Not everyone who plays games wants to shoot, punch, slash their way to victory. Some people want play a game where you just walk and do very little to get to the end of the level. Well The Mooseman is a game where you journey through all the worlds of ancient myth, find artefacts of Chud' tribes and solve all the mysteries of finno-ugric tales. You play as The Mooseman, who can go between the physical and spiritual realms.
Going through the game you switch between realms to keep moving forward sometimes you need a spirit snake, who is a rock in the physical realm to follow you, so you can use that rock as a little hill to get to the level above you. So many spirit animals help you along your journey. When I saw this game I thought it was going to be more like Never Alone. Another platform game with an ancient tale of survival using the the spirit realm to move through the icy tundra of Alaska.
Though the two have some similarities, there are some big differences. In The Mooseman you can't jump. You just rely on your spirit animals to help you get from one end to the other. In Never Alone there is no switching between realms to get help from your spirit friends, and you have the ability to jump. The Mooseman is a game of isolation, where in Never Alone you have a white fox as your companion and protector.
The visuals of the game are taken from the roots in Perm Animal Style. Perm Animal Style is a unique metal plastic form, an animal style that existed till the XIIth century A.D. Which gives the game a very cool ancient looking feel to the levels, it's like cave drawings are coming alive in front of your very eyes. You don't see this from many games and it's very refreshing.
As I said in the beginning of this review this game has no fighting mechanic, because there is nothing to fight. Not everyone is good at fighting games, or even walking around in a 3D environment. Some people can't even handle the mechanics of Super Mario Brothers on the NES. Though games that are as simplistic as Mooseman gives those people a reason to pick up a Nintendo Switch and spend a hours trying to find all the hidden gems in the game. That's why I think this game and games like it are so important to the gaming community. So everyone can escape into a world unknown, to find peace and tranquility.
