Flow Weaver puts you in the role of a sorcerer trapped between the dimensions, looking for a way to free you using the powers of magic and your own intellect. The concept is intriguing, and it is actually glorious virtual reality to start. But unfortunately, Flow Weaver is not as great in practice that it does not seem in theory. Limited basic environments and a very short playing time make it an experience that is not magic.

Flow Weaver is an escape game. At the opening of the game, you are placed in a small room of what seems to be a castle tower, surrounded by a bottle of wine, an amulet, a kind of machine with numbers and others Random objects, including a skeleton slumped against the wall in front of you. You are blocked on the spot, unable to move, except turning left and right. You are a novice wizard, but your powers are limited to objects manipulating force. Your task is to understand what it is and free yourself.

Limited interactivity has its advantages. You can very well play Flow Weaver while sitting on your sofa. You can even play while lying down, in bed, if you wish. But if you are like me and you want a more interactive gameplay of your VR games, Flow Weaver is disappointing. Be glued to the ground does not exactly maximize the 3D potential that a large VR game should offer.

I would go further and I would ask why Flow Weaver must actually be virtual. When I put my helmet Oculus Quest 2 and that I wear a strange plastic mask on my eyes, I do it willingly knowing that in exchange for light discomfort, I will be transported in strange places, or fly like a bird, looking at around 360-degree of environment. Flow Weaver did not feel like introducing myself something that could not have been done in a traditional 2D game.

Environments, although well rendered, are hardly more than scenes of a still life. Your limited point of view gives Flow Weaver the feeling of being a puzzle game point-click more than anything else. There are cinematics in the decent voice that triggers when you first enter a kingdom or when you find an important object like a runic stone; But for the most part, each piece is a static scene and you look a lot around you, pick up items and drop them again.

It’s not because you are welded on the spot that Flow Weaver does not change the environment. There are five “interdimensional kingdoms” (rooms) in the game, and you can switch between them using a portal menu that you can call whenever you want. By using your controller, you press the trigger and “pull” the wires of each dimension until the space-time fabric tears and sends you to your new destination.

The puzzles use this exchange of dimension as an object in a dimension may be necessary in another, or you may need to take an object into another kingdom and do something with him to make it useful in the following domain, and so right now. You also recover some additional powers as the game progresses. All this adds a depth indispensable to what is also a very simple and even flat puzzle experience.

As for the puzzles themselves, they are your standard rate in the difficulty zone, some are obvious and other frustrating and obtuse. As there is only a limited number of objects in each kingdom with which you can interact and you can not move, it is only a matter of time before solving each puzzle. My criticism of Flow Weaver puzzles is similar to what looks like many pointer-clicking – the most difficult are really more tests and random errors, a challenge for your patience more than your intellect.

You will end up Flow Weaver in one to three hours, depending on the time you need to understand things. It’s not a lot of content even for a VR game. Flow Weaver is a solid escape style puzzle, and it has beautiful rooms and some interesting characters with whom interacting, but overall, limited gameplay and the short playing time are disappointing. Try this virtual reality game if you really like the kind of escape rooms, but if you want to feel like a real wizard, there are already better virtual reality titles.