Moss Review (Emblem Parade)
A short and rather basic platformer-puzzler with simplistic combat. It has strong Trine energy, but is not as compelling. Play Moss for the amazing visual design, but keep your expectations low for just about everything else. This is the unfortunate situation of state-of-the-art in VR gaming.
Note that this is just half of the game. You will need to buy Moss: Book II to get a complete experience. Consider if that's worth the cost for you.
Moss tells its story as a fairy tale read out loud to a child from a book. This conceit is a bit charming but is elaborated ad nauseam. The cut scenes are way too long, and generally narration throughout the game mimics an adult "doing the voices" for a kid before bedtime, instead of having characters speak as themselves and having a distinct personality. This tedious format is made worse by an incoherent, plodding story, lackluster writing, and humdrum voice acting. Something about heroes and treasure and villains and saving the world. I honestly couldn't even summarize it to you. It's like a Pixar film we pretend didn't exist.
However, the visual presentation makes these clichés worthwhile. For one, the level design is very well tuned to both VR technology and the story's subject matter. It's designed as if you're looking into a doll house, and of course it kinda is one: a world for tiny animals. It's simply wonderful to peer into this miniature universe, to stand up and look above and behind walls and corners for secrets and details. Though the textures and lighting are very simple compared to AAA productions, the understated cartoonish qualty is immersive and suitable. I especially appreciate the excellent character and monster animations. Because the writing drains the characters of life, the animation must do the heavy lifting, and it does so well enough. The protagonist is adorable and the highlight of the game.
So how does it play? It starts slow and trivial, but does become more engaging later on, with a few moderately challenging puzzles and combat situations, especially in Chapter II. It's all .. fine. Unfortunately, controls for the many 3D platforming situations won't orient quite as you think they should and so it's too easy to fall and die. Luckily for that, the price of death is low in Moss. It's all quite casual.
Should you buy it? First, consider that you will likely also buy Moss: Book II. Both games provide a wonderful showcase for VR gaming. They're otherwise not so exciting.