The latest update to Waltz of the Wizard on PS VR2 shows that Aldin Dynamics’ particular approach to “natural magic” works incredibly well on consoles.
While Quest owners have enjoyed hand tracking in Waltz of the Wizard for almost five years, the feature just launched for PS VR2 headsets and Aldin’s game is the first to use it. My colleague David Heaney recently compared the tracking quality between Quest 3 and PSVR 2 with some subtle nuances pointing to differences between them.
I wanted to see what this latest version of the game felt like on PS VR2. Just how immersed can I feel without the PS VR2 controllers in my hands?
PS VR2’s Natural Magic
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I decided to do a deep dive through as much of Waltz of the Wizard as I could reach on a livestream using only my hands and voice to control the game with no controllers. We’ve reported in the past on the studio’s development of “natural” magic, which means Aldin is really leaning into the idea that when you’re in a VR headset, you’re actually a wizard with the ability to speak spells or move anywhere you want with a gesture.
The latest update on PlayStation VR2 makes it the first game to utilize the headset’s recently unlocked hand tracking capabilities. Playing this again not only brought back memories of my experiences with the original legacy demo, but also showcased just how far this has come since its debut.
Voice Input On PS VR2
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Upon stepping back into that familiar wizard’s tower, I was immediately captivated by the sight of subtitles dynamically forming in midair as I spoke, albeit with a few amusing inaccuracies. This experience encouraged me to use my voice more frequently, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Skully react in real time to some of my questions.
As players progress deeper, they gain the ability to conjure objects from thin air simply by speaking them into existence. The hand tracking elevates the experience, making spellcasting through gestures feel powerful, and when combined with Aldin Dynamics’ established technology, the result is an astonishingly immersive and magical journey.
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On one hand, this experience on PS VR2 enhanced immersion and now provides a similar experience to my time playing on Quest 3. On the other, I faced several issues that I had not seen on the Quest. During testing, my hands frequently froze mid-air, a frustrating glitch that disrupted gameplay. In those moments, I was forced to awkwardly block the headset cameras to recalibrate the hand tracking. This is an unwelcome workaround that I hope gets fixed on PS VR2.
Grabbing and holding objects introduced additional challenges. Precision is critical in a magical sandbox where spell and item manipulation is core to the experience, yet I experienced numerous missed grabs and premature disconnections while using the game’s telepath locomotion system. At times, movement would just halt altogether, breaking the enchanting immersion crafted by the developers. That said, as I continued to play, the locomotion system grew more intuitive, providing a seamless method of navigation in a controller-less hand-tracked environment.
Despite these momentary technical shortcomings, I emerged from my play session genuinely impressed with the update. Aldin Dynamics and Sony have made commendable strides with this first foray into hand tracking on the PlayStation VR2. I still prefer the Quest version due to its more stable hand tracking and the overall polished feeling, but PS VR2 players do have a fully playable hand tracked game with voice input now and it remains an enjoyable experience.
Tracking both players’ eyes and hands opens up exciting possibilities for the system going forward, and I’m eager to see which titles will adopt this technology next. As developers continue to refine their use of hand tracking, and platforms improve their implementations too, I believe this overall experience will significantly improve.
You can find Waltz of the Wizard on most VR gaming platforms.
