Moss: The Forgotten Relic is a shinier, VR-less fusion of the two beloved puzzle platformers that's out this summer

The mouse is in the house

There's always a twinge of sadness when a game designed for VR later gets ported to be played on a regular screen, primarily because it's just not technically the realm the game was made for. That's sad to me! On the other hand, I do not own a VR headset, so I do win in those instances as well. Like today, for instance, as the Moss series is getting a VR-less version, with both games combined into one neat package.

It's called Moss: The Forgotten Relic, and rather than technically being a port of the two games, it's more of a fusion. "Moss: The Forgotten Relic unites the beloved and critically-acclaimed Moss and Moss: Book II into a definitive singular adventure, beautifully enhanced and reimagined for its debut on PC," the game's Steam page explains.

Those enhancements apparently extend to the game's visuals and performance, though it doesn't say much more than that. Having moved on from the VR zone, there's now apparently some kind of "Smart Follow Camera" system in place, the logistics of which also weren't explained, and there's some new "handcraft cutscenes" too. Presumably those are a result of the change in format. You can also expect the Twilight Garden DLC, and for those that just want some nice puzzle vibes, there's a skip combat option included now too.

I am quite curious to see how Moss has been translated outside of VR, despite not having played the originals. As someone who must admit to not being into that scene at all, it certainly feels like one of the more notable games outside the likes of SUPERHOT and Half-Life: Alyx. This release certainly drums up some feelings around the way that technology drives certain design processes, and how absconding them in favour of the norm might not be a good thing, even if the result is more accessible. Too big a thought for now, I'll wait until summer, when Moss: The Forgotten Relic arrives. You can wishlist it on Steam now.