Vanishing Realms

Vanishing Realms: Rite of Steel for PC is a first-person perspective action RPG developed for virtual reality sets such as Steam VR and HTC Vive. The game was developed by an independent studio, Indimo Labs led by Kelly Bailey – former employee of Valve, who was responsible for the sound and music in Half-Life series.

Plot

The story of Vanishing Realms for PC isn’t as extensive as in typical modern RPG games. The game is inspired by Dungeons & Dragons fantasy world and during the game, the player assumes the role of an unnamed knight who travels through a world filled with magic and fights encountered monsters.

Mechanics

Gameplay mechanics of Vanishing Realms combine the features of modern action RPGs with traits that are characteristic for VR titles. On one hand, the game uses many simplifications, of which the most notable is the movement system. The protagonist can move very quickly, but only on short distance and teleportation from place to place proves to be most effective for passing distance. On the other hand, most actions performed by the player are immersive in a way that is inaccessible in classic games. All nuances of the gameplay are thoroughly explained in a tutorial thanks to which the game is accessible even for users who have never before used virtual reality technology.

Most of the game consists of exploration of dark dungeons filled with weapon shops, dozens of useful items, treasure chests, ancient writings, artifacts and riddles that forces the player to look for hidden passages and ways for unlocking closed door. Many times in the game the player will also fight various monsters. Thanks to the use of VR technology the battles are very immersive. When player uses magic or when he performs attacks, blocks and dodges, he performs gestures and moves his body in various ways. Since it is an RPG game, it contains a character development system. As the game progresses, the protagonist becomes stronger and he can face bigger dangers.

Technical aspects

Vanishing Realms: Rite of Steel released on PC has high quality graphics created by using developers’ own graphics engine. The game isn’t photorealistic since it uses a simplified, slightly cartoonish style which is quite typical for titles that use virtual reality technology.

Last updated on June 8, 2016