The war between humanity and magic has been going on for thousands of years, and it’s only through sheer brutality that humans continue to win. For better or worse, the mystical elements of our world choose to operate in darkness, sticking to the old ways and refusing to embrace the neutral grounds of the modern. The use of science and technology gives mankind the advantage, and the mythic tinge of our world grows ever dimmer. But what happens when the line between the two blurs, and sides begin to embrace what was previously shunned? This is the world of Rusted Moss, the twinstick metrovania from PLAYISM, now available on consoles.

Fern is a changeling, a fae child who was raised among unsuspecting humans. For years, the faeries have been fighting a quiet war against their oppressors, trying to reinstill magic back into the world. However, humanity has done a cataclysmic blow, having dismembered the faerie queen, Titania, and scattered her body parts to unworthy souls. Humans have not only increased their machination firepower, but have also recruited other magic beings – specifically witches – in their unholy quest. Fern is aided by Puck, a shadowy creature who soon becomes more valuable than Fern could have possibly imagined. Fern will not let faeriekind go quietly into the night: armed with enchantments, trinkets, and a shocking array of weapons herself, Fern is determined to reassemble Titania and give dominion back to the little folk.

I can’t tell if I am Puck or if Puck is me, but I’m okay with either.

For Rusted Moss, this title has three equal parts: exploration, fighting and game mechanics. One of the first things that you get in terms of “new” aspects to the game is turning Puck into a bungee cord. This concept is where Rusted Moss really hangs its hat: being able to master and understand the ins and outs is the most important part of the game. Puck can anchor only onto mossy terrain, a nod to the fae necessity to stay connected to nature in an ever modernizing world. Unlike other titles with a grappling hook aspect, though, Fern’s line with Puck has some very apparent physics that need to be understood if you want to get anywhere. THere’s a lot of ask when it comes to using this device, and it makes and breaks the whole game.

For example, there are times where the bungee shot turns you into a Spider-Man type character, needing to work through fluidity in order to traverse expanses with precision and reflexes. Other times, you’re working out angles and trajectory to figure how to slingshot yourself in the opposite direction you’re traveling. Being able to jump, shoot, have enough momentum to essentially bounce in the right direction and then release is a learned approach, which is why you need to spend a decent amount of time in a tutorial-esque labyrinth before you can even approach the game. The trio of developers (faxdoc, happysquared and sunnydaze) wanted players to at least have enough of a foundation to not immediately be killed when trying to play the title.

Time to whip myself around this tiny island and hopefully reverse slingshot to safety. This is like the first area you explore.

Rusted Moss at least understands the importance of its own lynchpin, so I appreciate that the controls also have their own customization levels both in button binding and also the utilization of the bungee shot. I personally kept it at the classic “push to shoot, push to release,” but the fact that there’s the “push and hold, release when done” or the strangely inverse “shoot when released, push when done” is really compelling, and feels like multiple iterations of the control scheme were tested, argued for and against and, eventually, just all offered to the players. It’s a fantastic set of details, and I think it showcases a rare instance where multiple cooks can over a more robust flavor instead of confusion.

Once you’re down with the ins and outs of movement, there’s a lot to see in Rusted Moss, even more than I conceived. Spread across multiple areas with plenty of metroidvania revisiting moments, players can expect multiple hours of contending with nooks and crannies that demand your attention. There are secrets to be discovered, from bits and pieces of the world lore to peeks into Fern’s past and, at times, the discovery of trinkets. Trinkets, functioning as upgrade badges with a limit to the number that you can equip, can totally change your play style if you find the combination that works for you. Most have to do with improving your offense, but several aid in defense and survival as well, so be sure to seek out as many as possible. Which you’ll end up doing incidentally because of the map revelations.

While the objectives for Rusted Moss are generally clear, the way to get there rarely is, which aids in the curiosity and exploration aspect of the experience. I often found myself moving in multiple directions at once, fairly certain that I could reach point A through point B, and somehow ending up at C or, weirdly, F. The fast travel system is only as effective as the map you’ve revealed, and you might need to memorize certain impasses (like doors that can’t be opened from one direction) so that you don’t find yourself retreading dead ends.

I’m sure this dilapitated Happy Birthday sign to the main character has no clues about a hidden secret from the past.

The fighting of Rusted Moss is gun and grenade centric (the latter being offered several hours in) and has its own push and pull. I personally feel that the first gun you get, the rail gun, is the best and only option Fern should consider for most of the fights. It can fire a quick bullet or a burst of charged shots, the range is decent (and improves significantly with trinkets) and it plays well with hanging around when trying to attack. The other weapons you encounter all have their own pluses and minuses, but they’re also what you’d expect. Shotgun is strong but has limited range and firepower, sniper rifle is a single bullet, etc. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but I didn’t find any boss fights (save one) where I needed to swap away from the rail gun. When it comes to shooting the crap out of things, you can always rely on the classics.

This is only compounded when you start to recognize patterns and expectations throughout the biomes. While the initial monsters are relatively easy to dispatch, getting into the snowy areas, the abandoned labs or the underground caverns all give way to new foes, each with more complex and, frankly, annoying attack patterns. When I’m limited in my approach because I’ve decided to walk/swing everywhere as opposed to teleporting and shooting homing bullets, the battle feels rather unbalanced, and that’s just for regular mobs. I want to appreciate that you soon encounter enemies a couple hours in that are, arguably, harder than the first couple of bosses, but I’m too busy trying hard not to hurl my Switch across the room.

You’re not allowed to just sit on your damn broom like everything’s not exploding.

The difficulty aspect of Rusted Moss might be one of its great undoings, and I’m not just saying that because I’m trash at titles. Momodora, another of PLAYISM’s titles, has its own degree of difficulty due to fierce enemies and shocking bosses, but it stands proudly of this fact and allows players to attune themselves to the gaming style and “get good” in a fair amount of time. You can understand the ideas of the strike, dodge, range attack and fast responses in a matter of moments. With Rusted Moss, you never quite get the same level of balance because there’s so much time spent needing to remember your basic geometry in order to stay alive, and that can be exhausting.

Take, for example, a boss where you have to turn on the lights and then shoot the hell out of her before you plunge back into darkness. A tricky concept, but doable. Now spread the boss’ room out over multiple screens, moving the light switch every time (thankfully in preset, repeating locations). Still doable, if somewhat more annoying. Now you add the last rub: the damn bungee cord. You need to figure out the best paths to each of the power source’s potential spawn, be able to get there with minimal grappling and getting shot (of course the boss is shooting you), turn on the light and THEN chase down the now bouncing boss to get in a few shots before the lights flicker and you’re back in painful shadows. This boss fight took SO DAMN LONG, and it’s all because of the loop created by the gameplay mechanics.

Ignoring the giant death sword, I’d say things are going pretty well!

Which is such a shame, because the inherent tale being told in Rusted Moss is fascinating. The exposition between Fern and Puck is always amusing, sometimes outright funny and surprisingly poignant when you least expect it. The characters are all carrying baggage and beliefs about the battle between magic and humanity and no one really feels right, not even Fern. Yes, her bloodline dictates she side with the Fae, but there’s clearly a nagging doubt always at the periphery of her mind, and she swats it away with the tenacity of a child determined not to be wrong. This world has history and bloodshed and allegiances and I love it to DEATH, even if I cannot navigate it to save my life.

If you choose to drop down to the Flexible difficulty option, players will have a much easier time with different elements of the game, including some straight up cheats to make the game impossibly easy to navigate, and it can be worthwhile just to see the story as it is. I won’t lie: jumping around and bungeeing is rough to the point of despair, but I can tell some people like it. The fact that I took hours just to get through normal areas only to then be greeted with “danger, difficult climb, go at your own risk” made me stop in my tracks and consider my own mortality for a moment. This is a title where you need the best controller you have available, and, if you’re like me and suffering from Joycon drift, your death will be served multiple times to you in an abundance of flavors.

This is 100% going on a cross stitch that I’ll gift to my daughters.

Rusted Moss is an enthralling title with indulgent lore, wonderful map layout and diabolical approaches to traversal. It’s so rough in terms of what it expects and what you can do, but it’s rewarding and satisfying to accomplish the tasks. The pixel art, one of my absolute favorite stylings, is gorgeous, detailed and somehow one of the last things I talked about in this game. The soundtrack is evocative of Final Fantasy titles (not exaggerating, one track reminded me of Aerith) and Fern’s hard edged journey of revenge is tinged with doubt and regret, making for incredible storytelling. It’s painful, but it’s the strain of tired muscles and sore joints after a good day’s work. Though not for everyone, this metroidvania brings a wild element of inspiration to the table that everyone should be sampling.

Rusted Moss is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch, XBox Series One X/S and Playstation 4/5.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Rusted Moss was provided by the publisher.