I’m a firm believer that standalone VR is flat out better than PC VR.
That said, as of this writing (Spring 2022), PC VR exclusive experiences still exist. What are those things? Here are my top 5.
1) PC VR Exclusive Games
This really is most of it.
Many games start out in the SteamVR Store (AKA only playable using PC VR) before being ported over to the Quest 2. Or whatever the latest proprietary VR app store is these days.
Either way, this means there are likely a plethora of awesome games that exist that you haven’t had the opportunity to play if you haven’t been using PC VR. As of 2022, here are some of my favorites that fall into that category.
2) Microsoft Flight Simulator
Microsoft Flight Simulator could have been put in the previous section because technically it is “Just another game.”
That said, it really deserves its own special consideration because of just how cool it is. If you pair Microsoft Flight Simulator with a high-end gaming computer and a high-end headset like the Varjo Aero, it’s really just an experience in its own right. Or many of you may enjoy it on whatever headset you have, even a Quest 2.
3) Games With Specialty Controllers
There are a bunch of games out there that allows you to use specialty controllers to play it (Microsoft Flight Simulator also falls into this category).
Take Dirt Rally 2.0 for instance (see video below). First off it looks awesome, but I’ve never played it because you’ll also want a customized wheel / peddals to really immerse yourself.
When you search online for best PC VR experiences you’ll see a lot of stuff that falls into this category. Experiences with custom controllers to take immersion to the next level. It’ll require some extra gear, but it may be worth it to you if it’s that much fun. Here are a handful of VR accessories I’ve found.
4) PC VR Allows For Better Graphics
You really need to play all of your favorite games again with a gaming PC.
Most hardcore VR enthusiasts have spent thousands on high-end gaming PC’s sporting extremely powerful GPU’s. Why? Because it takes a lot of processing power to play VR games at their maximum resolution and frames per second.
If you’re a huge Moss fan, or Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, Contractors, VRChat, etc. You might find you enjoy these games even more when playing them in PC VR vs. standalone.
That’s not true for all games, but many games significantly reduced the graphics or even entire sections of their game so that they’d work using the mobile hardware of a standalone VR headset.
5) PC VR Exclusive Content
Remember when I said that some games have ripped out entire sections of gameplay to work using slimmed down standalone hardware?
Well it’s true. Very popular games like VRChat and EchoVR have entire sections of the game that they’ve flat out removed to make it work on the Quest 2. So if you REALLY enjoy those games, you might find entirely new parts of the game if you moved over to a PC VR headset.
Conclusion
While I firmly believe that standalone VR headsets will one day be the only VR headsets in existence (because wireless is better). We’re not there yet. And there are plenty of games exclusive to PC VR that would make trying it out worth it to a lot of people.
Hope this helps!