One True Path - Part 1 Hands-On: An Intriguing Genre-Bending Adventure

One True Path - Part 1 presents an intriguing genre-bending VR adventure, and the full release arrives today on Quest & Steam. Here are our full impressions.

Previously released in early access, One True Path is a narrative-driven game from the team behind A Fisherman's Tale, InnerspaceVR. Now entering full release, you're tasked with uncovering the mystery behind the murder of Jack Stevenson, author of the Fiendish Fates gamebook series. This involves exploring three of his wildly different worlds that include a post-apocalyptic western, classic sci-fi and gothic mystery.

We went hands-on before today's launch on Quest 3, taking an hour to complete Part 1. Jack's narration while his lifeless body remains collapsed on his desk immediately sets an intriguing tone that held my interest throughout. Without spoiling anything, I'm impressed by how well InnerspaceVR balances these entertaining narratives across each world while offering new insights into Jack's life. This adventure varies your journey across Jack's novels at set intervals, instead of sticking to one story at a time.

Each novel provides different abilities that match the novel's tone, even if they aren't especially in-depth. Shooting enemies as an outlaw cowboy after stunning them with an electric blast is pretty fun, as is slicing through undead skeletons with a fancy sword. The sci-fi novel is more like a puzzle game, offering welcome variety beyond a new environment. For example, one sequence involves switching between bodies and moving them to power up a room before you can leave.

I'm not someone who ever read through any 'Choose Your Own Adventure' style gamebooks, though I appreciate how the game leans into this theme despite the linear progression. You don't have much freedom in One True Path usually beyond deciding which book's route to take first. That said, accidentally encountering a “bad ending” gave me a good laugh as I realize how foolish that decision was in hindsight.

Whether you're back in his office or exploring a novel, One True Path also restricts movement to teleporting between set locations. As someone who prefers stick-based locomotion, it's a minor disappointment though hardly a dealbreaker, yet there are some moments where the visuals were blurrier than expected. Still, the cel-shaded presentation generally looks great, and that's backed up by a fitting soundtrack.

Presently, there's no indication for when Part 2 will follow and while this isn't a particularly big journey yet, it didn't need long to grab my interest. InnerspaceVR previously called this a pilot for its upcoming project and going by Part 1, I'd say One True Path is off to a great start. I'm keen to see where the studio takes this concept next.

One True Path is out now for $1.99 on Steam and the Meta Quest platform, and the full release has introduced support for Quest 2.