Pre-order Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge

PSVR owners got a taste of the Star Wars universe on the platform with the Vader Immortal trilogy of episodic releases. It showcased the platform while also giving series fans something aside from dogfighting in Star Wars Squadrons or pinball. If you were an owner of the Meta Quest 2, you also got Tales from the Galaxy's Edge, another episodic adventure that wasn't merely an ad for the Disneyland theme park addition, since it gave you several different stories with different characters and situations. For those hoping to get it outside of the Quest ecosystem, the game is coming to the PSVR2.

Since this is VR, we didn't get hands-on with the game just yet, as we don't have access to a PSVR2 headset. We got eyes on the game and noticed that the biggest change compared to the Quest title is in the graphics. The models look the same, and while it is difficult to discern over streaming video, the textures seem to have gotten a bump in fidelity when it comes to skin and clothing. The environments also received a texture bump, which is good because it's much easier to see things in VR, like lower resolution or flat textures, since you can inspect them at a much closer range. Lighting is perhaps the biggest upgrade; light being emitted from blaster fire and lightsabers is much more visible this time around. The same can be said for the shadows, which are much more pronounced and made the game look more realistic.

The game promises to have everything released so far on the Quest ported over, so new players don't have to face a content drip like those on the Quest. What we're excited to see is how the PSVR2 adds to the experience; the original version did rather well with the controllers while also adding in a bunch of options to ensure player comfort. It launches with the system, which means that it'll face some stiff competition, but having the big "Star Wars" name on it will certainly help.

We also had a chance to do a quick interview with Harvey Whitney, the producer for the game, and Jacob Edelen, the Experience Design Lead.

WorthPlaying:  Tales from the Galaxy's Edge is coming out on the PSVR2, and it's never hit any other platform except for the Oculus Quest. At this point, it's being called an enhanced edition, right?

Harvey Whitney (Producer): Correct.

WP: All right. If I'm an Oculus owner and I already have Tales from the Galaxy's Edge. If I decide to get it on PSVR2, what am I expecting that's different?

HW: So right from the start, the big difference is, well, that there's several, right? But right from the start, it's the complete edition. There's no DLC to purchase. So everything that we have released for Tales from the Galaxy's Edge is all together. It's all one purchase so you have it right from the start. Next, we went through, and we've enhanced the visuals dramatically. You're going to be blown away by just how this thing looks and how it performs. And we've done as much as we can to take advantage of the new hardware and to optimize our content for that. We've done a lot with audio and the audio has been completely rebuilt with 3D audio to really immerse yourself in these worlds and in these environments. And Jacob here, he can go into more details, but he's done a ton of work with the new features that we have with the headset that allow for the haptics in both the headset itself and in the controllers. And it really does a lot to this experience in how you feel when you're playing.

Jacob Edelen (Experience Design Lead): Yeah, I think that when you look at, say, the Quest version or the PSVR2 version, you're thinking about it completely, solely in the aspect of that hardware in particular. So what are the best parts and how can we fully push them to their limits? So for example, in the PSVR2, we have access to different ways to push the visuals in greater directions, like dynamic lighting and other things like the advanced haptic system. So for example, you have different haptics that are found in the controller, like for the DualSense controllers, you get the adaptive triggers. So when you pull to a certain point, there's a resistance point or how hard you have to pull the trigger, making you really feel like you're pulling the trigger on a blaster. But also there's haptics in the headset itself so that when you do things like there's vibrations in the environment or you take a hit with a blaster bolt, you get vibrations in different places that you didn't have them before. And it really makes you feel immersed in new ways in this environment that we've created.

HW: I think the Blaster bolts are a great example of that too, right? Because we've added the dynamic lighting on them. And so you'll see the dynamic lighting as the blaster bolts are flying through the air, plus you get the vibration in the headset and then with the 3D audio, you can hear it as they go whizzing by you and you kind of feel it. And so it really is a really good example of how all of that stuff comes together to really demonstrate some of the things that we've done.

WP: With the transition from the Quest over to the PSVR2, were there any technical challenges that you guys were running into where something was just much easier on the Quest versus PSVR2 or vice versa?

JE: I think that whenever you're working with any piece of hardware, you're going to get technical limitations that you're trying to grapple and work with. Like when you get these models and textures that we've used for the environment and another title and you bring it over to PSVR2, you're able to look at them in new ways and start to really enhance them and start to make different colors pop, make reflective environments work in different kinds of ways. But there's always going to be that thing of performance they have to deal with, which it will be different to work with on one platform to another.

HW: Yeah, I think that's a really good way to describe that.

WP: There isn't more new content to experience with the PSVR2 version, right? No more new tales or new characters to experience.

HW: No, we didn't have anything for this one.

JE: No, but I think that the great thing about this is everything is together in one complete package right from the get-go. You're able to do every single tail. You don't have to download anything else, and you're able to just run completely through the story. It's all there together in one package from the beginning.

WP: What are your favorite parts about the controller/headset that you really fell in love playing around with?

JE: Well, what I really enjoyed playing around with is making every item feel unique and different that you hold in your hands. So in our VR environment, we have different kinds of things you can pick up from a blaster to lightsaber to thermal detonators to all kinds of things. Oh, also the tool kit tool that you hold in your hand. So all of these different things that you have in your hand have been fine tuned to feel very specific, like the DL-99 Blaster pistol is not going to feel the exact same as the F-11-DX. For example, like all of these different blasters have different resistance points. They have different haptics as you fire them out like you can feed the sound directly into the controller so that when you get like the different kick or the vibration, it feels exactly like it sounds as it's going through there. Or the lightsaber itself has a different kind of pulse that you're able to work with. So the very the coolest thing about working with this new haptic system is making everything feel specific and unique. Like even when you pick up the thermal detonator and you activate it, for example, you're going to feel it start to grow in its haptics, like as it ticks, like it gets a little stronger and then it'll explode. So all these little things that feel really different and unique, so nothing feels exactly the same.

HW: I think The Orchid is such a great example of that, too. You know, it's hard to describe it, right? You actually have to get in there and experience this. But when you're using the tool kit in the different things that it can do, how it feels and what it looks like and what it sounds like, that's how that would really be if you had one of these things in the real world. And that's how it would feel in your hand. And I'll give all the props to Jacob here. He's done a ton of work to make that feel that way. I think everybody else is in agreement. We've done a ton of play testing with that. It just feels like it would really feel in the real world. That's pretty amazing.

WP: Especially when you consider the versatility of that tool. I played around with the original version last night. Going from the screwdriver to the blowtorch to basically the shock tool, like the way you're describing, I have to imagine the haptics should be much more nuanced going from unscrewing a plate to repairing a training droid.

JE: Yeah, that's actually a cool thing to mention, because when you're switching around with the tools, they have different haptics to them. You'll feel vibrations in the triggers themselves. Like when you use the zapper, for example, it has like this little rumble, this little rattle that you'll start to feel as things are charging up with the electricity, the drill will have a different, timed out click as you're pulling out these screws from the environment and then the blow torch itself like it has this intense rumble as it ignites at the beginning and then it falters off as you're starting to use that and cut things off of panel. So all of them feel really different and unique in their own different way. It's really cool.

WP: Is there anything that's been removed or changed from version to version?

HW: No, we haven't removed anything. And I mean, as far as the changes go, I think it's noticeable as soon as you put the headset on and. Right. And once you experience it, it is pretty impressive. Early on, what we did is we met as a team and we looked at what we could do and what we'd like to do and we came up with a couple of test environments to plot out how we want this experience to look. This is what an interior should look like and this is the bar for that. And what should an exterior look like and outside environment. And the first first thing we did was the cantina. I just remember being blown away at how amazing it looked with the updated visuals. And it's not just new textures, but the lighting and the dynamic lighting and the reflective surfaces and all of that. We're in these meetings and we were reviewing the content and we were blown away. We've been working on this and we're sharing it out with the rest of the folks that were on our team specifically. They were all excited. So we knew we were doing the right thing. I think new users are going to have that same experience where they're just going to look and they're just going to be like, "This looks amazing." It's just beautiful.

JE: Yeah. I think the cool thing for people who've experienced it before is going into a new headset for the first time and seeing the capabilities that it has as well as how we've been able to take the experience that we have taken and put it on there to the best of its capabilities, like how can we make it the best it can be with this new piece of hardware? And I think people, when they step in for the first time, they're going to see it in a whole new light the same way we have.

WP: Were there any challenges that you faced in trying to get this game out for that launch period?

HW: There's always there's always challenges in development, right? It doesn't matter if you've got two, three, four or five years, you're always going to run into different things and how you react to that. And I think the team did a great job working within the constraints that we had in the time that we had to make this an amazing experience. And I think we use that time as best as we possibly could to really do this the right way. And I think we've done it the right way. So I'm really excited and I don't I don't recall anything that jumped out where we're like, "Holy cow, this is going to kill us if we can't get this solved in time." I think the team did a great job working within those constraints and really put their heart into it to get this done on time.

WP: Is there anything else you want to bring up?

JE: I think the last thing I'd want to touch on is that I'm really excited for both our returning players who might be experiencing this world in a new way for the like again. But I'm also really excited for a new audience on PlayStation to get in here for the very first time and experience this world with this technology and to really experience everything that we put into this title. It's really one of the best VR experiences out there, I think.

HW: Yeah, I'll add to that. We had a lot of folks that play tested this for us, you know, team members that worked on the original but didn't work on this one and how excited they were to see the differences and how much they liked it. So I can't wait for this to be out. I want my friends and family to try this out because, you know, they're always asking like, what are you working on? What are you working on? And can't tell you that. And now that it's here, I'm excited for them to check it out and see what we've been working on and see what they feel about it.

WP: Thank you very much.

JE: No problem.

HW: Thank you, Cody. It was nice meeting you.