Broken Edge Is A Duelling Game Where You Really Have To Believe You're A Master Sword Fighter

thegamer.com:

I'm a barbarian and I'm wielding a colossal greatsword. In front of me is a knight with their shield raised and their sword pointed menacingly towards me. To get the upper hand, I'm gonna have to power up my blade. Broken Edge is a VR duelling game where each class has a special move that infuses their weapon with magic. But this being virtual reality, I can't just push a button to trigger it—I actually have to do it. But here's the problem. I'm playing the game in a demo booth at Gamescom. I'm surrounded by strangers I've just met. I'm hot and sweaty. I'm unfamiliar with the room I'm in. So I'm not fully getting into it, which I quickly discover is mandatory for this game. To succeed, I need to believe I'm the barbarian.

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To power up the barbarian's greatsword I need to swirl it around my head in sweeping, dramatic circles. It needs to be a big, exaggerated movement for the game to register it. But I'm stiff and self-conscious, meekly spinning the Meta Quest 2's grip controller in vague circles and failing to ignite my weapon with the requisite magical energy. Someone from developer Trebuchet tells me to loosen up. I watch him do it, and he IS that barbarian. He's half crouched, striking a pose, spiralling that thing around his noggin like a windswept warrior from the wilderness of death. His greatsword fizzes with energy and, yeah, okay. I get it now.

I match his movements, forget about all the people gawping at me, and embody the spirit of the barbarian. I swoop the blade in orbit around my head, doing it as theatrically as I can, and it works. I'm now powered up and ready to charge into battle. It's pretty