3 reasons I haven't reviewed Minecraft: Gear VR Edition yet

We haven't reviewed Minecraft on the Gear VR just yet. It's not that I'm being lazy, it's that there are a few issues that are giving me some problems. Very specific issues, that mean I'm often limited to a handful of minutes each time I play.

Firstly, there's the nausea. I don't generally get sick in VR, but there are a handful of games that trip me up, and Minecraft appears to be one of them.

I'm not 100% sure why. Samsung Gear VR does leave me a little more prone to nausea when I use my S6 on it because the framerate seems to be a tiny bit too low; but I can usually ride out 30 minutes or so before the sweats set in and I need a break.

In Minecraft, despite being able to simulate mouselook with my gaze, I found myself quickly feeling like I wanted to hurl. Not actually a problem, because you very rarely throw up with virtual reality sickness - a cool trick a dev told me after his VR game flipped me 720 degrees in a couple of seconds - but it was still enough for me to take off the headset.

Secondly there's the battery life. The S6 can generally power my Gear for about an hour, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. It requires about 30-40 minutes to charge to full again. Yesterday, playing Minecraft in VR I found myself hovering nervously near my charger.

I can plug it into my Gear VR and charge it that way, but that mandates me enjoying VR sat in the corner of my room - if i wanted to sit on my rotating office chair for 360 degree no-scope block placement, I was limited to 40 minute play sessions.

I'm told this is much better with the S7, a Gear VR demonstrator told me yesterday that he gets 4-5 hours out of his S7 on a bad day, so potentially people with an S7 will fare better. There's also no telling whether optimisation in future updates will improve battery life, but we can hope.

Thirdly, and most importantly, there's the claustrophobia. Digging beneath the earth in Minecraft has always felt a little terrifying, the blocky world's crust filled as it is, with evil beasties trying to do you harm, but even the ground itself is terrifying in VR.

The cavernous depths are filled with darkness, which makes me nervous, but digging straight into the ground gave me a sense of real claustrophobia that i've never really encountered before.

There's a tightness to my chest as I descend into the ground, pickaxe at the ready. It's a great success for VR immersion, but for a game where I mostly want to build giant lighthouses and huge underseas Bat-caves with secret entrances, it's all a bit real, and I'm often pulling the headset off soon after digging.

Those three issues are the reason I'll probably have to find a freelancer to cover Minecraft VR, because I'm now mortally terrified of doing anything in it that isn't sitting in my spacious and well lit house.