I was recently bought a Meta Quest 2, which – naturally – meant I needed to figure out what games work well on such a thing and which were worth my time playing. One that was recommended over and over was Moss, so here I am telling you about My First Ever Completed VR Game!
If you take VR out of the equation, Moss is a nice little platformer with some puzzles and sword fighting as you take your mouse through some pretty areas like woods, a deserted village and eventually a castle. But, being in VR, it all feels like a set of interactive dioramas that you can reach into and look over walls and round corners as you do so. I suppose it isn’t immersive in the way you’d “traditionally” expect a VR game to be, but it is wonderfully tactile and immersive, like a kid’s playset come to life.
The Quest 2 itself doesn’t quite have a comfortable level of resolution so everything feels a bit pixellated and/or blurry, but Moss doesn’t seem to be affected quite as much as the other demos and apps I’d tried before playing it. All the depth effects feel “right”, and although I’ve yet to feel any VR nausea (not even in the VR rollercoaster sims) I can appreciate that the mostly static stage “scenes” would probably go a long way to helping those who do.
Graphically it is quite lovely, with nice lighting effects and detailed characters. Some of the backgrounds are populated with large objects and creatures (there’s a fantastic stag in one section) which help make you feel mouse-sized. Moss herself is animated really well and I love how you can pat or stroke her and she responds. She even high-fives you after tricky sections. Well, providing you don’t leave her hanging.
The gameplay isn’t actually that novel or unique, although physically reaching for handles and buttons with your own hands does change things a bit from the norm. It’s the way it is presented, the polish and the animations that really make it stand out for me. The VR is understated but impressive, the puzzles are OK but nothing too taxing, and the combat is a little quirky (especially when you use one baddie to attack another), but the sum of the parts is a beautiful little game with a lot of heart.
@deKay Not sure if you've got to it yet, but Superhot is an extraordinary demonstration of what VR can do. I can't even fathom how you'd play it on a console. Visuals not impacted by the Quest 2's iffy fov/resolution stuff.
@tehstu @deKay@lofi-gaming.org.uk I’ve played it on the Steam Deck. Does it do proper movement or teleporting?
@deKay@mastodon.social @deKay@lofi-gaming.org.uk Within a level? I want to say it simulates you walking between stages within a level. It's been a little while. But oh my word, you'll feel like Neo doing bullet time, contorting to avoid damage. Blew my mind how well it worked.
@tehstu @deKay@mastodon.social @deKay@lofi-gaming.org.uk
It's been a while but I *think* the VR game is like fixed-position Time Crisis stylee where you survive waves and then move on automatically.
I couldn't handle the later stages, but it was a lot of fun when I could be bothered to set up the Move wands. I finally played through original Superhot this year too. : D
@qazimod @deKay@mastodon.social @deKay@lofi-gaming.org.uk yeah, that's a good description, sans ducking behind stuff. Now you mention it, I'm not sure I finished it. Time to nab my son's 2, he got himself a Quest 3 the other day.