I had no idea when I woke up this morning that I was about to get one of the best surprises of the day. No, it wasn’t the Splinter Cell tease/troll/joke/PR disaster/whatever the hell is happening over there in Ubisoft-land. It was a press release about the little mouse that could, my VR friend Quill, expanding her adventures in Polyarc’s Moss. While we’ve been eagerly anticipating Book 2 and what comes next for this story, Polyarc’s been hard at work on a free update to Moss, which includes an all new story chapter. But it’s oh so much more than that.
The Twilight Garden update isn’t just a tacked on expansion or additional piece of content. It’s a complimentary experience that weaves its way throughout the existing game via portals that Quill can use to visit the Twilight Garden. New areas, challenges, and story will be presented through this interwoven update. Twilight Garden is releasing at launch with Moss on the Oculus Quest, but will be made available for all other platforms in June.
Now, I haven’t played Twilight Garden yet, but I’m excited for any opportunity to revisit Quill’s world and play through that game again. In my original review, I thought what Polyarc did explored some amazing pathways in terms of what could only be achieved through VR. The bond the player has with the character is one aspect, but the entire package comes together perfectly. The music is emotional and moving. The story is a simple one, but involves the player right in the heart of it. And the animations are second-to-none. My only downside with the game was that the adventure ended all too soon, but Twilight Garden feels to me almost like it could be a “director’s cut” of Moss, with more places to visit, emotions to feel, and gameplay to master. There will even be new weapons and armor you can get for Quill!
One line in particular from the press release really stood out to me. “Success will require mastery from you both, but if achieved, could change what’s believed possible for a partnership of your kind…” Now this could just be some marketing talk to sound mysterious about the dear reader and their relationship with Quill, and to hype up the release of Moss on one more VR platform with the Quest. But I think Twilight Garden could be a window into something more. This could very well be our first glimpse at what Polyarc is aiming to do with the sequel (commonly referred to by fans as Book 2, given that Moss was Book 1), most notably in the gameplay advancements that are being made.
I’m excited to see what changes and additions Twilight Garden brings to Moss next month, perhaps mostly just because I need an excuse to take a break from the busy nature of life and spend some time with Quill once again. Even if the update isn’t a bridge into what comes next from Polyarc, I’m still immensely happy for this studio and what they’ve managed to accomplish with Moss.
While we’re talking about Moss, I wanted to share some of our original coverage from the game back when it first came out on the PSVR headset, so that you can get an idea about the passion the developers had while making the game. We interviewed Audio Director Stephen Hodde, Composer Jason Graves, and Animation Director Rick Lico about the development process and little details that they put into the game. If you have yet to be convinced to pick up Moss, just reading through those interviews should help sway you.
Moss is quite literally one of my favorite games of all time, and Polyarc one of my favorite budding developers, so waking up to more news about Moss, Quill, and Polyarc was an immense pleasure that made an ordinary Tuesday in May something pretty special.
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