With Little Witch Academia VR, Oculus users can experience what it’s like to fly through hoops and occasionally be talked down to by anime characters.
Players who aren’t familiar with Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing‘s anime counterpart may not understand all the references, but they will still have an enjoyable, if simple, time playing the game. Published and developed by UNIVRS, Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing delivers exactly what the title promises, but a lack of a gameplay variety, depth, or any sort of solo non-story arcade-style racing mode drags down what is otherwise a perfectly enjoyable experience.
Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing does offer a “Play Online With Friends” option, but it was not accessible in the pre-release version which was available to review. For players who are just looking to race against a team of AI-controlled characters on broomsticks, however, they can easily do so by accessing one of the game’s 13 brief levels (the entirety of which can be replayed after a successful completion) but must sit through both the intro and outro story cutscenes to do so each time.
Flying in Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing is an incredibly easy thing to do, as players need only to look and tilt their Oculus controller down for a brief moment to build up momentum before both looking and lifting up to take to the skies. Once a race begins the brooms move forward automatically, and players only need to worry about staying on course, making sure to avoid obstacles, and shooting magic with their free hand as needed. While this seems like a perfect recipe for motion sickness (especially for those who VR rollercoaster games are too much for) the flying in Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing is surprisingly smooth and easy to control, although players will want to make sure they are sitting or standing in an area where they can turn around a full 360 degrees if need be.
Each level in Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing also has a series of challenges attached, which consist of simple tasks like “Finish in 1st place” and “Finish under 1:30.” Completing these tasks will reward the player with in-game currencies which they can then use to buy new brooms and new gems for broomstick enhancement. Thankfully, the actual process of flying can be both engaging and entertaining, especially once the player unlocks faster brooms, but the forced repetition of the story cutscenes (as well as the constant character vocalizations during races) can quickly become tiring, especially if players want to try multiple mission replays in a single session.
One of the most frustrating situations this leads to is when replaying “The Stella Cup,” which is Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing’s final level. After finishing this race, the game (like it does for every other level) gives players the option to either replay the mission or proceed. If players hit proceed they are then forced to watch the game’s finale all over again, complete with a replay of the credits, before being able to return to the menu and play another level.
The story of Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing is a simple one, told through characters which seem to pop into existence from nowhere and disappear just as quickly depending on how much dialog they have to deliver. There is an overabundance of magic at the Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy, and the player takes on the role of a new student who must help the fledgling witches master and contain this new power and save their school. It’s an original story, one not based on any episode of the Little Witch Academia anime series, and although it doesn’t take more than a few hours to complete it still serves as a perfectly functional shell to house the game’s broomstick races, which makes up the entirety of Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing’s gameplay apart from periodic inconsequential dialog selections.
Although there is a new Harry Potter RPG game coming from Portkey Games in the future, Little Witch Academia VR Broom Racing offers broomsticks, magic, and a Witch Academy for anyone who is looking to scratch that particular itch. While not the best Oculus VR game available, the game still offers a fun (albeit stilted) experience for both kids and adults, and players who are also familiar with the anime will likely find a lot to enjoy.
Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing is available on Oculus Quest. An Oculus Store code was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review.
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