The emulated version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) is receiving an unofficial mod this week that will introduce full 6DOF PC VR support to the game. The Latest Update Developed by 'Crementif,' the BetterVR mod for BotW promises to deliver fully stereo-rendered, 6DOF VR support to the Cemu emulated version of the game, complete with full hand and arm support for actions like wielding weapons, torches, and Bokoblin arms. It is important to note that the mod is intended for the Wii U version of BotW, and users must own a legal copy of the game as no game files are included in the mod. Furthermore, as it utilizes Cemu, the popular Wii U emulator for PC, the VR mod also offers extensive mod compatibility. "Although I have dedicated considerable effort to this mod, not everything functions perfectly. Some issues may arise but will be addressed over time," mentions Crementif. "AMD graphic cards may not be supported initially, as during testing, we encountered difficulties on AMD systems due to a driver bug." Crementif points out that performance may not match that of a native VR title due to CPU-heavy emulation. However, frame interpolation has made it "quite playable" on a few test systems, as listed below: i9-13900K, RTX 4090, 32 GB RAM, Pimax Crystal Super Ryzen 7600x, RTX 3060 12GB, 32GB RAM, Meta Quest 3 BetterVR will be released as an open-source project on December 30th and will be available for free download from Crementif's GitHub repository. Personal Opinion Based on the test footage, the VR mod for BotW seems to exhibit some of the familiar issues seen in emulations of the game on traditional screens, such as sporadic frame rates and inconsistent texture loading. While I am eager to try it out, I am prepared for any quirks that may arise from the emulation process. Nevertheless, the VR interactions in BotW appear enchanting: activities like felling trees, battling Bokoblins, and defending against enemy attacks all seem like ideal candidates for immersive experiences.
