Maskmaker Review | GameSpew

Life getting you down? Then it’s time to calm down with a block of wooden and a chisel.

That’s the lesson I took away from Maskmaker, a brand new recreation from the maker of A Fisherman’s Story. Stumbling into an deserted masks store, you uncover a hidden room that grants you entry to an odd fairy story realm. The realm is, in flip, cut up into a number of biomes which you hop between by donning varied masks.

Nevertheless it’s not simply that this VR journey requires you to craft new masks to be able to make progress; creating a selected masks will mean you can leap into the physique of an in any other case lifeless character. So whilst you can’t can’t pull a Breath of the Wild and clamber up a wall, if you happen to see a determine on a ledge and you may reproduce their masks, you possibly can leap into them and end up standing on that ledge.

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Masks making is such enjoyable that simply messing round creating random masks can maintain you entertained for ages (although you possibly can’t retailer these customised masks). Logically, you realize that the form of the masks comes from the blueprint you’ve pinned to the wooden carving bench, and it’s not possible to chip the unsuitable piece off. Nonetheless, while you’re holding the chisel and hammer, it feels such as you’re bringing one thing to life. That’s even earlier than you dip it into the paint bathtub or affix your slowly rising assortment of parts to it.

And you realize what? The masks you craft would possibly as properly be alive – within the context of Maskmaker‘s mystical world, at the very least. As numerous because the realms are, from swamps and mountains to seashores and deserts, there’s one thing eerie about how nonetheless all of them are (barring the occasional animal).

Donning and eradicating masks is all the time a rush, although there’s all the time a faint feeling that you simply’re crossing an moral line by leaping into one other being’s physique, wooden or not. It actually doesn’t assist that your information, King Prospero, is sort of clearly a unsuitable ‘un. Maskmaker‘s story doesn’t provide as many surprises as some, but it surely’s nonetheless an engrossing fable with a heart-tugging conclusion. Prospero has the barely-disguised bluster of The Wizard of Oz, so it’s entertaining to only string him alongside.

That stated, the “good guys” may be annoying at instances. The primary time you’re within the masks store and also you hear one thing alongside the traces of “You don’t put on the masks, the masks wears you”, it’s charming. Two hours later, once they’re nonetheless meting out their fortune cookie knowledge, not a lot. It’s like having the non-baby model of Yoda sitting within the nook of your room; ultimately, you’ll develop so sick of his “recommendation” you’ll find yourself throwing a shoe at him.

Maskmaker‘s puzzles, nevertheless, are hardly ever so irritating. They vary from fixing equipment and rescuing a goat to uncovering statues and mimicking their poses. The biomes themselves are one massive puzzle, as you deduce which parts will grant you entry to which areas. So there’s greater than somewhat to-ing and fro-ing however the biomes are so beautiful to behold that backtracking hardly ever looks like a chore. The masks it’s important to craft do develop more and more advanced however that, too, stays a pleasure relatively than an imposition.

There have been a few puzzles, nevertheless, that wound me up; I received’t give away any options however often it’s important to cart a number of objects backwards and forwards. Maskmaker requires two PS Transfer controllers so that you do have two arms accessible in-game, but when a puzzle requires, say, 4 objects, it’s important to make two journeys. Sightseeing’s not an choice this time as it’s important to be sure that the objects don’t twang off onto the ground. Even if you happen to allow the accessibility choice that allows you to toggle “maintain” as a substitute of getting to carry down a set off to grip an merchandise, dropping and having to return for them is a real, teeth-grinding risk.

Regardless of that bugbear, Maskmaker is a superb recreation whereas it lasts. At round 5 hours play time (much less if you happen to mess with masks lower than I did), it by no means outstays its welcome. It blends a compelling, emotional story with fulfilling puzzles and entertaining gameplay that makes it a standout VR expertise.

Maskmaker Assessment: GameSpew’s Rating

This evaluation of Maskmaker is predicated on the PSVR model of the sport, with a code offered by the writer. It’s accessible on PS4 (PSVR required), Steam and Oculus.