And then I was picking it up, seeing it whoosh to life, the sizzling blue blade blinding as I raised it to my face, the Vive controller suddenly the steely hilt of a lightsaber. I peered closer at the grip, twisting it in my hand, admiring its elegant circuitry, noticing the sort of details a Star Wars nerd might identify as the “blade energy channel” or “cycling field energizers.” (Far-off VR may still be blurry, but up-close VR is breathtaking.)

And then I took a swing.

Forget all those toy lightsaber forgeries with backlit plastic blades. Forget the Wii and Lightsaber Duels. Your brain has no reference point for what it feels like to heft an alien object that’s only ever existed in your imagination when it’s reproduced so convincingly you can practically smell the ozone wafting from its lethal light field.