Viveport Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them VR Experience

Warner Bros. dazzles Harry Potter fans with this engrossing and immersive experience that showcases some of the beasts of the Potterverse.

By Joshua Hawkins, Greenlit Content 

The Harry Potter universe (better known to fans as the Potterverse) is a wonderful place, and Warner Bros. has always done a good job of bringing the stories within this world to life. The virtual reality experience that they crafted for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is engrossing, and really immerses the user by showcasing the world in all its splendor.

The experience is very simple, and as I dove into it for the first time, I couldn’t help but look around in awe. The environments and animations are all extremely smooth and well-crafted. The waving of your wand feels good within the game, and interacting with this environment is fun, though limited. These limitations are my only real issue with the experience, as I never felt like I had the ability to explore the entire area.

The animations and visuals are what really help this experience shine, though, as each of the beasts feels and looks real as it moves around in front of you. I still can’t shake the feeling of awe as the massive thunderbird swooped into its enclosure, landing directly in front of me. The way that it moved, its chest, rising and falling, felt real. I wanted to reach out, touch this creature, and slowly run my hand along its neck.

This level of immersion is something that all virtual reality titles should strive to meet. I know I’ve said experience a lot in this review, but I think its important to get the point across. This isn’t a game. You do not have any way to win or lose. This is wholly an experience built from the ground up to give Harry Potter fans a more immersive look into the Potterverse. It’s an expertly crafted piece of media, and Warner Bros. did an excellent job of making the magic and the world feel believable.

That doesn’t stop me from wishing there was more to it, though. I want to move around the courtyard and explore; to look at things from different angles, and really get a feel for how big these creatures are. I wish there was more.

For now, though, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will become part of my VR collection. While limited, not every virtual reality experience is crafted to bring you back to it. Some merely fill you with awe and wonder for brief periods of time, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them brilliantly accomplishes this.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them VR Experience is available on Viveport.