Our Game of the Year coverage continues with the Best PSVR2 Game of 2023, of which a top four has been put together by the Push Square editorial team. Following its launch at the start of the year, we're celebrating the very best PSVR2 games for the first time in our Game of the Year deliberations. These are the titles we think were best this year.
Bronze Trophy: Arizona Sunshine 2
We've likely killed millions of zombies in games across the years, but it’s never been more satisfying than in Arizona Sunshine 2. This ambitious sequel upped the ante with crisper graphics, squelch-ier gore, and a far improved gunplay experience — helped in part with the power of the PSVR2. The new reload mechanic is endlessly entertaining and the shooting is finely tuned, both of which can make you feel like a complete badass or leave you cracking under the pressure. With a full campaign and an endless Horde Mode to enjoy, we suspect we’ll be popping headshots in these dusty VR planes for quite some time.
Silver Trophy: Pavlov VR
Keen to jump into some online VR lobbies? Look no further than Pavlov VR. This explosive shooter isn't the prettiest game out there, but with a fantastic feel to gunplay and its realistic reload mechanic, it already has a fun base. What takes it even further is the plethora of online modes available, ranging from regular deathmatches to a full-on zombies mode. However, the cream of the crop for us is TTK: an Among Us-like guaranteed to leave you in stitches. It’s a mode where everything from your body language to the confidence in your voice can be used against you. For VR enthusiasts, it’s a must-play.
Gold Trophy: Gran Turismo 7
Practically feel the wind in your hair as Gran Turismo 7 puts you in the driver's seat of the world's fastest cars for a PSVR2 experience like no other. Having successfully made the whole game work inside Sony's latest headset, the realistic racer out of Polyphony Digital replicates the twists and bends of a race track all while you witness the action right in front of you in first-person. It's intense, exciting, and excellent.
Platinum Trophy: Resident Evil Village
Capcom's support of Sony's virtual reality headsets has been nothing short of outstanding, and its effort to translate our 2021 Game of the Year to work on PSVR2 is its latest triumph. This is the entire single player campaign adapted for VR, taking advantage of the new Sense controllers to replicate the daring adventure of Ethan Winters in a remote European village. Turning the tension up to 11, Resident Evil Village is an even more terrifying ordeal in VR, demonstrating the leg up it can give to experiences made for flat screens.
Honourable Mentions: Before Your Eyes, Horizon Call of the Mountain, Red Matter 2, Rez Infinite, and Tetris Effect.
What was your favourite PSVR2 game of 2023? Place a vote in our poll and then explain your personal pick in the comments below. For further Game of the Year coverage, click the link.
What was your favourite PSVR2 game of 2023? (674 votes)
- Arizona Sunshine 2
- Before Your Eyes
- Gran Turismo 7
- Horizon Call of the Mountain
- Pavlov VR
- Red Matter 2
- Resident Evil Village
- Rez Infinite
- Tetris Effect
- Other
Comments 34
Was the Resident Evil 4 VR mode too late to make the cut? Interested to see where it would have landed here.
Kinda sad that first party Horizon: Call of the Mountain could not make it into the list at all. And that 3 out of 4 games on the list of the best PSVR2 games are made by other studios. Hope next year will be better.
@Tomato_Goose Horizon Call of the Mountain is really good, so it just says a lot about the quality of the games on this list.
@Bentleyma I've touched it briefly, but won't argue - the game felt awesome. My main concern is lack of strong lineup of first-party VR games or at least any information about them.
Gran Turismo 7 is my favourite game on PSVR2 amd combined with a wheel is one of my favourite gaming experiences. Recently I bought Senna's 1988 Mclaren F1 car in it amd just sitting in this car that I've seen since I was a kid was such a joy.
My other favourite PSVR2 games would be Rez, Tetris Effect, Resident Evil 4 and No Man's Sky is amazing in VR as well
Resident evil 4
@Tomato_Goose This has been my major concern for months now. Tell us something Sony. Please have something planned!
Pavlov being an online focussed game means it would never get near my top 10. I would have swapped that for Hubris or Synapse. The Walking Dead Retribution 2 would be high on my list too.
WARNING: Playing either GT7 or Resident Evil in VR will absolutely ruin playing similar games in pancake mode. By experiencing these games in VR you will be committing to buying every VR headset iteration Sony release if you care about those or similar franchises.
I have no idea why Resi 4 isn’t top of this list though. Very strange. It’s better than village for me. Perhaps it wasn’t played for some reason?
Where the flip is Synapse on this list!!???
It's a total cracker!!!
"Capcom's support of Sony's virtual reality headsets has been nothing short of outstanding"
Capcom's support for PSVR2 has been much better and more frequent than Sony. I can see Capcom porting over other RE titles like the older remakes while Sony will continue to pretend they aren't in the VR business.
My top 3 would be:
1. Red Matter 2
2. Synapse
3. RE: Village
My top 5...
Gran Turismo 7
Resident Evil Village
Walking Dead
Red Matter 2
Walkabout Minigolf
Umm, where's No Man's Sky?
In my opinion one of the best VR games ever!
On PSVR2 it is STUNNING!
Resident Evil Village didn't seem like it was balanced properly for VR and was as hard as the normal game with a controller. I didn't enjoy the demo and never bought it. Which is a shame because the gunplay in the tutorial was really good and was really promising.
Synapse ...hopefully it's built on
Haven’t given them all a go, but in the little I played, all my mates that have it and all those on my discord all agree… GT7 is a game changer. ALMOST made me buy the whole setup. PSVR2, seat, wheel, pedals, gears. It’s amazing! If I was a petrol head I probably would have dropped a grand on It all, it’s that good.
Shoutout to Propagation: Paradise Hotel. Great game, especially for the price point.
Thank you — GT7 VR2 deserves way more recognition.
@themightyant it's that good that sometimes I just jump in a car and go for a drive all by myself, the experience of just being inside all of these cars that I'll never get to drive in real life is incredible
Good list, any reason RE 4 VR is not in there?
@thefourfoldroot1 You are so right, seen you say it a few times but until Xmas (when I got my PSVR2) I couldn't comment but I understand that feeling now, flat games are just.....flat. I want to be fully immersed in the world and feel like I am truly in it which only VR can do!! It is a really special bit of kit!
It's kind of ironic to see Asgards Wrath 2 ads plastered all over a Playstation site article page about best PSVR2 game, considering it's one of the best if not the best vr game ever made and not on PSVR2.
Has the platform been all but abandoned aside from merely implementing the mode in already existing games? I can see it being awesome for GT7, but the investment to experience that is just not worth it for me.
GT7 is great but my body wants to eject my brain out of itself when I play it.
I’m having a blast with CotM though.
Cheers.
Some great games this year, I've had a blast, Star wars is just fun, resident evil village is transformed, Arizona sunshine 2 is my favourite new game.
But for shear immersion, nothing beats GT7 with a steering wheel set up. Even after 200 hours in this game in VR, i still grin like a little kid when I get into a new car and look around. Its made me really get into the sport mode too. Did the manufacturer's race this morning at the Nurbergring, full course. Started in heavy rain, cleared, then went into night, all in VR! To me it's a masterpiece!
@Mostik
It really is, and has to be experienced to be believed. I envy you having such a large catalogue to catch up with! Still, got a load of great games releasing in the coming months too.
Synapse really needs to be on that list. GT & RE Village are both amazing, and CotM and RM2 are both great games, too.
I'm begging PlayStation to give me a reason to buy my first VR kit but it's been radio silence for months
1: GT7
2: Light Brigade
3: Puzzling Places
So many amazing games this year, but I think if I had to pick one, Gran Turismo 7 is my winner. Unbelievably good.
GT7 was great until the "classics" garage and their real world value reared it's ugly head. 1 single car (ie, a tiny dlc car skin) would cost £160 to buy with real money. . . or you could grind for 20+ hours to buy it with in game credit. Unacceptable! Greedy fatcats and their cynical business practices ruined the whole experience for me. Loved playing it, bought a wheel and chair for it but gave up after realising how long it would take to collect all the cars I wanted through grinding. A 10/10 game turned to a 3/10 with one fell swoop. HORIZON, Resi 4/Village and S&S Retribution were my PSVR2 faves.
@DoppiaD Dude, I almost cried the first time I played GT7 on PSVR2. I already owned a racing rig and bought the headset at launch primarily for this game, only to find out that my body was not ready for it at all.
But I diligently built my VR legs over the last 10 months to a point where I get zero motion sickness now. Of course, GT7 is very intense, and I still get that tingle when the car goes airborne on a rally track, but it's not uncomfortable. Actually, it's sheer fun.
@Art_Vandelay I’m happy to hear that because I bought the headset specifically for GT7, I’d be kinda hilarious if I ended up using it with everything but GT7. 🤣
Cheers and happy gaming.
@DoppiaD I know the feeling. 😉
Now, if you're like me and want to be systematic about it, I'd suggest having a look around the PSVR2 subreddit and searching for ways people have done it.
And lastly, there's a massive silver lining here: in the "quest" for those golden VR legs I, for once, discovered a plethora of amazing VR games that would have flown below my radar otherwise. So, enjoy the ride (pun intended).
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