The Solus Project

I played the game in VR (Varjo Aero + Index controllers) and it was fascinating. It's a game from 2016 and it looks fabulous in VR. Honestly I set the difficulty to 0, so I wouldn't need to worry about food or water and just focus on exploring and the story itself - you can still die though (anomalies, traps, poison etc., you just don't die from hunger). I spent about 33 hours in the game and that's how long it took me to finish it. But I like exploring, so I took every detour possible.
Story was ok, though I wish there was better explanation of who the advanced aliens are and what exactly it is they want. But alas we never got Solus Project 2.
The game can be frustrating too like you can only save game by sleeping or at certain places. Sometimes the game does not give you proper directions, but I guess you can consider it part of the game (stranded alone on an alien planet). Also sometimes you arrive at a closed gate only to find out you need water, stones/rocks or sword to get, so you need to search the area. So my advice is always have a couple of bottles of water with you and always carry a couple of heavy rocks / stones.
All in all, mysterious, horror, survival sci-fi that looks astonishing in VR and generally plays great.
If you are not into exploring and you'd rather shoot stuff, yeah this game is not for you.

First things first: Do yourself a favour and play this in VR, it's one of the most impressive and beautiful games to be experienced that way. I'm writing this review in 2023 but I first played it on my OG Rift years ago when it first came out for VR. It was amazing then and it is equally incredible now. This is the fourth time I play it, this time on my Index and I thought it was about time I wrote a review.
By the way, for those who played this when it first came out the game has received many updates since then, both adding new areas and missions and also visual/technical improvements, especially in VR. I've seen people saying it's a 7-hour game when in truth it is much longer than that after all the new stuff that was added post-launch and post-early access.
Some controls feel outdated now, the way you can't grab things, interact, etc but you get used to it in 10 minutes and after that the game is just something you can't stop playing.
In my opinion one of the best sci-fi games in existence: long, beautiful, great story, great exploration, fantastic visuals and overall a magnificent game. I can't even understand why this game was so cheap when it first came out given the quality.
THE GOOD:
- Great visuals, still impressive after 7 years
- Some of the best weather effects you've ever seen
- Very impressive day and night and tides cycle
- Great sound and OST
- Very good story and lore
- Rewarding exploration and multiple things to find for completionists
- Very good length, between 15-20 hours for a first playthrough, much longer if you look for all the relics and other stuff
- Cheap as **** for a game of this quality, obviously even cheaper now that it's been out for a few years
- Awesome atmosphere
- A must-play title if you're into sci-fi stuff and love exploration
THE BAD
- Controls feel outdated in VR for certain interactions though it's mostly a minor inconvenience that you forget after 10 minutes.
THE UGLY
- The ending leaves you wanting more. Not exactly a cliff-hanger but it could certainly do with a sequel and/or a longer outro.
- Reading the diary pages is essential if you want to know what happened on the planet and it works very well but a system like the one in Bioshock (audio narrating the pages while you keep playing) would have been perfection.

Not bad. I admittedly didn't finish the game, but it's interesting.

This "Robinson Crusoe in Space" sim puts all chips on realism, which entails everything good and bad about the concept.
Pros: high fidelity visuals, immersive world-building and loads of environmental narrative, staggering amounts of land to cover on foot.
Cons: snail-crawling pace, bulky maneuverability and everything hurts like hеll.
Most of your time you'll spend on salvaging consumables from your shipwreck and surveying your "Interstellar"-inspired giant exoarchipelago.
I should probably hate this thinly veiled walking sim for how much it likes to take it slow - it's like a hundred Dear Esthers stitched together - and it begins to get a bit stale halfway through, but having to constantly deal with survival hazards, drastically changing weather (the alien planet really feels like a living, breathing space boulder), searching for key items, hunting for secrets and incremental equipment upgrades somehow keeps you busy enough to sell the ominous setting of a desolate planet that looks habitable enough to set up the colony for the dying mankind, yet keeps raising red flag after red flag to second-guess the only available option for survival.
* * *
TL;DR very slow and very immersing. Make sure to pack a playlist of your favourite angry podcast to binge on while trudging through the murky caves & celestial meadows of Gliese-6143-C.

Good ..
You can play it liniar or with focus on exploration ..

great graphics and story line.