A quest on the quest
Virtual reality is a strange piece of technology. The latest, if not the biggest, advancement in the gaming industry offers some of the most immersive experiences available to gamers. As cool as those titles are, the platform suffers from a myriad of issues that often make it difficult to truly enjoy the technology. Often these are due to physical limitations inherent in something that forces you to stand in a large room for hours at a time. And while titles like Pavlov VR trying to overcome that problem by promoting short play sessions, there’s still a lack of really relaxing games to play on the Quest 2 (and PlayStation VR or Valve Index). Moss: Book II doesn’t necessarily solve that problem, but with its five-hour runtime and seated controls, it’s a step in the right direction for a technology that will hopefully dominate humanity’s leisure in the near future.
Unlike most virtual reality exclusive games, Moss: Book II is not an immersive first person shooter. Instead, it’s a weird mix of fairy tales and… fable that puts you in control of someone reading an adventure book for kids. That book, which is technically the second in its series after the original Moss, tells the story of a mouse named Quill who is tasked with saving a dead kingdom. However, instead of directly controlling the mouse, you play as someone who reads his story while controlling the mouse during combat and navigation sequences.
Assuming you haven’t played the first one Moss game, this may seem a little confusing, but thankfully it’s a lot simpler than it initially seems. In “cutscenes”, all you have to do is flip through pages with your Quest controllers (or presumably your PlayStation VR controllers, details of which you can read here) while sitting in your most comfortable real seat. When cutscenes end, you can control Quill with the Quest’s joysticks, instruct the fuzzy fur antagonist to attack with the controller’s buttons, and occasionally manipulate the environment for motion-controlled puzzles, all while playing a 3D view of the game’s environments.
Of course it’s a weird way to use the possibilities of virtual reality, but luckily it works surprisingly well. Unlike the other small handful of kid-oriented VR games, exploring the linear story of the game while sitting still is relaxing. Combat is not overly intense due to the quasi-third person perspective. But from a gameplay perspective, the game is ultimately just as fun as its mentioned competitors, as it asks very little of you in terms of real-world physical movement. The bit of puzzling is also a welcome addition that VR’s 3D environments require, while remaining simple and non-intense.
And that certainly helps Moss: Book IIs story is nice too. While the title isn’t the video game equivalent of Oscar ace, Quill’s journey from a mouse on a mission to a mouse who accomplished his mission is interesting enough. It’s reminiscent of traditional childhood fairy tales, meaning that while there are no notable plot twists or meaning to life questions, it’s still enjoyable to sit through even if you’re on the older end of the gamer’s age spectrum.
This is probably also a good place to mention that, from a technical point of view, Moss: Book II is a great enough game. It won’t win any awards for its graphics or sound design, but given the weird nature of virtual reality, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The title looks and sounds as good as anyone would expect, and it’s also about as bug-free as games get these days.
Which means, coupled with its interesting take on combat and acceptable story, Moss: Book II is a pretty good game. It’s not the best title available on the Quest 2, but it’s one of the most straightforward and comforting titles. The story of a cute fluffball who has to hit some non-humanoid enemies works well with its sitting-oriented control scheme and decent graphics. Adults looking for the latest and greatest virtual reality title will want to look elsewhere, but parents who don’t want their kids learning about swear words on Forward or Pavlov VR while still using the quest, you should seriously consider this title. It’s one of the few games on the platform designed for anyone who can’t drown their sorrows in whiskey, and these days that’s about as good as anyone can hope for.
You can subscribe to Jump Chat Roll on your favorite podcast players, including:
Let us know in the comments if you enjoyed this podcast and if there are any topics you’d like to hear us tackle in future episodes!
0 Comments