Mask of Mists

For as long as I can remember, critics have been measuring the worth of a role-playing game by the length of the adventure. I can still recall Electronic Gaming Monthly raving about the dozens of hours in Final Fantasy III, and just a few days ago I highlighted insane length of Persona 5 Royal. But an epic journey doesn't always need to take weeks or even months to complete, a fact that is demonstrated beautifully by the thrilling new adventure game Mask of Mists. It's a brief, hyper-focused quest with just the right balance of action and puzzle solving. And best of all, you might be able to beat it while you wait for this week's other big RPG release to download in the background.

This is the bite-sized story of a mercenary who is hired to find an Archmage. His colleagues at the Academy are concerned that he's been abducted (or possibly even killed) while researching the Infected Territory, so our nameless hero is sent to explore the surroundings and hunt down clues. But it won't be that simple, because the path is littered with fungi foes who are slowly invading the once-peaceful land.

What we quickly realize is that in order to save the missing Archmage, we're going to need to activate the portal. Unfortunately, in order to do that, our hero is going to need to fight through six different dungeons, each with their own set of puzzles and gameplay mechanics. For example, one of the mazes will have you breaking crystals to open up doors in the right order, while another will force you to walk through the air on invisible platforms. These are relatively simple concepts that turn more complicated the deeper into the dungeons we go, and I like that the game isn't just about hacking and slashing your way to victory.

That said, there's definitely a lot of hacking and slashing in Mask of Mists. In fact, there's shooting, too. For most of the game, the mercenary will dual-wield both a sword and a pistol. You'll find upgraded versions of these two weapons over the course of the game, but this is your basic loadout. It's great for stabbing nearby enemies and shooting them from afar, and you're going to need to do both of those things if you want to get to the game's one and only boss.

While there's definitely a lot of action, the emphasis here is on exploration and puzzle solving. What I really like about this game is how everything is confined to a small area. There are a lot of classic adventure game themes here, especially when it comes to collecting items and using them to open up the interconnected world. Every house, cave and path has a purpose, and I was constantly impressed by how much the developer was able to do with so little. I couldn't help but get excited every time I found a key, learned a spell or dug up a hidden item that opened up a new part of the map.

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It helps that the world of Mask of Mists is absolutely stunning. It's bright and filled with vibrant colors, all while still conveying that ominous feeling that evil is just around the corner. There are a lot of first-person adventure games on the market that plow similar ground, so I was happy to see the cartoony graphics give the game a unique personality. On the other hand, it's a little disappointing that the various dungeons aren't more distinct. There are only a couple types of dungeons and they all start to blur together after a while.

Of course, you'll barely have time to notice the repeating textures because of the breakneck pacing. This is a speedy game on every level. And to prove that, our hero basically runs and a full sprint the entire time. This is a game that knows it will hold your interest for three or four hours, so it rushes through everything as quickly as possible in order to hit all the beats. It's like the Cliff's Notes version of an epic role-playing game. We get the adventure, exploration, combat, collecting, crafting and puzzle solving we expect from this type of game, only now it's in a package you can easily beat in one or two sittings.

There are some downsides to this approach, as you might expect. Because the game only lasts a few hours, the developers have cut corners by including what amounts to a handful of enemies. There are four or five, depending on whether or not you count the end boss. The rush also means that you never get to know the hero or get invested in the story. It would have been nice to see a little more humor or personality given to the mercenary. And speaking of which, I was also disappointed by the abruptness of the ending. These are, sadly, the all-too-predictable shortcomings of a game in this much of a hurry.

If you love role-playing games but don't have 60 hours to spares, Mask of Mists is a great alternative. This is a fast-paced journey that is both thrilling and compelling, not only giving us a gorgeous world to explore, but also filling it with everything you would expect from a much longer adventure game. Even though it's a little light on story and the ending could have been more satisfying, Mask of Mists is a finely-tuned quest that is surprisingly charming. I dare say that it's good enough to make you forget about that Final Fantasy VII remake, at least for a few hours.