrath 2’s four playable protagonists, each with their own weapons, abilities, storylines, and open-world map to explore, are among the most amazing features it manages to cram into its massive adventure. You begin by learning the ropes as Abraxas, a conventional sword-and-shield warrior who provides a friendly starting point. However, you’ll soon find yourself in control of progressively more bizarre mortals, and before you know it, you’re possessing your enemies by hurling your own severed head at them. One of the more imaginative heroes is Cyrene, a river naiad with a penchant for water. As such, all of her weapons are actual marine life, such as an endearing octopus harp that can be used as a melee weapon or as a bow to deal damage at a distance, and a charming eel that can be used as a musical instrument by wrapping its tongue around her arm. It helps to extend the shelf life of an adventure that would already feel massive with just the first character—especially by virtual reality standards—because each playstyle differs so much from the previous that finishing one saga and unlocking the next feels like starting a whole new game.

Because of the many clever mechanics that assist you in solving puzzles and taking down bosses, even the more unremarkable characters are engaging and enjoyable to play. Abraxas, for instance, may initially appear to be a typical melee character, but by the end of his journey, you’ll possess an array of impressive abilities, such as the ability to wield a throwing ax that can change direction in midair to activate hidden buttons or swat enemies from around corners like an Egyptian Force user.

After several hours, it continued to present new concepts.
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Later, I had to completely rewire my brain to focus on ranged gameplay and a whole new set of abilities, such as a squid turret I could throw out to lay down suppressing fire or a throwable mine that could be shot with a bow to send my enemies to the afterlife with a fiery explosion. This was because I was now controlling a hero with no shield and very few melee options. They continued introducing new concepts, such as prayer beads that can be used as a shield, a whip, or to create portals to aid in puzzle solving, even after I had spent dozens of hours unlocking the last character. Up until the credits, Asgard’s Wrath 2 never ran out of brilliant ideas, and I can’t recall the last time an RPG kept me on the edge of my seat like this.

The richness and diversity of each character also translates into the extraordinarily intricate skill trees that each hero has, which open up a ton of meaningful special abilities and buffs that give you even more interesting ways to use your gear. Alvida, the elf archer, can use one skill to turn her mines into turrets when she shoots an arrow at them, and Abraxas can use another to toss his shield and whip it into a lethal pinball that whirls around the level. Then there are the standard activities like crafting, which allows you to create upgraded versions of your armor and weapons for you and your allies. These upgrades can add slots for elemental runes or grant bonus effects, in addition to making your armor and weapons look better. You can also make potions, cook food, and create traps to use in combat. They provide you with plenty of excuses to gather money and crafting supplies, and during my entire stay in Egypt and beyond, I never once encountered a circumstance where I did not require some sort of material.

However, even at peak performance, the wireless Meta Quest headsets’ visual limitations become evident after a short while. There are instances when certain textures and characters appear a little hazy or grainy, and pop-in occurs when exploring the open world. Since the Quest is essentially a phone strapped to your face, it’s impressive that it looks as good as it does, given its scope and PC-free wireless nature. However, there are times when I am just as struck by how gorgeous everything is, like during boss fights against enormous godlike foes. It seems like Meta Quest 2 is holding it back visually, so I can’t help but wonder what might have been possible if that wasn’t also a requirement. Alternatively, if, like the original, we were able to play this one on PC via AirLink, If that were the case, Asgard’s Wrath 2 might be able to withstand aesthetic comparisons to Half-Life: Alyx, but right now, that’s just not a fair fight. Even so, I’m not sure that sacrificing graphical fidelity for an experience that involves so much platforming, spinning, and riding enormous hippopotamuses across the desert would be worth it. Let’s hope that Quest 3 receives additional updates in the future.

It’s ridiculous that Asgard’s Wrath 2 included a very strong roguelite mode in addition to the innumerable other reasons it offers you to spend time in its universe. Explore tiny dungeon modules in this endlessly replayable game to try to set a high score and retrieve important supplies for the main campaign. The modules get more deadly the further you go. You can play this mode with any of the four available heroes, and it surprisingly gets more varied as you advance through the campaign and find new modules by completing various in-game tasks. They even offer asynchronous multiplayer through the ability to leave character imprints that can be used to attack or support other players during their runs, as well as unlockable perks to enhance your runs. This really could have been a stand-alone game, and I could see myself putting in a lot of time to try to get a high score. It’s absurd that it’s included here merely for fun.

Conclusion
The VR open-world role-playing game I’ve always wanted to play is Asgard’s Wrath 2, which is also among the best RPGs I’ve played in a long time. This masterpiece perfectly nails almost everything it tries, much of which has never been pulled off in VR. It features four distinct characters and stories, fantastic and satisfying combat, intricate and rewarding RPG systems, a great story, and an entire roguelite dungeon-crawling mode thrown in just to show off. Now that the Meta Quest 3 killer app is available, I can’t wait to dive back in, even after spending over ninety minutes hurling squids at magnificently shredded lizards and whipping across gaps.