MWM Interactive and VR vets InnerspaceVR have released a new PSVR title recently called Maskmaker. Players take the role of an apprentice maskmaker tasked with creating dozens of different masks and solving as many puzzles across three different biomes in order to unravel a mystery and put some past issues to rest. That’s intentionally vague, but suffice it to say that as the up-and-coming Maskmaker, you’ve got your work cut out for you, but not necessarily in a bad way.
Maskmaker requires PSVR obviously, and I played this game on my PS5 using two of my original PS Move Motion controllers. I got only lightly queasy while playing, although the game does offer options to help contain this thanks to the ability to teleport or use standard locomotion, and you can also tighten up the field of view to help. Teleporting works as it sounds — simply hold the Move button to bring up a short-range line indicating where you will teleport to, and release, and you’re instantly there.
The art style is a cel-shaded like and far more artsy and casual than realistic, with areas as small as a hidden upstairs workshop and as large as massive snow-capped mountain scapes. The adventure begins with the player in almost a dream-like state as you walk down a deserted small town (felt like 1700s Europe) street to find the only place that is available to find: the Maskmaker’s workshop. The narrated and voice-over heavy game gives you plenty of backstory about what’s going on and raises questions bordering on the philosophical, though I often thought the game would be more immersive without all of the constant chatter. Anyhow, your first task is to find the entrance to the hidden upstairs area of the workshop, where the real magic happens. Once there, you are at the nexus of the game, with most of the rest of the experience laid out for you in as far as where you will be going and what your objectives will be. Travel between the biomes is snappy and simply requires putting on or removing your mask.
Each of the numerous masks you create requires a blueprint, wood, paint, and additional parts. Blueprints are essentially unlocked as you go and discover more masks in the magical mask realm, often by using your spyglass to zoom in and capture the details of the mask. With the blueprint, and plenty of wood, you can chisel out the basic shape and then dip the mask into a paint bin to set its color. A handy articulating holder at the bench keeps the mask suspended while allowing you to use both hands to maneuver it and add attachments like feathers and shells and leaves and the like that you discover while exploring the three major biomes in the game — swamps, island, and mountains. Finding these adornments is a big part of the gameplay as you will solve various puzzles to be able to traverse different environmental obstacles, often requiring you to fix machinery and the like to get to where you’re going.
Mask assembly is a big part of the game, as is traveling between these biomes. As you go, an omnipotent voice known as the King tells you all about the lore of the world of Maskmaker, but as alluded to earlier, it can get pretty exhaustive. The voice-acting is well done, though, I’m a little burnt out on the traditional old English vocals for now. I found myself too detached from the narrative to take much interest, though I appreciate all of the lines of dialog that were well done and well presented. Graphically, the art style fits the atmosphere and casual nature of the game nicely.
In general, though I hadn’t played a game exactly like this, it felt a little too formulaic and familiar, on top of the normal VR experience quibbles, from various (though often hard-to-reproduce) glitching to some physical uneasiness after a period. Much of the interaction with the various puzzles, for example, felt old hat for VR games that I first played on my PC with the Oculus Rift in 2016-2017.
That’s not to say Maskmaker doesn’t standout on its own, it does. All things considered, at a $20 price point for a 4 or 5 hour experience, it’s hard not to recommend for someone looking for a pretty good story, average-ish VR gameplay that’s casually difficult (though sometimes a little frustrating), and solid presentation thanks to fine artwork and voice overs. If you’re in the market for an experience like that, Maskmaker is worth considering.
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