Jump to content

The Mooseman Review


Recommended Posts

333544272_Moosemanlogo.png.baada80cc764c900b3e10c9fe7202f8f.pngOne part puzzle/adventure and one part history lesson, The Mooseman from developer Morteshka and publisher Sometimes You takes a close look at a mythology that most gamers probably haven't heard of. But the developers have done an impressive job of bringing the ancient Finno-Urgic stories to life in a unique way, while heavily drawing inspiration from the artwork and artifacts of the people from the Ural region. Even though the gameplay is fairly basic, it's the storytelling and style of The Mooseman that makes it a compelling indie game.
 
The game's mythology is based on ancient Russian stories and practices, wherein the world was created by the god Yen, which created a division between the Lower World, the Middle World where mankind resides, and the Upper world where the gods live. As The Mooseman you have the ability to see both the physical and the spiritual, allowing you to traverse the three worlds and meet gods and spirits, learning about ancient myths and following the paths they describe. Even though the game doesn't really simplify or adapt the mythology into a more modern format it's still easy to follow the story and it makes for a compelling game narrative. There's a timeless quality to myths which makes them captivating to this day, and The Mooseman does a fine job of tapping into that. The game also provides plenty of text describing the ancient stories and it's always fascinating to learn about a different mythology and gain some insight into the beliefs and values that have shaped humanity.
 
1530215539_Moosemanart.thumb.jpg.2f3112c0cf3edc47ae83fb74a3846e7c.jpg
 
As far as gameplay is concerned The Mooseman is pretty minimalist. The controls are also quite simple—there are only three actual actions in the game, and you can even walk forward automatically if you want—so puzzle interaction is kept to a pretty basic level. For example, you might need to find a way across a gap, so you switch from seeing the physical world to seeing the spiritual, and you might notice a spirit nearby that can help you cross. That's actually about as complex as it gets; with every puzzle you'll always see the solution nearby, so it's not even a matter of exploring to progress. In addition, each time you pass by an idol you'll get a new myth to read in the pause menu, and these myths often relay some sort of hint about how to progress, or are at least related to your current position in the journey. Suffice it to say The Mooseman does not have much in the way of gameplay challenges. This is a game you play to learn about Finno-Urgic mythology in an interactive way, not to challenge your puzzle-solving skills or your dexterity.
 
There is, however, one gameplay aspect that is at least a little more fleshed out. Along your adventure you can find artifacts (based on actual Perm animal style artifacts) and finding all of these collectibles is surprisingly not as simple as you might think. Even though you can basically only walk left or right it's easy to miss these artifacts, so trying to collect them all can be a nice little challenge. At the very least it can help extend the game's length a bit, since The Mooseman is really only a couple hours long.
 
1842520276_Moosemanbird.thumb.jpg.73f85419f03a42f7fa3b6f0197cc0fb2.jpg
 
In addition to the research they did in representing and retelling these ancient myths, the developers went out of their way to give The Mooseman an authentic audio and visual aesthetic as well, and it's truly beautiful. In addition to the artifacts based on actual tokens and idols found in the Perm Krai region of modern day Russia, all of the game's visuals have a beautiful ethereal quality to them, perfect for a game about balancing between the physical and spiritual worlds. There's also a roughness to the artwork that is so well suited to the cave painting art you see on your journey, and truly evokes a sense of hearing these stories thousands of years ago. The music also shows a lot of care and attention in recreating the folk music of the Komi people. The audio is beautiful but also mysterious and haunting—perfect for the ambiance that The Mooseman is creating. The game is even voiced by a native speaker, and just hearing the stories in its native language does so much for bringing them to life.
 
The Mooseman is a brief but compelling journey into a world of mythology. As a video game it may fall short in many respects but it kind of makes more sense to think of this as an interactive educational experience. The Mooseman brings to life these ancient myths that I certainly never had heard before, and I imagine most players wouldn't have either, and it does so with beautiful, stylish, and authentic art and music. If you're interested in taking a journey off the beaten path of standard video games and more common Western myths and legends, try the Finno-Urgic mythology of The Mooseman.
 
Rating: 7 out of 10 Moosemen
 
Review copy provided by the publisher
 
The Mooseman will be available on the Switch eShop on July 18th for $6.29.
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...