The Ultimate VR RPG: Asgard's Wrath 2 Unleashes Dark Souls-Style Multiplayer

Asgard's Wrath 2 stole the show at this year's Meta Quest Gaming Showcase with its ambitious sequel to the popular 2019 virtual reality RPG by Sanzaru Games. Gamers who pre-order the game will receive the original for PC, though it's not necessary for following along. At its core, this free-roaming RPG boasts a 60-hour campaign and an endless rogue-lite dungeon crawler mode, setting a new standard for content-heavy VR titles. However, the game's massive file size, potentially even larger than its predecessor's 121 GB, may prove to be a challenge for Quest 2 players with limited hard drive space.

Asgard's Wrath 2 Is The Biggest Made-for-VR RPG Yet

Virtual reality has made significant strides in recent years, but it still lacks larger, more expansive, content-rich games. The majority of available options are VR versions of earlier games, such as Skyrim VR, Fallout 4 VR, and Elite Dangerous. Most VR games are more focused experiences, especially those for Meta's Quest headsets. However, Asgard's Wrath 2 is a game that stands out due to its massive scope. Players can look forward to a 60-hour campaign, which is significantly longer than even the most popular titles like Half-Life: Alyx.

Asgard's Wrath 2 Has A Hint of Dark Souls-Like Multiplayer

The game offers a plethora of activities that are typically found in high-budget RPGs for traditional gaming platforms. It's easy to lose track of time, as players can easily spend several dozen hours exploring the vast array of content. Rather than being set in a single world, players can journey to various free-roaming landscapes, including ancient Egyptian locales and Norse realms, such as the Land of Fire. Players have the freedom to explore non-linearly, deciding whether to embark on the main storyline or delve into side quests and other activities. The game presents players with caves, ruins, and puzzles to solve, while also offering a variety of other activities, such as a fishing mini-game, cooking, and crafting.

In addition to the main campaign, Asgard's Wrath 2 offers a thrilling rogue-lite dungeon-crawling mode known as The Uncharted Rift, which is endlessly replayable. This mode involves procedurally generated dungeons that are filled with various enemies and puzzles. The ultimate objective is to survive for as long as possible while collecting loot that can be utilized in the main campaign. Considering that a procedural rogue-lite VR dungeon crawler is essentially a full-fledged game, players will undoubtedly spend a significant amount of time attempting to surpass their survival records.

The asynchronous multiplayer aspect of The Uncharted Rift is definitely one of its most intriguing features. When a player dies during their run, they can choose to send a Divine Soul or a Dread Soul version of their character to other players' Uncharted Rifts, either offering aid or making things more difficult. It's reminiscent of the multiplayer mechanics in games like Dark Souls or Elden Ring, with the added twist of sending an NPC version of oneself. It's a great addition to the rogue-lite mode and it will be interesting to see how players choose to interact with each other in this way.

Asgard's Wrath 2 is scheduled for release in Winter 2023, exclusively for the Meta Quest platform.