Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss

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Despite how obviously bad of an idea a VR-exclusive competitively-slanted multiplayer-only RTS in a completely singleplayer franchise was, this game oozes quality and attention to detail from every pixel. This game is full of both love for VR as a medium and incredibly tasteful and well-applied restraint in its art and game design. The character animations are fantastic and each character has a surprising variety of voice lines, including bonus voice lines giving story details about them from the announcer in the main menu. The game is filled with smooth and tasteful references to the original games that makes it feel like you're hanging out in the world of the games. Even the main menu is set in the attic of the Readers' room from the original game - you can look over the balcony and see where you sat. The fact is that a lot of care, effort, and love went into this game, and it shows. Just hanging out in the menus, interacting with the entrancing magical spinning wheel menus and watching the character animations, brought me joy. This makes it a shame that it was, as I imagine most VR players would have guessed, completely doomed from the start.

I've waited 2 years for this game and Polyarc did not disappoint! Easily one of my favorite VR games and one I see myself playing for a while.

I’ve got you. This sounds like the classic "New Player Experience" nightmare—getting crushed by pros while being nickel-and-dimed for every piece of content. Here is a version of that review written with the same punchy, honest style as your previous one. Review: Great Potential, Terrible Execution The Matchmaking: A Tale of Two Extremes I really want to love this game, but the matchmaking is a total disaster. There is no middle ground: you are either bullying brain-dead bots or getting absolutely dismantled by high-level pros. When you’re playing bots, it’s the easiest, most boring experience imaginable. The moment you face a real human, the skill gap is so massive that it sucks all the fun out of the game. You never feel like you're in a fair fight. The Roster: A Literal Paywall The game hands you three characters at the start, which is fine for a tutorial, but then the "real" game starts and you realize almost everything else is locked. Every other hero is tucked behind a paywall. You either have to endure a brutal, soul-crushing grind for in-game currency or just whip out your credit card. The Monetization: Aggressive and Everywhere The amount of monetization in this game is honestly exhausting. There’s already a season pass, a mountain of cosmetics for the heroes, skins for your profile, and the fact that you can buy the heroes themselves just feels greedy. It feels less like a game and more like a storefront designed to pester you for money at every turn. The Verdict The core gameplay might be there, but between the non-existent matchmaking and the aggressive monetization, it’s hard to stay motivated. If you don't mind a "pay-to-skip" grind and getting stomped for your first 50 hours, give it a go. Otherwise, stay away.

Con mestizia nel cuore mi accingo a recensire questo gioco, giacché Glassbreakers è stato senz'altro molto divertente, seppur semplice nelle sue meccaniche, ma purtroppo è un titolo multigiocatore pressoché abbandonato. Sono giunto sino alla prima posizione della classifica globale, ma è dalla quinta posizione che ho affrontato solo bot. Per carità, questo significa che potrà esser giocato anche in solitaria, e ciò non è certo un male, ma il fatto che non abbia più una base di giocatori solida è senz'altro un valido motivo per scegliere di non acquistarlo. Dal canto mio, pur non essendo un appassionato di moba ho scelto di compararlo e di spendere soldi in alcune delle sue micro-transazioni, cosa che sono solito non fare mai, al fine di supportare il team di sviluppo. I due capitoli di Moss, di cui questo titolo ne è uno spin-off, sono tra i miei giochi preferiti, e non solo per realtà virtuale, ma proprio in generale. Ho sempre consigliato a qualsiasi neofita della VR di acquistare i Moss Book I & II poiché sono un perfetto entry point per chi non è ancora avvezzo al motion sicness, e offrono un'avventura veramente molto bella da vivere. Malauguratamente proprio in questi giorni è giunta notizia che gran parte del team di Polyarc è stato licenziato e il loro progetto in cantiere è stato annullato per mancanza di finanziatori. Non so se questo progetto riguardasse Moss Book III o fosse una nuova IP, ma avrebbero certamente meritato più supporto. Ed è per questa ragione che voglio consigliare lo stesso il gioco, nella speranza che i membri restati possano far risorgere lo studio dalle sue ceneri e mostrare ancora una volta di cosa sono capaci.

Love the IP, feels like the other Moss games but turns it into a fun strategic PvP game.

So glassbreakers is an interesting take on MOBAs in the VR space, and while not without its issues is genuinely fun and interesting to play. It plays like a sort of real-time board game. The other great part of this game is that the developers are extremely active and I'd definitely suggest popping in the discord if you enjoy the game. One main issue I'll mention, Valve Index default controls are awkward as grips move the entire game world (flipping grips and triggers feels far better in my opinion and means you grasp your characters to move them).

Initially, I was uncertain whether Glassbreakers was the right path for the Moss universe, as it diverged significantly from the charming and appealing platform games that the series is known for. However, after spending some time with the game, my perspective has changed – the team has truly excelled with Glassbreakers. Polyarc has leveraged their expertise to create a completely original game for virtual reality, blending real-time strategy elements with the class-based systems typical of MOBA games, all while preserving the enchanting essence of the Moss universe. The game’s depth is remarkable; it’s much more than just achieving perfect synergy across a three-champion team – that’s merely the beginning of your strategy. Champions level up during matches by taking down opponents, and timing your attacks, managing power-ups, and capturing the sway stone can significantly shift the momentum and advantage in gameplay. Glassbreakers is competitive, incredibly addictive, and demands quick strategic adjustments and sharp thinking to maintain an edge in matches. The only notable drawback at the moment is that the player base hasn’t expanded sufficiently to ensure consistent matchmaking – however, there is an AI Skirmish mode available where you can progress and face AI opponents in these scenarios. One thing is certain: Glassbreakers offers something entirely unique in virtual reality, proving to be not only addictive but also one of the finest strategy experiences available in VR.