The Oculus Quest 2's digital store is full of great games, and it can be hard to decide which title you should pick up and play next.
This month I've played some incredible games – including one that took me on an adventure through outer space and is worthy of a spot on our best Oculus Quest 2 games list – but I've also played some that unfortunately aren't as fun – games from the Quest 2's store that you might be better off avoiding.
Here are the Oculus Quest 2 games I'm playing in September 2022.
Ancient Dungeon VR
Ancient Dungeon VR is still something of a work in progress, but if you love rogue-lite games then this is a must-play Oculus Quest 2 title.
Admittedly I was quite pessimistic about Ancient Dungeon. The clearly Minecraft-inspired visuals weren’t my favorite, and I generally hate rogue-lites (Hades is the only game in the genre I’ve ever enjoyed), but I was happy to sink plenty of time into Ancient Dungeon, and I look forward to playing more.
While simplistic, the hack-and-slash combat is a lot of fun, and the game’s scale is perfect for VR. The dungeons are large enough to be a delight to explore, while not so large that you feel like you’re wandering around a labyrinth. And because the dungeon is always different every run, with plenty of secrets to discover, this game will provide a lot of bang for your $20 / £15 / AU$27.32.
Plus, the rogue-lite gameplay is perfect for VR, as there are plenty of opportunities to pause and take a break if you need a minute back in the real world. What’s more, while it needs some work, there’s teleportation movement for all you players who (like me) can’t stomach smooth movement in VR.
On top of all that, Ancient Dungeon is great pass-and-play title. Check out our guide on how to cast your Oculus Quest 2 to a TV, and then compete against your friends to see who can venture furthest into the dungeon.
Eolia
I was very excited for Eolia. A climate-conscious puzzle adventure that’s themed around music – what’s not to love? Well, a fair bit it turns out.
The Oculus Quest 2 title’s first misstep was an intro screen that described it as a 'hands-first experience'. I’ve generally found the Quest 2’s hand-tracking to be not half-bad, but Eolia expected a bit too much from the budget hardware. Its hand motion controls weren’t always that distinct from one another, so it was really easy for the game to register the wrong gesture or not register anything at all – which as you can imagine was very frustrating.
Additionally, Eolia isn’t the most comfortable game to play if you suffer from motion sickness. There’s no option to use teleportation movement, and the sections of the game where you ride on the back of a large beast are near-unbearable. I did manage to find some comfort controls in the game’s main menu by quitting out to it, but the settings didn’t go quite far enough to make Eolia’s movement enjoyable.
Adding insult to injury, I wasn't that impressed by Eolia’s puzzles, which lacked the creative spark I’ve found in VR games like I Expect You To Die 2.
Eolia would have benefited a lot from a scaled-down scope. By reducing the size of the world and cutting down the number of different things players can do, the developers could have given what remained the TLC it needed, and made playing Eolia feel more worthwhile.
Red Matter 2
Just as with last month’s recommendation, Moss Book 2, I’d suggest playing through Red Matter before playing the sequel. Sure, Red Matter 2 does a fine job of getting you up to speed on everything that's happened in the Cold War-inspired sci-fi story so far, but it’s by no means a replacement for the original game.
That said, if you do decide to drop into Red Matter 2 you’ll have an out-of-this-world experience, whether you’re a fan of the series or a complete newcomer.
Once again stepping into the shoes of Sasha Riss – or at least the body her consciousness is inhabiting – you’re sent on a planet-hopping mission after discovering a distress signal from a comrade who'd long been presumed dead.
On your adventure, you’ll have the opportunity to explore several environments, with your curiosity rewarded with story details or hints for how to solve the game’s next puzzle. Speaking of, which, there are some repetitions amongst the game’s puzzles, but generally the challenges are varied enough that you’ll be kept engaged.
One minor yet much-appreciated detail is that Red Matter 2’s in-game controllers perfectly match up with the Quest 2’s handsets, which greatly helps to boost the game’s immersion, as it feels like you’re actually holding what your character is supposed to be holding.
I also loved the developer’s decision to allow teleportation movement even during the jetpack platforming sections. Other VR game creators would have forced you to use the more immersive smooth movement, but in Red Matter 2, Vertical Robot lets you play the way that feels most comfortable so that motion sickness doesn’t hold you back.
If you’ve been intrigued by games like Lone Echo 2 but don’t want to bother with connecting your Oculus Quest 2 to a PC, Red Matter 2 (and the original Red Matter) could be exactly the games you need to play next.
If you’re looking for more games to play, then check out our picks of the best VR games.
