Originally released in late 2019, AVICII Invector was a game that, for all intents and purposes, seemed likely to fail. It screamed “licensed cash grab”. What we ended up getting, however, was a truly gorgeous tribute to the late DJ/producer Tim Bergling, a.k.a. Avicii, featuring gorgeous visuals, a pretty good control scheme and gameplay loop, and of course a lot of his hits, such as “Levels” and “The Nights”. Upon finding out about an Oculus Quest adaptation of said game, I was excited. I love when developers manage to adapt older titles to a brand new perspective, breathing new life into now-forgotten titles. Not only did AVICII Invector: Encore Edition achieve that, but it surpassed the original release in every conceivable way, being the definitive edition of an already excellent rhythm title.

Before you ask, let me answer it right from the get-go: yes, the Quest version AVICII Invector: Encore Edition is basically the same “definitive edition” of AVICII Invector from 2020, originally released for the Switch, but in VR. The gameplay is exactly the same as before. The motion capabilities of the Oculus Quest’s controllers aren’t used, and I honestly think that was a smart decision. This isn’t the type of game that needs unnecessary motion implementations for the sake of “immersion”. Just like the PSVR version of Zone of the Enders, this is a perfect case of “less is more”. The focus is on making the 2019 original feel right at home in a brand new perspective, and the developers have clearly succeeded at that.

With the “easy to learn, hard and confusing to master” gameplay left intact, you might be wondering if there’s anything new in this version of the game. Well, yes and no. With the exception of the brand new VR perspective, there is no new content in AVICII Invector: Encore Edition when compared to the original Switch release of the same name. However, if you compare it to the original Invector, there are ten additional songs in the setlist, with thity-five Avicii tunes in total, a much more respectable amount.

The game itself runs smoothly on the Oculus Quest 2, retaining the same gorgeous visuals and tons of particle effects, all running at the highest of framerates, with absolutely no loading times. In theory, yes, the game looks better than the non-VR version of Invector, but there is a small issue. Remember how Invector was plastered with cutscenes which were presented whenever you completed a new song? They are still present in here, but they are presented outside of VR, in an immersion-breaking manner not unlike Resident Evil 4 VR. A small price to pay in order to make AVICII Invector: Encore Edition run perfectly on a VR platform, I suppose.

All in all, this is basically a VR adaptation of AVICII Invector, but don’t think that’s a dealbreaker. On the contrary, Hello There Games have successfully converted one of the more entertaining rhythm games released over the past years into a VR feast for the eyes and ears. The additional music packs, the Quest’s portability, and the obvious novelty of being able to play this game in VR make this port of AVICII Invector: Encore Edition the best version of what was already an excellent rhythm game, as well as a fantastic tribute to the late DJ/producer.

Graphics: 9.5 Despite looking exactly like the non-VR version of AVICII Invector, the brand new perspective makes the game look even brighter and more immersive. With that being said, the once interesting cutscenes look very dull, as they are presented outside of VR.	Gameplay: 8.0 Very little has changed in regards to the gameplay. Motion controls aren’t used. As before, it’s easy to learn, but very hard and confusing to master.
Sound: 9.5 The same base soundtrack from the first Invector title, with ten additional tracks from previous DLC packs. More variety will never be a bad thing.	Fun Factor: 9.0 The Oculus Quest port of AVICII Invector: Encore Edition is the best version of what was already an excellent rhythm game, as well as a fantastic tribute to the late DJ/producer.
Final Verdict: 9.0

AVICII Invector: Encore Edition is available now on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and Oculus Quest 2.

Reviewed on Oculus Quest 2.

A copy of AVICII Invector: Encore Edition was provided by the publisher.