Buy Sairento VR

The concept of being a ninja isn't new in video games. From classics like Tenchu to current releases like Sekiro, being a ninja means agile movements and precise combat, both of which contribute to great gameplay moments. In Sairento VR for PSVR, we are a cyber ninja agent who defends a future version of Tokyo from a terrorist threat. The game was previously released on the PC and received positive reviews due to its addictive and fun gameplay. Given its ambitious design, it was questionable whether it would make the jump to PSVR given the inferior processing power available and more restrictive tracking. We can report that it works well most of the time — sometimes better than expected — but it's not a perfect game.

The story serves as an excuse to tie the setting and gameplay into a coherent campaign. Everything related to the plot is delivered between or during missions through radio conversations, and the campaign can be completed in about three hours. Thankfully, the best part about Sairento is the gameplay and the way you master it as you progress.

Sairento is a combat-driven power fantasy. It's similar to Doom in that the player has an incredible skill set and weaponry at their disposal to dominate foes. Defeating one enemy is not as much of an issue as jumping around and stringing together kills and combos to increase one's performance in a stage. There are three parts to the winning equation: character progression, combat and movement,. All three parts enable Sairento to be a fun and addictive game, especially the way it lets players move around and jump through a stage.

When we think of ninjas, we think of shadowy figures who silently move across rooftops to stalk their targets. Sairento captures that freedom of movement with gravity-defying moves and jumps in virtual reality. While full locomotion movement is available, this is one of the few games where a teleportation system takes up the biggest part of getting from point to point. As in other games, we can use the active hand to point at any spot in the environment to jump there. Depending on the angle, we may jump high or low, giving us the option to move forward or gain height and drop in from above. We may even fly over enemies by jumping multiple times without touching the ground in between. Using this jump method, we can also wall-run and climb up walls, which is especially useful in stages with a lot of vertical elements.

Sairento has additional move modifiers, some of which are optional, such as flips, gliding, sliding, and slow motion. While sliding and slow motion have their own dedicated buttons, gliding (when enabled) is triggered in the air by extending the arms, while flips can be triggered at the beginning of a jump or from a wall by raising your hands above your head.

That may seem like a lot to do at once, and it absolutely is. Movement in Sairento has a steep learning curve. The Move controller is the only supported input method, but it's limited by the available buttons. Once you get acclimated to the Move controller, it can be a smooth and incredibly awesome "Ninja Simulator" that lets you pull off seemingly impossible moves in a VR game. If you're one of the few with a 3dRudder accessory, Sairento supports that device for movement, and that should free up a few inputs on the controller.

Movement in VR is a touchy subject. The extra nausea-inducing gameplay of Sairento is reason enough for additional concern. If you get motion sick easily, I doubt there's a comfort setting that could make Sairento playable for you. There are plenty of comfort options, mind you, but due to the nature of the character movement — you are a ninja, after all — the inherent fun and freedom are at odds with restricting movement for comfort. You may want to see if you can strengthen your stomach elsewhere before jumping into this title.

With movement out of the way, all we need to make a real ninja is a trusty blade to slice up our foes. Fear not, Sairento has you covered. You don't even need to rely on a blade. We have the option of firearms and swords as well as a bow and a few throwables. Four weapons can be equipped at any time in two shoulder and two waist slots, and they're available to grab with either hand at any time. Go dual-wielding with two SMGs, get experimental with a shotgun and a sword, or go crazy with a bow and arrow. All weapons are available from the start, so it's easy to try different loadouts on the fly to find your favorite.

Combat is quite straightforward. It's an incredible experience to shoot at a group of enemies while wall-running and transitioning in a slow-motion flip while shooting upside-down. It's not without issue, though, as the transition between jumping and walking can sometimes be awkward. Landing in front of an enemy, getting ready to slice them in half, and then moving into any direction can cause you to awkwardly miss a few shots and strikes. It gets better after a while, but there is an inherent clunkiness to the controls. Beyond that, Sairento nails almost everything from movement to gun play. Weapons are deadly and snappy, even though they may not sound as excellent. Decapitating an enemy when sliding by after a wall-run is never going to get old.

Sairento has a decent progression system that rewards sticking with it, even though the core experience doesn't truly change. We constantly level up and collect relics that we can use to improve stats and equipment. Skill points are invested in skill trees for buffs and new abilities, such as being able to string together three jumps without touching the ground. Relics can be attached to weapons to increase their stats and change their colors. Over time, players become a potent killing machine, which only improves the entire experience. The only letdown is that it soon becomes more of the same.

Aside from the short campaign, we're able to participate in challenges (defeating enemies in waves) and random missions that pop up on a city map. While they are different on paper, almost all of them take place on the same maps and usually require you to kill everything that moves as stylishly and efficiently as possible. Given how fun the gameplay is, that is good enough — but it's far from excellent.

The enemies are hardly varied or difficult, even on some of the harder difficulty levels. Basically, we are constantly fighting the same kinds of foes; there are a few with guns, a few with swords who also shoot from their blades, and a handful of special enemies, such as a killer sumo, a female ninja with throwing stars, and a few floating baddies. It's not super limited in scope, but it isn't greatly surprising, either. This sentiment also extends to the level design and visuals.

Even when they're set outdoors, levels always feel like encapsulated spaces with no natural light. Sairento reminds me of a game from the late 1990s, with very blocky level design and very few environment details. It fits the game style, but it is far from a beautiful or technical masterpiece. Sound is equally unexciting, with forgettable sounds, voice-overs, and a soundtrack that does little to elevate the experience. At the same time, the resolution is quite high, something that isn't seen very often in PSVR titles, especially if they originated on the PC. The resolution alone often disguises the overall muddy look of the game, especially when you're looking at weapon models up close. If we're limiting the scope to VR games on the PS4, Sairento looks pretty great. It also runs well and smoothly, with no hitches or downtime, and that's essentially all that matters in the end.

You can also jump into cooperative multiplayer. Unfortunately, the PvP from the PC release is not (yet?) included, so we can only play with an ally to shoot NPCs into a pulp instead of facing off against each other. (There is a friendly fire setting that can be turned off, though.) One thing that is quite welcome here is the ability to see how many people are online in which region, and there's an indication of your ping to the servers, so you can decide whether it's worth starting an online match. Once in a game, it plays similarly to the offline component, except we have a human ally with whom to kill a few grunts and the occasional boss.

A bonus mention is in order for the settings in Sairento. The game has basic settings that will probably work for everyone, but you can pretty much modify anything, from the controls to the gameplay mechanics. Do you want to control your movement with the Move controller or your head? Do you want to enable flips, comfort options, automatic weapon reloading, or reversing the grip on swords? The wealth of settings is greatly appreciated, especially if you're someone that doesn't need comfort options and would rather have a barrier-free and unfiltered experience. Sairento understands this and offers the most freedom to alter your experience that I have seen in a VR game thus far, and given its fast-paced action, it pays off wonderfully.

At the end of the day, Sairento VR clearly focuses on gameplay. It is the most rewarding and badass game I have played in terms of combat and movement, and it's something that everyone should experience in VR if they have the chance. It's a gameplay sandbox that does enough to make you feel in control and gives you the opportunity to test different weapon combinations and relics to become an ultra-mobile ninja-killing machine. That may not hide the fact that it looks basic and is quite repetitive in terms of enemies, level design and mission objectives. Sairento is fun, and it's highly recommended if you own a PSVR headset — assuming your stomach can handle the erratic movements and jumps.

Score: 8.4/10