Moss Book 2 picks up exactly where the first game left off - so if you're wondering whether or not you should play the first game first - yeah, do it. Not only is it 10 dollars cheaper than Quill's second outing, but you'll have a better understanding of the story thus far. Book 2 recaps it nicely in storybook form, but it doesn't hold a candle to playing through it yourself. But Moss Book 2 doesn't just pick up where Book 1 left off, it actually feels like you're still playing Book 1 when the game first starts. You're in the exact same place with the exact same dead boss on the ground and everything looks, plays, and sounds exactly the same. There's a weird sense of comfort in that - like you're returning back home and nothing has changed, which is so seldom the case in real life or entertainment.
But it doesn't stay that way too long, just long enough for you to wonder if Polyarc got lazy and literally made a whole bunch of DLC and tried to sell it to us as a new game - which, don't worry, I assure that that is absolutely not the case here. But just as you're getting to that point you start looking around and realizing the worlds are so much more fleshed out artistically. Every area is bigger - to the point it frequently loses the diorahmma feel of the first game and you just feel like a tiny mouse in a giant world - all of which creates a sense of scale that the was always present in Moss, but only now fully realized. The soundtrack feels more fully realized here too - there are tunes for every situation and make the more adventerous parts feel more andventurous and the more treacherous parts feel more treachoerous. My favorite addition though is that the music seems to kick in at just the right time to let you know you're solving puzzles correctly. Along with all that once you start learning new abilities, Moss Book 2 finally begins to feel like its own game. You've got a brand new inventory system, new weapons, charge attacks, new ways to solve puzzles and as the reader you're suddenly a much more important part of Quill's journey. Being able to grow lattices for Quill to climb and bridges for her to cross aren't just ways forward but also brand new puzzles for you to solve in first person. I'm not totally sure that Moss fans are tuning into book 2 specifically for the platforming or combat but both remain par for the course, which means you'll occasionally curse the game for an unfair death or grow tired of being locked in a room forced to fight waves of enemies. - again and again. It's all fine and there's certainly a certain degree of skill involved to be successful, but I think the real draw here are the puzzles. Now let's be clear here - I think Moss Book 2 is a fairly easy game and I only got stumped maybe two or three times - which for a 6 hour game isn't too bad. You'll breeze through most of the puzzles --- but occasionally you'll walk into a room, see multiple exits, a whole lot of contraptions and control plates and just think --- damn, i'm gonna be here for awhile. And you will. I took my time a collected a good chunk of the scrolls but didn't backtrack or explore nearly as much as I would have liked. So if you played the way I did, between the new puzzles, the longer story, the backtracking, exploration, and few new metroidvania elements, you're looking at a 6 hour adventure minimum, which is easily 50% longer than the original. Being back in the libray, hunched over a book and turning the pages as the narrator reads me the story in VR - I mean, I'm the guy who hated standing in the Saints & Sinners bus staring at a radio, But it's a good feeling and Polyarc did something special here. The library changes with the story and suddenly I felt like the people who made this game are just as obsessed with the NEVERENDING STORY as I am. That I'm bastian peering into the world of Fantasia, intimately connected with Atreyu and Artax and that the things happeneing to them are affectig me too. Just me? Ok. So it's not quite on that level, but it's crazy that I felt none of that in Book 1 and so much of it here. In fact ALL the new additions to the sequel make it feel like a more fleshed out game - and most of them are added so well that it all feels like a natural evolution of the series. Which also makes Moss Book 1 feel - dare I say - a bit more shallow by comaprison? I'd have to say that Moss Book 2 doesn't take nearly the number of risks I would have liked for a sequel, but playing it safe still meant that Polyarc managed to improve on almost every aspect of the original. It's a beautiful game with an awesome soundtrack and another heartfelt story. It's unlikely the new additions to the gameplay will rope in anyone who wasn't enthralled by the original, but for the millions of people who were, Moss Book 2 is an absolutely essential followup.
Score: 9/10
Add comment
Comments