Anyone who has sunk hours into something like Skyrim can attest to the fun of first-person sword and spell combat, and it's that magic that Blade & Sorcery, a VR game, tries to capture. It's been around since 2018 receiving steady support, including a massive update last June.
Blade & Sorcery is one of many games created specifically for Virtual Reality. The premise is similar to other fantasy games, with players using medieval melee weapons up close, then switching to bows or, uniquely, spells for long-range combat. The range of spells is pretty good too, so there are many options to choose from.
While its regular gameplay is fun enough, Blade and Sorcery has also proved to be excellent for mods, indcluding things like Blade and Sorcery's lightsaber mods. There are several to choose from, and as fans may guess, they allow players to use lightsabers. Some also replace characters with Star Wars characters. In this same vein, one modder has created a Harry Potter mod for Blade and Sorcery. On top of using spells from the iconic series, the mod has other highlights as well.
The mod in question, dubbed Witchcraft and Wizardy, gives players wands that can cast spells from the Harry Potter series, including Avada Kadavera, the killing curse. Players can also ride around on Nimbus 2000 brooms and play as characters from the series, and the wand used even matches the character. It's not perfect, but while a Star Wars VR game has been confirmed, there are few official ways to play a game in the Harry Potter universe.
There are two levels inspired by the Harry Potter series in the mod as well: Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Quidditch Field. More are planned for the future, including a level of Hogwarts proper. At the moment, it's one of the better Harry Potter combat games, although not as expansive as, say, the Minecraft recreation of Hogwarts. But with Minecraft ending VR support for several platforms, Blade and Sorcery may be the best Harry Potter VR experience for a while.
VR games are still finding their footing, but games like Blade and Sorcery prove there could be a real market for them. There's still a long way to go before they become the norm though. Half-Life: Alyx recently added mod support in the same vein as Blade and Sorcery, and already fun mods are coming in for it. There's a real possibility that the future of VR gaming may emerge from mods created today, so keep an eye on the best ones.
Blade and Sorcery is available for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Valve Index.
Source: PCGamesN, Nexus Mods