http://i.imgur.com/CQvM8aQ.jpg

This is one of my least recommended VR games. I'm gonna say that upfront. But also that it doesn't mean there isn't a lot here to like. There's a gorgeous art style, and an engaging story. The ending is just so abrupt and awful that it lets everything else down in a big way. 

http://i.imgur.com/bv3Ma27.jpg

You play Thor, whose voice is taken by a Valkyrie in exchange for extending your life when you should've died. She needs your help with something, the nature of which I don't intend to spoil. All the characters have this shiny bug-eyed Disney/Pixar style to them which you'll either love or hate. I didn't mind it, Freya is top shelf waifu material. 

http://i.imgur.com/aG1r6QZ.jpg

This is an "interactive" story. There is not a whole lot of interactivity though, and what's there isn't especially fun. You'll walk down carefully predefined routes, then talk to people. Then do a limited gameplay event like hunting or steering the wagon. 

In some places, like pulling the sled, the game literally doesn't let you go in the wrong direction, only forward. There's nothing at all resembling combat, either. For a viking game, that's a surprising omission. 

http://i.imgur.com/WTasaPt.jpg

This game doesn't just hold your hand. It shackles your hands. You can move your arms with the triggers, but besides one time in the opening, you never use that ability again. You just move (via standard artificial locomotion, not teleportation thankfully) from set piece to set piece, listen to exposition, do some narrow "interactive" thing, then it's more exposition. There are choices, but they don't affect anything besides hearing a different piece of dialogue. 

http://i.imgur.com/BCbsMkX.jpg

The characters are a mixed bag. Freya is probably the best. Character development is shallow but present. The biggest problem is that you're supposed to develop a deep emotional investment in the daughter, but nothing is done to cultivate such a connection. She just acts like an average retarded kid. None of it's particularly cute or sentimental, so the ending falls flat.

http://i.imgur.com/h86aumy.jpg

Seriously, your daughter is an annoying little idiot. The choice of voice actor is part of it, but her dialogue is also vacuous and never hits any emotional chords whatsoever. Am I supposed to form a connection simply based on their assumed history as father and daughter? A history I am never shown? The character design is alright, but the dialogue and voice actor just made me want to drop kick her into Niflheim. 

http://i.imgur.com/jYVZ7to.jpg

The scenery is amazing. I would compare the 3D graphic novel style to Skyward Sword. It uses relatively few polygons to the greatest possible effect, bringing the Nordic taiga alive in beautiful stereo 3D. 

It is probably the best part of this game, and I played through a second time just to walk around and admire the views. It would be a really cool world to explore if it were open world, and possible to meaningfully explore off the beaten path. You can't, of course.

http://i.imgur.com/RzHk2md.jpg

There's a dungeon later on with a few puzzles. Appreciated but also too little, too late. The puzzles are embarrassingly simple and quickly solved. The subterranean scenery is as well done and lovely as the scenery above ground, but it's not enough to save this game. It's just so banal and constrained. It feels a lot like a Norse version of Minecraft: Story Mode. 

http://i.imgur.com/2hQ7wMM.jpg

Spoiler ahead, if you care. You shouldn't, because I don't recommend this game. At $20, it's terribly short, there's barely anything that could be called gameplay and the potentially interesting story is marred by failed attempts to emotionally invest the player. The tribute to Freya's father for example. He was a dumb asshole the entire time he was alive. Why should I care he's died? 

http://i.imgur.com/in6xUxD.jpg

Here's the big spoiler: Your daughter dies. In the most cruel and shitty way possible since there's a sort of QTE style mini game where you're trying to save her. The game gives you the chance to attempt to save her and makes it seem like it's possible to do, if you're good enough. I tried over and over, then checked the internet only to discover that challenge is unwinnable. 

http://i.imgur.com/yPAPxlL.jpg

Then you have to tell Freya her daughter is dead. Whether you admit it or not the reaction is the same. It's a sucker punch to the gut. Then the game ends. Seriously. That's it. You try to save your daughter. 

It *forces* you to fail. Then you have to see Freya's (admittedly well acted) reaction to learning of it. Then the fucking credits roll. What the fuck? What the fuck is that shit? Why would you do this, devs? Why did I pay you $20 to shit in my mouth? Maybe *I'm* the fool here.

http://i.imgur.com/Io1fiV3.jpg

It's not emotionally intense, at least not in the way the devs presumably intended. It's hugely frustrating because there's no indication that it's impossible to save her. So you try and try thinking wow, this is a really great way to build tension. Only to find it's impossible, and the game punishes you for failing with Freya's reaction *even though success was never possible*. 

http://i.imgur.com/BpVX5Ah.jpg

Apparently it's episodic. There's going to be more episodes. But $20 is steep for one single episode given the short length, and it was never made clear to me in the intro that there would be more. 

That would've softened the blow of the ending somewhat, though if they plan to have you rescue your daughter from the Norse afterlife or something, *some indication* of this at the ending of the first episode would have *greatly improved* it. 

A simple brief scene at night when Freya is asleep, with the witch character explaining to you that there's a way to save your daughter (but it's terrifying and dangerous) would have been enough. End it *there*. Not *right after* the sucker punch. Don't force me to fail, then punish me for it without then at least tossing me a scrap of hope, you sadists. 

This was just awkwardly handled. It's a dull game with beautiful settings and a potentially interesting story based on classic, cool mythos. There was a lot of potential here, but aspects of it are so poorly executed that it brings the rest down. I really, really don't recommend Fated. I'm giving it a 4/10, my lowest score yet.

*<sup>Screenshots credit to Oculus</sup>*