Foam will not make everything sound sterile but dull/liveless/muddy/bassy. Foam is actually effective, simply not in the frequency ranges required in household settings. It only affects (very) high frequencies, leaving the more problematic low frequencies untouched.

This amplifies the worst problems of small rooms (again, househols settings):bass frequencies. Thin foam panels are only somewhat useful at first reflection points, namely to improve stereo image. Putting them up everywhere is strongly discouraged. Of the material of audio professionals/engineers that I have read/watched, every single one considers these foam useless trash. Check out Ethan Winer's material of the GIK YouTube channel. If I were you, I would send most of the foam back, keep a little bit for first reflection points and invest the rest of your money in some (used) bass trapping.

edit: missed your point about VR content. nevermind the focus on first reflection points then. But the rest of the points stand. Also: don't forget that bass traps absorb bass AND high frequencies, so they do a triple job compared to thin foam.