Early last year we reported that Japanese videogame publisher Koei Tecmo was getting into VR not with a suite of games for home-based headsets, but instead with the growing VR arcade scene. The company revealed VR Sense, its own purpose-built VR pods using PlayStation VR (PSVR). Recently, the publisher brought some of its biggest series to this new initiative.
In the first of two trailers for the pods, seen below, you can see VR experiences based on both the popular Dynasty Warriors franchise and a spin-off to the Dead or Alive series. The former involves players fighting back scores of enemies with a sword and firing a bow and arrow on horseback (though, oddly, it seems to be played with PlayStation’s DualShock controller). Dead or Alive Xtreme Sense, meanwhile, is a pretty creep set of minigames you play with the female members of the fighting game’s cast.
Both series have come to VR before; Dynasty Warriors had a VR demo shown off at trade events while Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 featured PSVR support in its Asia-only release.
There’s also a horse racing experience which might not be as thrilling as battling ancient Feudal armies, but might be a little more immersive at least.
In another trailer we can also see the first suite of Sense games we reported on back in February 2017. One of them has you again battling ancient enemies, though this time while on a rollercoaster (!), while another has you admiring a Japanese idol band from the crowd. Finally, there’s a horror experience starring a creep little girl and a monster that I almost certainly would not like to meet in VR.
If you’re a fan of Dynasty Warriors then it might be worth seeking a Sense pod out next time you’re in Japan; make sure to schedule it in with a stop at the VR Zone in Shinjuku, where you can play Mario Kart in VR, too.
