Arca's Path (2018)

Arca’s Path is the type of game that I can recommend to both VR veterans and to those who have never played games much at all. The easy to grasp control scheme of just looking where you want the ball to go makes it simple to pick this game up.

Arca's Path VR is a neat PlayStation VR game that you can either invest small bits of time or dedicate bigger chunks of time for long runs. It's a beautiful, serene world to fall into with some fun and skill-based gameplay as you try to keep that marble on the path. Due to the simple control scheme as well, this is a great VR title for anyone to play, even newbies into VR with easy controls.

At first glance, Arca’s Path looks like a simple marble game. But it is much more than that. The story helps motivate you to keep going through the challenging levels. And the hand's free controls work extremely well, and ties into what the protagonist is going through. I really enjoyed Arca’s Path, and recommend you add it to your growing VR library.

Arca’s Path is at once a flowery, majestic adventure that immerses you in the magic of its world and in the madness of its moments, while also presenting another side that consists of a mundane, empty trek through a dead world.

Arca's Path is at its best when it's giving the player long and curving paths to cruise along and at its worst when it forces you to be tediously meticulous along short narrow paths. I understand the need for these slower sections in order to present the player with a challenge, but there aren't enough of those purely fun rewarding portions to make up for the frustration. Beautifully designed and an interesting idea, Arca's Path rarely expands beyond the simplicity of its novelty in a meaningful enough way. It wasn't long before I wanted to untie my hands from behind my back and actually use a controller. I'm glad it exists simply to try things outside of the box in VR, but this is a building block, not a definer.