Moonlighter Review
Created by Spanish indie developers, Digital Sun, Moonlighter is a roguelite with one very important twist: your character is a shopkeeper, not a hero. Will’s goal might be to adventure through the final, mysterious dungeon near the village, but in the meantime he has to keep his family’s shop open. Potions, swords and armour cost money after all! That’s about all the story Moonlighter has but that’s really all it needs. The game is part roguelite dungeon crawl and part shop management simulator, and strangely enough those the combination of the two genres creates a near-perfect balance.
Release Date: May 29, 2018
Platform(s): PC (reviewed), PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One
Developer: Digital Sun
Price: $19.99
Morgan (reviewing on PC):
I don’t know what it is about pixel art games that makes them so addictive to me, but new release Moonlighter is certainly no exception. In fact, Moonlighter might be one of the most addictive games I’ve played in a very long time. As soon as I had I left one of the dungeons I wanted to sell my loot in my shop, as soon as I sold my loot I wanted to go back into the dungeons to find more expensive loot to sell. It was a never-ending cycle of fun!
Created by Spanish indie developers, Digital Sun, Moonlighter is a roguelite with one very important twist: your character is a shopkeeper, not a hero. Will’s goal might be to adventure through the final, mysterious dungeon near the village, but in the meantime he has to keep his family’s shop open. Potions, swords and armour cost money after all! That’s about all the story Moonlighter has but that’s really all it needs. The game is part roguelite dungeon crawl and part shop management simulator, and strangely enough those the combination of the two genres creates a near-perfect balance.
A main part of the game is exploring the local dungeons, hoping monsters drop loot that will give you a good price. This area is where the majority of the combat is, and for me at least, where the majority of the challenge of the game was as well. The combat itself was a lot of fun, and despite being pretty simple, changed a lot based on the weapons used. I found that different weapons were more suited to different fights though, which adds an extra layer of challenge as I tried to decide which weapons to bring on each raid. I also found the dungeons more frustrating than shopkeeping, particularly as some restrictions on fast travel meant that I was often repeating the first level of the dungeon far more than I felt necessary. It’s a very small nitpick, but it lead me to feel frustrated with some of the dungeon segments as the game went on, despite still mostly enjoying them.
The other half of the game is the shopkeeping which mostly revolves around pricing items with no idea of their true value, as well as defending your store from thieves. I absolutely loved this part of the game as it showcased some really clever bits of design. I loved the idea of the sales notebook in particular which gives you hints to each item’s true value by recording customers’ reactions to its price. There’s also a great bit of visual design in the thieves as each one enters your store wearing a scarf over his face, which gives you a hint to keep an eye on that customer. The shop, and the town in general are a triumph of visual design.
Without a doubt, Moonlighter is one of the most visually beautiful pixel art games in a very long time. The artists at Digital Sun have included much more detail than I would usually expect in similar looking games of the current generation, especially in the town. The soundtrack is great as well. The shop music especially is incredibly catchy, and has become a favourite to hum around my house in the last few days. For me at least, there’s very little to criticise.
Moonlighter is one of the most fun games I’ve played in a while. It doesn’t have the most fascinating story, but with such fun game mechanics, such pretty visuals and such a great idea, it doesn’t need to. It’s a game I can see myself going back to again and again over the years. In fact, I can’t wait for my next sale/adventure.
Ryan (reviewing on PS4):
The developers were kind enough to drop two copies of Moonlighter to The Gamers Lounge, specifically asking for us to take a look at both (Morgan's being PC, whilst mine was PS4). The game is releasing on all systems, but the Switch version is coming at a later date. While I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Moonlighter, I'd have loved to had the Switch edition, as it really fits the theme and feel of the game: exploring in the wild and returning home. The short-burst gameplay would work well in the portable scene. In discussion, we haven't seen a lot different in play styles. The controller setup is logical and intuitive.
Overall, I agree with Morgan's feelings on core gameplay. The dungeons (at least) start out a bit daunting, while the shop is a whole new mechanic. I've had a few times where I wish my hand was held more in both areas, like the sword enemy in the dungeon who hits you immediately after you hit him, unless you use the shield, or how you literally have no idea of how much an item is worth until you sell a few, haggling back and forth like the Price is Right. In both instances, it's perfectly feasable to drop you in like that, but I wish the sales notebook had a bit of information already in it, given this shop has been handed down for generations.
Speaking of, I do agree I haven't seen a depth of story, which saddened me after seeing the cinematic trailer that advertised the game. It's more of a set-up to the game than a depiction of what happens during. The story also mentions a myriad of adventurers who come through the town, and you see them in your shop, but I wish they had a bit of a tale to tell themselves. The Monkey Island/Zelda motif is really beautiful. Throughout the game, as well as the trailer I watched, it's a joy to see such well-crafted pixel art. I will add a disclaimer that I have not gotten to the end of the game, so I'm hoping as time goes on that trailer gets played out in flashbacks, or we see the growth of the hero on his journey to open the Fifth Gate.
My section shows a lot of criticism simply because Morgan took care of the synopsis and lauded it plenty. I agree with her views, and feel that Moonlighter is a fun game worth a purchase, especially at its budget $19.99 price. With a progressive roguelite mixed into a business management game, Moonlighter helps us see another side of the traditional RPG tale, and what it takes to be one of the random citizens of a town your average adventurer may barrel through, only caring if he can stock up on potions. Moonlighter helps you see what it takes to stock the shelves.
Pros-
- Very, very pretty game
- Fun combat
- Interesting shopkeeping mechanic
Cons
- No real story
- Explanations of both shop and combat mechanics can be confusing and/or not detailed enough to be helpful
Omensight Review
Omensight is a game that has the player talking to animals, offering amber to the Tree of Life and meditating. It would be pretty chill, except for the giant serpent slithering forth from the Void trying to end the world. In reality, Omensight’s world is filled to the brim with betrayal and political intrigue where your character, the Harbinger, fights her way through active battlefields and prison riots alike. Basically, it’s a game that contains pretty much everything I love about the medium.
Release Date: May 15, 2018
Platform: PC
Developer: Spearhead Games
Price: $19.99
Omensight is a game that has the player talking to animals, offering amber to the Tree of Life and meditating. It would be pretty chill, except for the giant serpent slithering forth from the Void trying to end the world. In reality, Omensight’s world is filled to the brim with betrayal and political intrigue where your character, the Harbinger, fights her way through active battlefields and prison riots alike. Basically, it’s a game that contains pretty much everything I love about the medium.
As someone who delights in games that tell fantastical stories, I found Omensight an absolute joy to play. At the beginning of the game, your character is plucked from the jaws of the apocalypse at the last second and given a day to save the world. This day can be spent with different characters on both sides of the final battle for the world of Uralia. When the end inevitably comes at midnight, your character is once again saved and given the same day to live over again, this time with knowledge of the previous day’s exploits. The pattern then repeats itself again and again. It’s a concept that has been seen before, but Groundhog Day has never been this dark or complex.
Omensight was developed in a mere eighteen months by indie developers Spearhead Games, a truly incredible achievement given its depth. The story is not only brilliant but contains branching choices; it is always your choice who you spend the day with and how you react to the characters you encounter. Each character is also fully voiced, and has their own backstory to be uncovered along the way as you discover memories by exploring off the beaten track. The graphics are beautiful too. An original and stunning world has been created in Uralia, even if it sometimes it feels like it would be nice to see more of it.
While Omensight is a brilliant game, it isn’t without its flaws. About halfway through the game, I began to find myself slightly frustrated by the repetition of the scenery. Even though the Harbinger’s companion will change depending on the choices made that day, too often I ended up running through the same bits of dungeon again and again to get new information, particularly towards the endgame. Although they were always framed by different stories, eventually running through similar bits of levels and fighting similar battles, even if it was against different enemies, began to feel a bit stale.
Despite that, for the most part, the gameplay is one of my favourite parts about the game, which makes its repetitive nature much easier to swallow. I love combat that is easy to learn but hard to master, and Omensight has it in spades. It introduces compulsory skills slowly at a basic level, with the chance to improve them based on player choice. This means I could always upgrade what I was using, but was able to change up my combat if I got bored. Different abilities (including the abilities of your companions) can always be combined in a variety of ways, so I was constantly learning new ways to improve my fighting style throughout the game. The platforming is heaps of fun as well, and if you don’t like jumping across broken bridges, particular companions will give you a way out.
Omensight is one of those few games that I’d recommend for most people as there’s not much it gets wrong. It’s heaps of fun to play, beautiful to look at and has a wonderfully dark and interesting story. I would only avoid it if you have a tendency to get bored playing through similar levels, and even then, the mastering the combat and uncovering more of the story might be enough to get you through what would otherwise seem tedious. Ultimately Omensight, despite being quite a sinister game at times, has a lot of heart and I came to really care about my companions and I defy anyone who plays the game to not end up feeling the same about at least one of them.
Pros
Fun, easy-to-learn-but-hard-to-master combat
Intriguing story with interesting characters and likable companions
Beautiful design and graphics
Cons
Levels can feel repetitive
A huge thank-you to Spearhead Games for providing us with a review copy