VR RPGs seemed to be coming in force during the early days of the medium. The Oculus Rift had numerous sprawling dungeon crawlers. However, in the modern era of Meta Quest 3 they seem to be thinner on the ground. The newly launched DrakkenRidge argues that this shouldn’t be the case, and in 131XR’s review we learn that it makes a pretty convincing argument.
DrakkenRidge is a Mini Elder Scrolls Game
From the very start of the game, DrakkenRidge wears its inspiration on its sleeve. This is a first person adventure game. It may be light on the traditional RPG mechanics – such as the levelling system – but it wants to immerse you in a high fantasy adventure. And that, it does very well.
A short tutorial takes you through the basics of movement and combat before you arrive in the first town. The reigns are then taken off and you’re free to engage as you wish; exploration, side quests, crafting and of course, the main quest line. Just as with the mainline The Elder Scrolls titles, you’re not pushed through a linear path. You’re given a world full of options, and as an adventurer, it’s up to you to choose how you adventure.
DrakkenRidge Review
In 131XR’s review of DrakkenRidge (below), we learn that the game offers a comprehensive VR adaptation of The Elder Scrolls formula. It doesn’t stray too far from that path, but does add in a few ideas of its own. Of course, it doesn’t have the depth of Bethesda’s flagship series – those games are made by hundreds of developers, not just a handful as with DrakkenRidge – but as an indie take on the grand scale of open world RPGs, it certainly hits the mark.
And then, we have that visual style. Some will love it, others will hate it. The Marmite of graphical design. Yes, it looks a bit Minecraft, but appearances can be deceptive. DrakkenRidge does feature crafting, but no mining. As 131XR’s DrakkenRidge review attests, this is an adventure driven RPG game, not a sandbox.
What’s Next?
Since the launch of DrakkenRidge, developer Garage Collective has been keen to let fans know that they’re still working on the game. Patch 1.02 launched a few days ago and brought a wealth of new updates, including:
- Controls list added to the menu
- Melee buffs guide added to Hunter Lair
- Fix ladder climb issue
- Arrows count on belt more readable
- Update chest on Skull Island to provide better reward
- Fix invisible archery target in Dwarf Inn
- Update cauldron tutorial UI
- Update Greenhaven Inn to heal the player
- Update spell training targets to be easier to hit
- Update Skull Island Fiskradder battle to be available if you leave the area and return later
- Adjust Smuggler’s Cove ladder positioning
- Update weapon summoning to handle floating-sword issue
- Make climbable rocks easier to grab
- Fix player HUD preferences not saving correctly
- Fix falling out of minecart
- Allow health and mana recipes to be learned later, if skipped during tutorial
- Fix player able to sneak past RSunkun magic wards
But what about new content? Quests, characters, and new areas? Well, for now we don’t really know what the team has planned. Given that the time size is decidedly limited, it may be some time until we see anything major added to the game.
About Garage Collective
That limited size we noted above? Two. DrakkenRidge is built by a team of two developers. It’s incredibly impressive that a team of that size managed to bring a game with the scale of DrakkenRidge to Meta Quest. However, this is not the studio’s first dive into VR. 2022’s Shock Troopers also came from the studio, as did 2021’s Stones of Harlath, which arguably set the template for DrakkenRidge.
In fact, Garage Collective’s VR works date way back to 2018 and the Oculus Go. Theta Legion VR was a free game available for Meta’s first standalone headset.
So, what’s next? We should consider DrakkenRidge priority one for Garage Collective at present. However, given the history of the studio you’d be hard pressed to think that they’re not already cooking up their next VR title.
Have you played any of Garage Collective’s VR works? Will you be diving into DrakkenRidge this weekend? Let us know in the comments below!
