Polyarc presents Moss: Book II for PlayStation VR

Polyarc introduced Moss: Book II for Sony’s PlayStation VR platform, which retrieved the main character of the mouse named Quill for a new virtual reality adventure.

The original Moss debuted in 2018 and sold over a million copies, which is quite a hit for a VR-only game. As such, it is one of the biggest hits in the fledgling consumer virtual reality market. That’s why Polyarc is investing in Moss: Book II.

The Seattle-based VR gaming studio made the announcement at Sony’s State of Play event, but failed to say what hardware the new game would run on, as Sony has not yet described what it will look like. the PlayStation VR 2 Experience The announcement will generate some interest in Sony’s second virtual reality platform. Polyarc has no release date for the game yet.

Josh Stiksma, Polyarc’s chief software engineer and design director, said in an interview with GamesBeat that the game recovers Quill, the mouse that does a search through a beautiful fantastic landscape contained in an old book. Quill’s kingdom was overthrown by Sarffog, a fire-breathing serpent, and Quill had to rescue his uncle Argus from Sarffog with the first title.

“We’re excited to work with Sony, which will be coming out on Playstation VR soon,” Stiksma said. “We’re excited about the future, and obviously our goal is to get Moss and Quill in the hands of as many players as possible. But we’re excited about our current collaboration with PlayStation VR.”

Moss: Book II

In the second game, Quill will travel deep into Arcane’s hexagonal castle. Stiksma said fans gave a lot of praise and helpful comments after playing the first game, and that one thing they wanted was a longer experience. The original Moss took four to six hours to play, and the new game will be at least that way and probably longer, Stiksma said.

“We can’t share everything about the story. But we are very excited to advance the story, “said Stiksma. “And also your connection with Quill. She is the central pillar of the game, and your connection to her, your connection to her, is what all our mechanics serve. “

Quill goes on to reveal that a winged tyrant was hunting inside the hexadecimal castle where his uncle was a prisoner. But Quill has a plan of his own, which could finally end the ruthless rule of the arcana and save the world from great indestructibility.

“We’re really going to pick up the right place where he left the match,” Stiksma said. “Quill followed this heroic journey to kill this giant snake Sarffog to save his uncle from the Arcane and right after,” we learn that the Arcane is not yet out of service.

Quill will have to take advantage of his old and new allies to fight and escape, Stiksma said. One of the things Quill will be able to do now is switch between different weapons, like a new heavy hammer he can handle.

“We’re trying to drive more emotional feedback from players as to how you’ll feel and how Quill will feel,” he said. “So we’re really trying to push you to a wider range of emotions. We want you to feel the triumph, we want you to feel discouraged. And we want you to feel more connected to it because a lot of people see the pen as a friend or a character. And we want to try to strengthen it. “

The landscape will be dangerous, with challenging puzzles and many enemies, Polyarc said.

Not many VR game studios have had a chance to make sequels, as VR hardware has not sold as well as many originals expected. But Polyarc won 80 awards and nominations for Moss and Polyarc, founded in 2015, raised $ 9 million to work on future titles.

The future of VR and VR development

As for bringing Moss to 2D screens, Stiksma said the company is open to opportunities, but the kind of game the team is interested in making now lends itself to virtual reality.

The team now has 32 people, more than double the size of the previous team. As for the future of virtual reality, Stiksma said: “I am very excited to see all the new technology coming out. And it will allow us to drive more things that we are excited to push, drive physical interaction, drive a connection with virtual characters. “

Stiksma said it has been very hard to work remotely, but expects Moss: Book II to end.

“It was a journey. It has certainly been a completely new experience, ”said Stiksma. “We were able to get a new study space, which thanks to COVID, we didn’t really participate in. It was a real struggle with our game test, which we believe is such an important part to get the emotional rhythms and the story it beats and the game beats well ”.