Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate (PS VR2) Review – Brilliant, Bold, and Just a Bit Broken

Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate (PS VR2) Review

Wanderer is the 2022 time-traveling adventure game from Oddᗺoy + M-Theory. The two studios have since merged to become Mighty Eyes. When Wanderer came out, I extolled the game. It set a new benchmark in terms of melding story and gameplay in a VR game. You can check my original review – here. As good as a game Wanderer is, is it worthy of a remake 3 short years later?

In the 3 years since the first game came out, VR Gaming has improved by leaps and bounds. This is to be expected, as VR Tech is growing at breakneck speeds. Headsets have better displays, computing power has increased, and the modding community has opened the door to playing AAA 2D games in VR. This rapid advancement is especially true for Sony’s PSVR 2. It is a gigantic leap in terms of display, but with the tracking method and controllers. Because of these advancements, our expectations of what composes a good VR Game have increased.

Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate (TFOF) is more than a remake of the original game. It is also an expansion of the game in terms of scope and gameplay. They added three levels and also expanded the size of the original levels. Movement around the levels feels more natural and less restrictive than the original game. Graphically, the game has been quite a boost too. The level of detail is greater for the environments and the character models. TFOF feels like the game the developers wanted to make originally but could not because of technical limitations.

Wanderer is a time travel puzzle game that is best described as a mix of the TV series Quantum Leap and the venerated PC Game, Myst. As you travel to each time period, you leap into the body of someone, a la Sam Beckett from the Quantum Leap TV show. In each location, you solve puzzles. Often, the solution requires you to jump back and forth between time periods to find items to do so.

Time Travel Quest

Fortunately, you are not alone on these quests. You have your grandfather’s unusual wristwatch that goes by the name of Samuel. He has a face that looks like the banker from Monopoly and sounds a lot like Tim Curry. Samuel is more than a guide. He also carries your inventory and, most importantly, is your time travel device. Samuel also functions as the game hint system. If you become stuck on what to do next, Samuel will offer advice on what to do next.

The year starts in 2061 in Boston. However, this is not a Boston you are familiar with or expecting. It is a flooded and post-apocalyptic city. A deserted Beantown has its streets flooded and turned into canals. You travel through it via a barge-like boat. It doesn’t take much for you could to believe you are in the world from The Last Of Us Part 2. The city displays amazing detail. Wanderer is easily one of the best-looking PSVR games and TFOF is one of the best looking PSVR 2 games.

Your initial goal is to find your grandfather’s apartment, which takes some doing, and is a mini-adventure in of itself. The beginning sections showcase the interactive complexity of the game. You can pick up many of the objects in the game and either use, examine or throw them. For example, there is a chalkboard, and you can pick up chalk and write on the board. You swiftly learn that objects behave in a realistic, physics-based manner.

There are some immersion-breaking limitations, however. Only objects that highlight when looked at are usable. This limitation is, in actuality, a good thing because there are so many objects needed to solve puzzles. Also, some worlds visited have invisible walls from time to time that abruptly smack you in the face. The most jarring moment came when I was walking on the moon.

Help Famous People

Your grandfather revealed the game’s major thrust. The timeline you are currently in is not the correct one. Hence, the state of Boston. Your grandfather was trying to correct the timeline by going into the past and setting things right. He could not complete this mission. So it is up to you to finish your grandfather’s work and right the timeline.

To do that, you go to different eras of time and exotic locations. You will meet famous people like Tesla or find a murdered Neil Armstrong on the moon. Often the moments in time that you travel to are seminal moments for the famous people you meet. You’ll end up on the moon where the lunar landing has crashed, bump into Tesla who can’t get his experiments in electricity to work, play drums at a live rock ’ n ’ roll concert in 1969, or help crack codes in an arms race during World War 2.

While TFOF is a high-adventure game, at its core, it’s a puzzle game. It’s in these sections of gameplay where it feels the most Myst-like. However, you don’t feel the claustrophobia of that game, which restricted movement to rigid teleportation. Thanks to VR, you can move freely throughout the environment.

On the technical side, Wanderer has gorgeous graphics, great audio, and the expected VR comfort options. You can elect to teleport or use free locomotion, but some sections require the use of teleport to jump. New Zealand developers Mighty Eyes have shown some major technical muscle with this game. The game plays at a native 90 FPS with no reprojection.

About NPCs and Combat…

I cannot emphasize enough what a grand adventure Wanderer is. The game has the right mix of action and puzzle-solving to keep things from getting stale. The voice acting and the orchestral score are top-notch and bring added gravitas to the proceedings. The only niggle in the presentation comes with the actions of the NPCs. Sometimes, they are oblivious to your presence and movement. This makes their obviously scripted behaviour all that more artificial.

Most of the advancements for TFOF are most welcome, but there is one addition that underwhelms. It’s the combat. Fragments of Fate has added it to the game to flesh it out more, but frankly it is a hindrance instead of an addition. The enemy AI is weak and the combat feels disconnected from your actions. Especially weak is the melee and hand-to-hand combat. It’s impossible to make a fist properly or have the impact of your blows land as expected. The developers promised to improve the combat with patches. I certainly hope so as the combat is the one stain of TFOF.

A Wanderer Trilogy…

Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate (PS VR2) does not hit as big as the original game because VR has matured. However, it is still a wonderful game and well worth your time. Mighty Eyes has plans to make a trilogy of games. Like its predecessor, the game launched with some annoying bugs, but the developers have been quick and diligent to respond and provide patches. The developers have planned three hot fixes, the first of which is already released. I have already noticed a marked improvement in interactions and graphic fidelity.

***PSVR 2 code provided by the publisher***