FATED: The Silent Oath Reviews

Played on a DK2 with Oculus' 1.3 Runtime. This game is visually stunning, the low-poly environment is brought up to almost Dreamworks/Pixar levels by the excellent texture work. There's lots of techniques done really right for making convincing VR, e.g. a tracked torso that moves as you do (as does your shadow), and characters' gazes follow your own. It's easy to get swept away in the narrative, and the game's world is very lively. I initially intended to play just one act then ended up playing through the whole thing from start to finish. Note that this is definitely a movie-like narrative experience first, and a game second. The presence of animated, fully voice-acted human characters really breathes life into narrative games, even more so in VR. This shouldn't be taken for granted, it's something missing from quite a few VR experiences at this early stage. The characters in FATED are all really well done. I've seen at least one review criticize the voice acting, but that's a problem with video games in general and FATED's voice acting is fine, it's at least better than any Bethesda RPG. FATED's price is undoubtedly steep for a 1.5 to 2 hour long game. Discounting the economic necessities of developing for a niche, budding or unproven technology, I suppose you could compare the price per unit time to paying a similar amount for going to the cinema with snacks, which provides the "immersion" of a large screen and surround sound, both of which are easily surpassed by VR, where you feel like you're really there, Some occasional bugs are present but not particularly distruptive and will probably be fixed with time, so my only real criticism is the rune puzzles, which are embarrassingly simple whether they were supposed to be created by humans or giants, and really don't make sense being there. I understand not wanting to stall the narrative by getting the players stuck, but really, were they trying to keep out babies? The game's story, lively world and characters are its strength and it seemed pointless to throw these in. (This was just a criticism of the "puzzles", not the handful of brief action sequences, all of which definitely added to the game.) FATED is well worth picking up for the experience of dreaming while you're awake, if the price isn't an issue for you.

One of the fantastic experiences in VR still playable and fun in 2022. This game is from 2016, perhaps it might have been developed before, at Oculus DK times. Because, touch controllers are not supported, even though it is first person view and based on full body presence. Sounds weird, right? You control your hands with a gamepad and a head-based pointer. And actually, it works well once you accept that it is ok. After all, how could we complain when everything works fine and if they did this game in the very early days of vr? By the way, these mechanics reminded me of Ascent Spirit VR, which would make way more sense if touch controllers were supported. So, it is not alone :) Walking is so slow. Luckily, there is no need to rush since you can be busy with enjoying the beautiful art style. The textures seem beautifully crafted and hand-painted. The gameplay is very easy. Unfortunately, the content is very small in terms of gameplay. I liked the horse carriage driving part the most. Beside, there are a few small puzzles, a few platforming, and a few bow shooting for like, less than a tutorial length. So, it is mostly an experience based on a story. For me, it is more for enjoying the visual art style in VR. The story is always not as cute as its visual style. It is not a complete melancholic story though, but it has some tragic moments based on losses. I think it deserves a better end or continuation.

[h1]Experienced on the Oculus Rift with Xbox One Controller[/h1] You can view my review & gameplay here: https://youtu.be/wSPPcWNM1cw It took me a little less than 80 minutes to finish this game. It's really a walking simulator for VR, mostly cinematic, narrative-driven experience. Unfortunately, the game ends abruptly as though the developer ran out of funds to finish the story. That's too bad because this could have been an amazing VR experience. It's still recommendable but you do have to look past the fact that it's an unfinished game. There are high production values here. Even though this game is from 2016, the visuals are top notch. The game ran smoothly for me on my 1060 GTX. The puzzles, action sequences, & platforming were all a bit too basic and not much of a challenge. However, the focus was clearly on the story and it's a good one .. up until the abrupt ending which does leave a bad taste in your mouth. It's also a bad ending (although it could easily be fixed with another chapter to the story). I bought this game in a bundle and can easily recommend it. Apparently, there was to be another chapter but that's probably not going to happen since it's been pending since 2016 already. I would have loved to have seen the story finished and motion controls being implemented (game would have benefited a lot from this). [b]Rate 6.5/10. [/b]

Great story, really immersive and stays with you for a while after playing the game. Also there's loads of comfort / movement options to choose from and you can change them on the fly in the game which is always nice. The only downside is that it's pretty short and it's arguably expensive for such a short story but I guess that's the trend for VR games since it's such a niche market. Other than that, 5/5, would recommend to anyone owning a Rift / Vive.

Bought this thinking it would last longer than 90mins but it is very short. Will there be more episodes or is this is it....it says episodic but it is not clear if it means the episodes included in the 90 mins or future episodes. Lot of potential and the fact that they added many ways of combating motion sickness, including snap rotation to a degree of your choice, or fluid rotation with a choice of speed, or on screen comfort markers, is great and i wish all developers would do this as it will eliminate motion sickness for many and is better than teleportation (snap did it for me, or fluid rotation at full speed with tiny taps on the stick also is great as its kind of like snapping but with more control). Sadly, it's very short, so if you are on a budget £14.99 for 90 mins might be to much.

The agonizingly slow walking speed is a deal breaker. For a game that falls into the 'walking simulator' category, it needs to give the illusion of options, choices, and exploration. This means you need to be able to walk around a bit and explore your surroundings - even though ultimately you will be sheparded into the next scene since that is really the only place to go. When you can only walk at 2mph like in this game, nobody has the patience to try and walk around to look at anything. So you just walk in straight lines from one thing to the next. Game is very short. Granted, I walked mainly in straight lines to the next thing, but still, 80 minutes total. If you explore a little more, you're still definitely less than 2 hours. For graphics, the characters look good - the ground looks awful. Ground textures are super low resolution and have no life to them at all, so flat.

Well, I liked the game, but to end it that way and then openly admit to focusing on another platform instead of finishing this game is just a huge no-no. We call that "abandonware". One of your developers said: "All the groundwork for Episode 2 is done but unfortunatly we do not have an ETA for now because we are currently focused on the PlayStation VR version at the moment. " I even checked your website for news updates, but nothing. It's been over 2 years, and no word on a second installment, so as far as I'm concerned you've abandoned the game.

Is...is that the end? Some of the comments seem to indictate that this is en episodic thing, but I've found nothing from the creators that suggest that. If that is the end of the story, then I'm angry, and I dont get angry easily. And I'm not saying that because it is a relatively pricey game that is only an hour long, I'm saying that because it has one of those endings that is done so poorly that you actually get angry. Absolutely no resolution. [spoiler] You're brought back to life at the beginning of the game to protect someone's life. You fail. The end. You dont know why the person was important enough to warrant reviving the dead to protect them and you dont see any consequences that arise as a result of your failure. They die, end. And they die in a way that is not at all plot-relevant. The game literally ends in the middle of a dungeon.[/spoiler] Aside from that, I found that many of the other reviews were spot-on. The game has its good moments, but the characters all have these big-soulless eyes that give an uncanny valley vibe, the voice acting is just as wooden as the characters, and the walking speed is way too slow. The NPCs even walk faster than you! And they can run, too! If I ever learn that this is not, in fact, the end of the game, then I will remove this review. But until then, I cant reccommend this game to anyone.

My issue is the price. If it were $20 for all future episodes it would be a great deal, but from what i understand we paid $20 for what is a 1.5 hour game. If all episodes end up costing the same, then this will end up being a VERY expensive game once they finish every episode, and its clearly not worth that much. I have some other minor complaints like Walking seems a little slower then it should be, but overall i did enjoy the game. It is fairly well polished. Its a bit of a walking simulator, with a few puzzles, but the story keeps flowing. The giant actually makes your heart beat because in VR its legit scary. I can't downvote a game i enjoyed, but i do feel the price is too high for one short episode. As much as i like roomscale games with motion controls I have zero complaints about the lack of motion controls because the game works fine with a Xbox controller while sitting down. Not every game needs to use every feature on the Vive to be good.

I really wanted to like this game and, maybe after a few updates I will but, for now, I can't recommend it to anyone. The experience is short. Very short. You'll be done in a little over an hour. The previews have made the game look like a lot more polished experience than it is. Below are the issues which I have encountered. 1. The Game Doesn't Launch in VR Mode - I was unable to run the game on muy HTC VIVE until I set the executable ("jottun.exe") into Windows 7 compatibility mode, which was extremely frustrating to troubleshoot. 2. Poor Controls - This game begs for touch controls but the developers have made a choice to have it work exclusively with a gamepad, maing the expeience a sitting one. As the result, the movement is unpleasant and turning, regardless of the choice of control you make, is either incredibly nauseating (it takes a -LOT- to make me sick in VR. I pretty much never feel even a bit queasy. Using the "natural turning" ade my stomach swim almost immediately). You are able to make choices and communicate by nodding or shaking your head which is terrific. The rest of the control scheme is clunky and unpleasant to experience. 3. Stiff, "Dead" Characters - though the sence of scale is great and the art style is delightful, the characters animate in a very poor, stiff way, stanidng in default poses, barely moving, except for opening and clothing their mouths and, occasionally, blinking. Everyone just stands there, upright and manequin-like, walking and turning in an awkward way. On the bright side, the character models and environments are beautifull. 4. Uninspired Voice Acting - Voices seem fitting to the characters they come out of but feel stiff, boring and uninteresting. Your character's father's voice is particularly flat, as is the oen belonging to the first distraufght vilager you find upon returning "home". 5. Price - Fot as short, clearly unfinished, and unpolished game, "Fated" costs a lot more than it should. I would -gladly- pay $20 and more for a short yet breathaking and engaging game. I desperately wanted "Fated" to be it and it just wasn't. If you are looking for a great episodic game on the VIVE, I urge you to try "The Gallery: Call of Starseed" if you want to know what I am talking about here - it's worth every penny and is an unforgettable experience. "Fated", on the other hand is bland, poorly animated and uncomfortable to traverse at this point in time.