Test: Maskmaker

"Innerspace VR", the makers of "A Fisherman's Tale"promise a "unique and extensive use of virtual reality" with "Maskmaker". Via magical masks, you will successively immerse yourself in mystical game worlds. Altogether The developers speak of eight in number. Sometimes there are also larvae that transport you back to one of the previous biomes to follow the action from a different perspective.

Armed with found resources such as strings, plants or shells, you can leave the environment at any time to forge new larvae at the workbench, which in turn enable you to dive into further levels.

From mask to mask, you will also find new paths through the legendary realm in order to decipher their truth and that of its creator Prospero. What does he have in mind for you? Why are you a masked apprentice?

Game principle and interactions

Almost like in "Alice in Wonderland", at the beginning of the game you find yourself in front of a loophole, or more precisely, in front of an old workshop in an abandoned village. First you have to solve a small puzzle with switches. Then the real adventure begins in a magical back workshop of the mask atelier.

As in the prequel, the story of "Maskmaker" is told to you by a wise old man in a sonorous voice. However, the story does not follow on from the events of the prequel. Therefore, no previous knowledge of the fishing cottage is necessary. The narrator's voice also gives you hints if you get stuck at a certain point. With every piece of the puzzle that is found, another secret from the past is revealed.

The virtual interaction with wooden blocks, hammer and chisel is funny. Various instructions for new masks are only revealed by spotting mask wearers in the respective worlds. You always have a telescope at your disposal for this purpose. If, for example, you see a mask wearer, or your alter ego, who remains in place at an earlier time, you have to zoom in closer to his grimace and you will be gifted with new clues.

This will give you clues for new masks and teleportations. New masks are created from found resources such as leaves, beads and various pieces of wood. A construction plan of newly spotted larvae shows you in which colours and angles the utensils are attached to the wooden template. Intermediate sequences with a shadowy puppet show character are also entertaining, accompanied by the gentle sounds of atmospheric children's fairytale music.

Over time, you will find a whole collection of magical carnival relics in your studio. The task is to solve various puzzles. For example, you have to cross a gorge with a cable car. To do this, you have to set a mill in motion in order to beam yourself - via your other self - into the opposite gondola. At one point, you also brew a highly toxic fungicide to spray away a fungal tissue in front of a forest clearing with another version of yourself. So you also have to master certain actions in the parallel worlds to open new doors.

The diversity of the flora and fauna keeps you entertained. While the first scenes near a sandy coastline are still a little boring, a little later you find yourself in a dense forest, in a swampy area with reeds or above picturesque icebergs. And at some point you will meet one of the three masked spirits in a spherical temple, where you have to summon several instances of yourself to operate elevating platforms.

Tested on HTC Vive Cosmos Elite, Reverb G2 and Quest 2

In the test, the controls also worked excellently on the HP Reverb G2 with its own Windows Mixed Reality controllers. We also streamed the SteamVR version via Virtual Desktop to an Oculus Quest 2: Same here: even the PC VR version works great with the Oculus Quest controllers. In the test with the Valve Knuckles, however, there was a small problem with fast movement. Pressing down the left analogue stick does nothing here or only lets you sprint for a short time. This function was probably not yet fully implemented in our beta version. With the high-resolution Reverb G2 headset in double 2K resolution, the game jerked a little in our test with an RTX 2080 Ti. On a Cosmos Elite or on a Quest 2 (as a SteamVR version in streaming with a 5 GHz routing environment), no performance problems were noticeable.

In addition to normal locomotion, teleportation is also available. For the former or fast walking, various comfort options such as shaded tunnel vision and adjustable rotation segments can be switched on. Normal walking, however, is possible without nausea attacks.

Mask making has to be learned

The puzzles of the little mask epic are not quite as difficult as one might think during the first hour. For example, we didn't find the entrance to the magical mask forge for a long time at the beginning, although the solution was quite trivial. Even VR novices may not immediately understand the layout of the mask trainers at first. If you don't put the blueprint of a new mask in the right place, you can create a new larva with different colours, strings or feathers as often as you like if it is not recognised as the next game event.

Classic: Apart from small initial VR difficulties in the mask production, it can also happen that you waddle through an area for a longer time and do not discover the next path despite several hints. If you can't move on for a while because the next piece of the puzzle is missing, this can be a little frustrating. Then it's simply a case of putting the headset down and trying again later, because the point is to explore. But also to pause for a few moments. The music caresses with sensual sounds, and the eight biomes are a feast for the eyes. Those who enjoyed playing the predecessor should also like "Maskmaker". The game exudes the same charm and draws you into the fairytale world from the very first moment.

"Maskmaker" is released today on 20 April 2021 for Oculus Rift S, Quest (via Link cable), PlayStation VR and SteamVR (HTC Vive).