Not Sponsored, But Should Be: Moonlighter
Hello everyone! Today, I want to talk about a game I’ve been playing for the past few weeks that I absolutely love: Moonlighter! Matt introduced me to it one evening after Olivia went to bed, and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since.
Moonlighter is a game developed by the Spanish indie studio Digital Sun. It was initially released in 2018 on Windows, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2018, but later got released for Switch in 2018 and mobile in 2022. It follows a character named Will who owns the shop Moonlighter in the town of Rynoka. He mans the shop during the day, but at night he goes off to the Rynoka Dungeons to discover all the mysteries that lie within!
The game plays like a rouge-lite (which means the dungeon layouts are different every time), as well as an RPG (role-playing game). I like that I can sell all the loot/treasures from the dungeons, no matter what they are. I can sell flower petals from creepy forest monsters and one of a kind tomes from deep within hidden chests.
I have only made it to the second dungeon, but there are four: Golem, Forest, Desert, and Tech. The level scaling seems fair to me, since you can upgrade your weapons and armor via enchantments with items that are plentiful in the dungeons. I like that there are many weapons to choose from (although I’ve stuck to the generic sword and shield, there are also big two handed swords, bows and arrows, and spears). You can carry two weapons at a time, so you can essentially change the way you fight every enemy throughout the dungeons as you see fit. And strangely, I like that there is not a “magical” aspect to the combat on Will’s end (that I know of, anyway…I am still at the beginning of the game!). Usually I like having spells to choose from, but this game doesn’t need them.
I enjoy the shop side of things as well. Will can sell his goods to the townspeople during the day, and even gain quests from them once you upgrade your shop. You have to guess what an item sells for, and I like the gamble aspect of the system. Sometimes you undershoot items a LOT, and sometimes you overshoot. If you overshoot sometimes the customer won’t buy, giving you the chance to get the correct price, but if you undershoot they will 100% take advantage of your naivety.
My only gripe about this game is that I can’t personalize my character. That being said, there is a story element to the game that has yet to unfold before me, making up for the fact that I can’t create my own character. I haven’t run into any issues gameplay wise. This game reminds me of Hades, another rouge-lite game that I LOVE. The polish on that game is insane, and I’d say that Moonlighter has the same level of polish.
When I looked up the ratings of this game in order to write this post, I was happy to see that it was “generally favorable” amongst the gaming world. The lowest score was from the gaming blog Destructoid, giving Moonlighter a 6.5/10. The majority of the scores are 4/5 stars and 8/10 from various gaming sources. I personally would say those are fair ratings. There are some things that could elevate the game to a perfect score, but of course I am a causal gamer so I couldn’t tell you exactly what would need to happen in order to get that perfect score. I just know there’s always room for improvement!
All in all, Moonlighter is a lovely game with a fun setup, a curious story (curious meaning I still don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m curious to see), and a gorgeous pixel art style that I’m totally in love with. I haven’t really looked up any spoiler-y details so I can’t confidently write about anything story-wise or late-gameplay wise. I’m excited to see if I still enjoy the game once I’m all done with the story! I would strongly suggest picking this game up if you like rouge-lites because that’s where the meat of the game is. The potatoes are in the shop, which is not quite a side game and still has lots of depth.
Thank you so much for reading my post today! If you like video games, you’ll most likely get a few more posts about different games I pick up over the years. So, if you want to stick around for that, feel free to subscribe to me here on Medium as well as follow me on Twitter!
I’ll see you here next time with something new! Thanks again for reading!
