I tried Alyx for the first time with my First Generation Oculus Quest right after its launch in March 2020. My RTX 2080 in my laptop struggled to run this game above 70 fps, so I had to experience the visuals at a scaled-down resolution and with a bunch of aliasing. Despite the low-fidelity visual effects, I was shocked right before I opened my eyes on the balcony and looked around at a delicate world, which renewed my impression of how expressive VR can be. I've never experienced a VR world with such clear textures and a strong sense of 3D. Everything is popped up, and the lights and shadows create a perfect contrast between objects; the objects in the background are as clear as those in front of me. I had no idea how the developers at Valve managed to optimize the game to this level.
Alyx was built on Source 2 and delivered the best interactive experience I've ever had in a video game, thanks to its strong physical effects. I could pick up objects and feel their weight in my hands. Since there was no weight added to my controller, the expression of object weight was a successful combination of animations and interaction design.
And now I am trying Alyx on a desktop 4090 with the latest Quest 3, with High-Fidelity Setting: no more blur, no more aliasing. Half-Life: Alyx shocked me again, as it did back in 2020, five years later, and the only things limiting the game's expression are still the headset's resolution and the hardware's computing power. This game is still state-of-the-art in any catalog.