Mixed reality is one medium that has advanced leaps and bounds since it was first introduced alongside virtual reality. How it has been implemented nowadays in modern games is equally surprising and engaging. Imagine my surprise when I put my Quest 3 headset on like any other day and found myself fighting literal skeletons in my bedroom. Mythic Realms is a new MR-VR video game that applies this idea successfully in more ways than one.
More than a proof of concept, Mythic Realms proves that the technology is here to stay and it is as fun as can be. Showing the synergy between mixed reality and virtual reality, the headset first analyzes your space to see what it can work with. Not soon after, an enemy is thrown into the mix. And while for RPG gamers of all kinds fighting a slime is not exactly life-changing, to see it appear on your literal floor becomes a much more enticing prospect.
After that startling introduction, Mythic Realms’ other, more calm element emerges: a village to call home. In this empty town, the goal is to invest in it once you have collected enough loot during your adventurous escapades. Blacksmiths to enhance your weapons and tools, a bridge to unlock a new area, or a statue with benefits that can be reaped during each incursion are but a few of the possible improvements available.
Before heading out to each Expedition, a handy quest board in town gives extra benefits for completing its objectives like gold or tin ore. For activities that you will already do, getting this bonus feels generous towards making a more full-fledged settlement. From a hub where you can choose up to four biomes and the items that you want to carry with you and may lose upon death, the journey continues.
Heading back into the MR world where your reality and fantasy converge, every expedition works in a rather straightforward way. In a roguelike fashion, there are several options to choose what to do: fight, mine, chop trees or fish. While all are sufficiently accommodating to enjoy on their own, repetition is key to getting better at all activities. Like any self-respecting RPG, leveling up is fundamental. Fishing, woodcutting, and mining all have their own experience bars that will increase accordingly.
Now, combat is what suffers a bit as waggling instead of trying to attack at the right time is what feels most effective for killing enemies. Luckily, physically moving about in recognizable spaces never loses its novelty as each progressing biome has new enemies, decorations, and fantasy music. Now and then, the game throws you a curveball that could benefit you like hidden doors in your surroundings that will gift orbs to increase your attack damage.
After reaching a certain point in an expedition, choose to head back and save all your gains, go to a campfire and regain life, or find another adventurer who will engage in conversation and give an item that will prove useful. Because all your gains might be lost in a gamble for glory, it is important to consider falling back and basking in the lesser glory earned than dying in battle.
Mythic Realms pulls out all the stops at the end of each expedition when you face the final boss. Boss fights are veritable tests of mettle, with long HP bars and smaller enemies spawning every so often. Moving around, and maybe even on top of furniture, might be necessary to obtain that elusive win. With a promising roadmap down the line including farming and a new biome, Mythic Realms is an innovative hybrid game that young and old can enjoy, and be amazed by.
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