Let’s do this quick, I have more Hi-Fi Rush to play.

This week’s game has been on Itch.io for a while now but since it was on Steam Next Fest, I decided to play the updated demo. This week is Rusted Moss.

Rusted Moss is a twin-stick Metroidvania from faxdoc, happysquared and sunnydaze and is being published by PLAYISM. The game will release on the PC (maybe on consoles) sometime in 2023 and the retail price is still up in the air.

You are Fern, a changeling that is off to discover her own way in the world between the end of the age of man and when the fae are taking it back. Rusted Moss is about Fern taking a side in this emerging battle.

Rusted Moss is at its core a Metroidvania. Backtracking is very apparent in the demo as you acquire the grappling hook mid-way through and are required to backtrack to continue onward. The bullet-hell aspects take a larger role during boss fights.

Being a twin-stick game requires some form of a controller to make adequate use of the gameplay, but I forgot where I placed my Steam controller and was forced to play with the mouse and keyboard. Even though I was playing with a mouse and keyboard I was still having loads of fun with the grappling hook traversal.

The combat is just as fun as well, you are platforming, shooting humans and robots, and collecting currency all the while trying not to die. Fern, being a changeling, has both an HP and MP bar. Magic can be used and mana can be refilled. She has a companion named Puck who can change into that sweet, sweet grappling hook. Fern has a gun and she can have multiple guns to shoot pesky robots and bad guys. Guns, in the demo, are all unique and have their own strengths and weaknesses, making combat encounters more exciting. There are also trinkets that are littered throughout the game that give Fern a little extra edge in combat.

I only play games that contain the words “pixel” in the art design. The game looks gritty and beautiful. The demo takes place in a variety of rustic-looking areas. Ruins of the age of man, a ruined factory, and a fae grove. Lots of variants of the color orange litter in Rusted Moss.

Rusted Moss was a great demo. There are enough bits of story that kept me hooked, the game looks great, and the gameplay was choice. I really do not play Metroidvanias much anymore but Rusted Moss has really piqued my interest in the genre. Combat is pretty standard but the inclusion of the grappling hook makes combat and traversal exciting.