Polyarc built itself upon Moss. A brilliant VR duology that stood out for its charm, craftsmanship, and the way it used virtual reality to establish emotional intimacy between its characters over hollow spectacle. For years, the studio was held up as one of the few developers proving that storytelling could not just thrive in VR but be distinct. Which is why the latest developments around the company are disappointing.
The Moss games, of which the first one released on February 27, 2018, weren’t just “good VR titles”; they were beloved. Polyarc's handcrafted world borrowed the warmth and visual storytelling sensibilities you’d expect from Hayao Miyazaki or Don Bluth. The result was an action adventure experience that was intimate, tactile, and was botanically alive throughout its short runtime. A must-play for anyone who owns a VR headset, those that didn’t have a headset were only recently greeted with a non-VR version. Sadly, that wasn't enough.
When Polyarc announced that the Moss duology would be coming to other consoles as a non-VR release, it initially seemed like a knowable transition. Moss always deserved a wider audience than what it found, and other consoles are famously welcoming to character-driven titles (especially...
