I hate fitness, so I do it in VR. Part 4: a little after
¹ The activities of the Meta company are recognized as extremist and are prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation, you know.
In the previous three articles, we talked about fitness in general and VR in particular, went through the pros and cons of VR fitness in detail, and also looked at most of the specialized fitness applications for Meta¹ Quest. What about non-specialized ones? What about VR outside of Meta¹? Or not VR at all? In order not to spend another two years on the article (yes, I spent two years), I will go over these topics very, very superficially, solely to create a more or less holistic image of the industry.
Why not just play Beat Saber?
As I mentioned earlier, limiting yourself to cardio alone means losing many times the effectiveness of your training. But what to do if you don’t have enough motivation for full-fledged fitness? Of course, there is a difficult way like studying and training your reward system (ru). And there is a simple one: use games that provide at least cardio, but still exercise. But games are designed in such a way as to constantly motivate the user to continue playing. This is the case when getting caught in the gaming loop is useful. 🙂
I can’t help but admit that despite all the efforts of the developers, all of the above fitness applications are still more boring than full-fledged games. Games have more excitement, emotions, and variety. At the same time, alas, I have not found a single VR game with full squats, not to mention push-ups, abs, and so on. 🙂 I’ll emphasize: VR, because we’ll talk about Ring Fit Adventure later. And here I will list those VR games that provide excellent cardio exercise.
The Thrill of the Fight
By data VR Health is the most powerful VR trainer in terms of calories burned per hour today – it’s not a VR trainer, but a game, a boxing simulator, The Thrill of the Fight. I confirm on my own behalf: yes, this is complete cruelty. Every session I get exhausted like nowhere else. Except during real jiu-jitsu, when after the first lesson I literally lay on a bench for 20 minutes and just tried to breathe. 🙂
There are multiple difficulty levels, opponents with slightly different fighting styles, and detailed statistics at the end.
Alternatively there is Creed: Rise to Glory (Quest, PlayStation, Steam, Pico) With free demobut it feels simpler and more cinematic, for something completely different.
Pistol Whip
Website, Quest Store, PlayStation Store, Steam, Pico version
My all-time favorite. A great, bright shooting gallery with bullet dodging. At a high difficulty level and with the perk for accelerated bullets, it seriously strains the knees. To make my own life more difficult, I also go through obstacles that require me to squat under, instead bending backwards. 🙂
Over the two years of training, my body, unfortunately, has adapted, and I no longer feel as heavy a load as before. But the developers regularly add new, more complex levels. And recently they opened access to mod levels from enthusiasts right in the main application for Quest, without any shamanism!
Every Sunday I go through my favorite composition Lilith and a few random ones like the magnificent Majesty with crossbows or Fist Fight with golden frying pans – you can take a look at my Twitch or YouTube.
Crazy Kung Fu
Website Quest Store, Steam, Pico version, version for VIVE XR Elite
I am one of those whose heart starts beating faster at the phrase “I know kung fu”. But real kung fu turned out, of course, to be in no way similar to the cinematic one. 🙂 But VR kung fu is quite good! These workouts are not so much about endurance, like boxing, but about hellish attentiveness and coordination of movements. I’m just so-so with this, so the game is a cool challenge for me.
The game is being developed, and multiplayer with interesting mechanics has recently appeared. For example, if you start to win, they shoot arrows at you, which you have to dodge without looking up from the training itself.
But the coolest format is battles on the move. If you suddenly have two to four free meters in diameter, be sure to try it! Well, if not, but it’s interesting to watch, right here a record of my victory at the last level, which I had been working towards for exactly a year.
Holopoint
And this was a journey for me that lasted a year and five and a half months – probably I have never completed a single game for so long. Holopoint is an archery simulator where you need to turn in all directions, strain your ears and, of course, be fantastically accurate. I was never fantastically accurate, or even at all accurate, so literally every hit I made ended in a backfire. In the end, it was a challenge for everyone. I loved and hated this game with all my heart, and when I finally defeated the final dragon, I literally fell to my knees and screamed with joy. It was worth it. 🙂
The VR seems perfectly tuned for archery, and the game feels great. When there is space for movement of 3-4 meters, it becomes a little easier to pass the boss, but at the same time, coordination at regular levels becomes more difficult, at least for me. From a fitness standpoint, the intensity is greater than Pistol Whip, but less than The Thrill of the Fight or Crazy Kung Fu.
Vader Immortal
Website, Quest Store, PlayStation Store
It so happened that episodes IV-VI of Star Wars occurred at my poorly realized age, and at that time only a vague “pew-pew, laser swords, Darth Vader is cool” was imprinted on me. Like a ninja, I escaped the spoiler trap and watched episodes I-III without knowing who Anakin and Chancellor Palpatine were until the very end. Episode III was the pinnacle of the saga for me, and Qui Gon Jinn became my favorite Jedi. 🙂 And by the way, I also really love VII-IX, and even more IV-VI.
As you might have guessed, I am biased towards Vader Immortal, so divide by two. But for me this is an amazing and almost perfect Jedi simulator. The way the Force is implemented, the many tricks you can do with swords, and the simple but moving plot in the Darth Vader part made this game great for me. But still, the Dojo mode became a real challenge and a cool fitness trainer for me.
It took me exactly a year to complete all levels in all three episodes of the game. And if in Holopoint I played with the feeling of “well, I just have to do this,” then here I enjoyed every attempt, remembered the Jedi (and Sith) masters that inspired me, with pleasure fingered the captured swords and experienced genuine emotions when the tips of my fingers began to strike the long-awaited lightning – and not just activate them, you need to seriously try.
On the other hand, as a fitness game, this is rather the lightest game of those listed. But for some people this is what they need, isn’t it? 🙂
Blaston
Website, Quest Store, Steam, Pico version
Well, we already had kung fu like in the Matrix, how about dodging bullets like in the Matrix? This is exactly what this game is about. Without Neo's abilities, you will have to rush around the entire available space, stick to the floor and naturally jump to the side. Weapons are given to you randomly and appear in random places. In the same Pistol Whip you feel like John Wick, but here, as a rule, you feel like the unfortunate person John Wick shoots. 🙂 But, of course, this entirely depends on the opponents, because this game, unlike the others in the collection, has the most natural and direct multiplayer.
Not long ago, the game switched to a free-to-play model, and if previously you had to fight mainly with bots, now the online has become very lively, and sometimes you come across unrealistically powerful opponents. And of course, the most enjoyable thing is to shoot with friends! Here, however, skill is so decisive that sometimes your friend’s level is simply a cut above, and after 5-10 attempts you realize that there is no point in returning to this duel before six months of training. 🙂 I've been training in this game for almost two years now, but I still have such friends.
The load fluctuates a lot. You might get caught by a bot or a newbie and you won't even break a sweat. Or maybe your mother’s friend’s son will come across you, who will roll you into a cake, and you will literally lie on the floor. But if you like challenges with real people, this game is a must try!
Racket: Nx
Website, Quest Store, free demo in AppLab, Steam, Pico version
I don't like table tennis, so you won't see it in the review, although there is plenty of it in VR. But Racket: Nx is something else. I was extremely skeptical about it, but after reading reviews and finding a free demo, I decided to try it. And I didn’t regret it! It's more like a good old arkanoid, but in a 360º format, and where your success directly depends on the strength of your blow. And it is the impact force tracking that makes this game an excellent fitness trainer!
The star system motivates you to fight your previous result over and over again. For those who need an external opponent, there is a multiplayer available. Moreover, you don’t have to compete, but on the contrary, knock out stars in the cooperative. Another interesting feature: integration with YUR.Watch, a cross-game wristwatch with a calorie tracker. Unlike some other apps, it works here. 🙂
An important disadvantage: you need a really large amount of space to fully invest in attacks, without fear of destroying the room and controllers in the real world. My 4×4 meters are not enough for me!
What should I do if I have a helmet, but not from Meta¹?
I have bad news for you: there will be very little content. Whether it's Pico or Apple Vision Pro, you're not in the mainstream. I tried googling superficially, and it looks like it's for an Apple device so far there is nothing, but there are several ports for Pico, and I have scattered links to them throughout the articles. There are still many more exclusives on Meta¹, but Pico has only one exclusive: a certain VR Fitness One, which, judging by the video, seems to be quite good – there is a box with tracking and repetitions of various exercises with a trainer without tracking – but it’s not top, although I personally cannot evaluate it due to the lack of a device. There are also several ports for the VIVE ecosystem, links are also in the corresponding applications and games, but I didn’t find any exclusives there.
What should those who are definitely in the mainstream and don’t have any helmet do?
Buy Quest 3, of course! But if suddenly my entire opus did not inspire you at all, I have one last hope to motivate you. This is an absolutely magnificent…
Ring Fit Adventure
Yes, the best fitness app has nothing to do with VR. It is designed for the Nintendo Switch and requires special equipment: a flexible Ring Con and an ankle band into which the Joy Con are inserted. And of course, you need a TV, in front of which there is enough space for training. However, it is technically possible to study in offline mode, but this sounds as inconvenient as possible.
If all the conditions are met, then you will get a full-fledged story-driven adventure in the signature Nintendo style with many cool characters like the sinister Kachkodemon (as I affectionately call him) and four masters in different fields of fitness. And this is a full-fledged JRPG, where in battles with the villain’s henchmen you will have to choose exercises that are suitable specifically for them as an attack and do them with maximum intensity due to sensitive tracking. And to travel around the world, you will have to run in place, sometimes raising your knees high to wade through bodies of water. With the constant charm of Nintendo, a variety of mini-games have been made, which is worth literally squeezing medicinal juices with a ring!
But even if the gaming part doesn’t interest you much, Ring Fit will offer you a convenient designer of series of exercises for the desired muscle groups, as well as tracking your progress in these series. And even the ability to earn game points outside of the session, without a console at all: for example, by squeezing the ring while watching a movie! The function is a little strange, but it demonstrates the developers' careful approach to their product. Of course, there are warm-ups, cool-downs, a calorie counter, statistics, and even short educational lectures about our body and proper nutrition!
With the exception of the abundance of necessary devices and suitable space, Ring Fit is devoid of significant drawbacks. This is such a Breath of the Wild in the world of fitness. I incorporated Ring Fit into my program in the form of one story and two specialty sessions per week for about six months while my friend's Switch was visiting me. And, well, I can say that during this period I almost managed to get real pleasure from training!
So is VR fitness necessary or not?
VR fitness clearly has room to grow, but this does not devalue it at all. As I said, it has five radical advantages over regular fitness. Even the wonderful Ring Fit Adventure does not cover all needs, since, for example, it does not have multiplayer, there are no 360º and spatial activities, martial arts are not possible, and there is no integration with health trackers. There is no VR magic, after all.
What is the ideal VR fitness app? Of course, it has the five advantages mentioned in full. Works without controllers and even moves your legs without additional devices – and this, by the way, technically possibleand gives access to exercises like the air bike or elbow stands (“birch trees”). Reaches the Ring Fit quality bar, but is also integrated into popular ecosystems. It cares not only about exercise, but also about your health in general. Tracks your posture, my sore subject! There is a system of weekly or monthly “exams” to test endurance and progress compared to previous performance. There is a ghost trainer who shows you exactly how to place your arm or leg in a yoga pose right inside your body, or in regular exercises shows you how high/low/far you did the exercise last time. It has the native ability to read books aloud, as well as play podcasts and videos during classes with all the conveniences like remembering stopping points and controlling gestures. And maybe it looks like training magicians from the world of legends about Aang And Corre? 🙂
And it also has an API so that I, as a VR game developer, can insert mini-games or even full-fledged triggers into my adventures that require the user to physically train – for example, to level up strength or dexterity! Or maybe, when developing a dating app for VR, I could require communication candidates to prove their ability to do 50 squats and 25 push-ups? 😉 Or at least a dating sim where the date goes as far as you can last through a series of exercises, and where you get another date for tomorrow – a real physical tomorrow – and you can't just quit the series of exercises. , because virtual relationships are at stake. Or that, when developing a video player for VR, I should enable a mode in which playback occurs only when performing exercises and slows down if the user is freeloading. And of course, where are the online fitness fighting games? This is a gold mine, and what a benefit for the world! What about the fitness Tamagotchi? If you want to feed a kitten, do a burpee! What about an economic simulator? It will cost you 75 push-ups to build a shopping center here, so get started.
With this I propose to end my flow of fantasies and one of the largest acts of graphomania in my life. My short conclusion: VR fitness is not for everyone, but I definitely recommend everyone to at least try it!
I hope this text was useful to someone. 🙂 If you suddenly think that the authors of articles should be supported with donations, you can support me through destream or the button below. I will be glad to see your comments and votes in the survey!
