Moonlighter Reviews
The two very different gameplay elements in Moonlighter compliment each other beautifully. Running a successful shop means you need to become a top-notch hero and collect enough items to sell. Becoming a trustworthy hero requires you to be a prosperous shopkeeper to earn enough gold to craft new things and to enchant your gear. While I do have some issues with the combat, namely how you lunge forward with each attack, I thoroughly enjoyed the boss encounters tied to each of the game's dungeons.
A vibrant and visually stunning rogue-like that boasts an exhilarating combat system and an immensely enjoyable shopkeeping mechanic.
Who would have thought that the classic action-RPG would be revitalized by the typically boring prospect of running a small business? Diving into procedurally generated dungeons and slaying beasts with every manner of weapon answers the question, “What would a 2D version of Breath of the Wild look and play like?” Well, sort of like Moonlighter.
Moonlighter is a fun, unique mashup of 2D dungeon crawler meets small business simulator.
Moonlighter is an overall brilliant sum of its parts with the kind of things roguelike fans, action RPG fans or even lifestyle sim fans can find engaging. It's an addicting piece of grinding RPG gaming that comes highly recommended on any platform you choose.
Overall the two halves of the game fit together very well and combine to make an interesting game. Clearing out the dungeons can occasionally feel a bit grindy because I often had to do part of it over and over before I was able to get all the way through it. There's even a bit of a town management aspect as well. Additionally, there is even a bit of a story about these dungeons which is uncovered as you explore more of them and find various items. The story for the most part is sort of to the side and not the main thing, but it is interesting.
Selling piles of magical loot is just as fun as fighting for it in this hybrid shop sim and dungeon crawler that is let down only by some annoying bugs
Choose the prices, choose the gear, choose your upgrades, choose the dungeon, and choose the loot to sell.
Moonlighter's loop of combat, exploration, and sales is an engrossing one, with steps taken to keep players invested in every part of the game.
Moonlighter is an absolutely gorgeous adventure that tells an effective and heartwarming tale. The gameplay is top notch, even if it's a bit simplistic. Take away the launch day technical issues and you've got one top shelf production.
Moonlighter is a good idea made game, and as such it entertained us for all the time we spent with it. It's by no means perfect, but Digital Sun's first effort is a quirky little game recommended to all the people who loves roguelites and hack'n'slash rpgs.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Players who pick up Moonlighter had best love both dungeon grinding and shop-based mini games. Ignoring the shop will only result in having to do so to progress and ignoring the dungeons will result in a lack of things to sell.
Moonlighter is Zelda with a shopkeeper twist. Balancing beautiful animations and soothing tunes against an underwhelming plot, a thing combat system, and plenty of grinding, there's plenty to like and dislike.
With slick store simulation and solid — albeit somewhat flawed — combat, Moonlighter is a game worth checking out if you're in the mood for something different. It's not perfect, but there's hours of enjoyment to be had leading the double life of a storekeeper and adventurer in the village of Rynoka.
Moonlighter creates an excellent dungeon-crawling experience for fans of the genre. It combines rogue-lite elements with procedurally generated dungeons to create an adventure that's packed with surprises. Collecting loot to sell in the store adds a new side to dungeon-crawling experience that we don't often see. Selling in the store is multi-dimensional, as we must take supply and demand into consideration. Sometimes by trial and error, we learn the true value of things to assist us in our progression. Progression can be slow due to clunky combat that causes us to die frequently, and a lot of grinding is required to achieve better upgrades. Moonlighter does an excellent job of getting the player to want to delve deeper into the dungeons, since venturing further yields greater rewards. Intricate details and visuals give Moonlighter a memorable style. Enemy designs provide an ample challenge for the risky adventurer, but the story falls short because the narrative isn't memorable.
In spite of an ending that arrives too soon, Moonlighter manages to offer an engaging balance of commerce and action up to the very end. There is a natural rhythm to opening the titular shop during the day only to dungeon crawl once night falls. Progression is constant, emphasizing a design philosophy that prioritizes a lack of wasted time above all else. From enhancing weapons to upgrading Rynoka, every piece of gold Will spends is in benefit to not only the player, but also the flow of it all. With surprisingly tight combat and an economy influenced exclusively by the protagonist himself, this is one of the most endearingly creative takes on action-RPGs this generation.
Will is adventurous shopkeeper and he is skilfull in his shop and inside dungeon as well.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Even with it's own flaws, Moonlighter is an enjoyable ride that successfully mixed between two different gameplays
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Like all the finest indie titles, Moonlighter has such a simple premise but is done so masterfully it becomes fantastically addictive - from the basic combat, to the Resident Evil style bag management, to upgrading the shop, to selling the goods; every aspect feels great. Combine this with the charming old-school art and you have got a clear winner on your hands. The only real negative is how short the game is and how the story feels a little lightweight. Moonlighter also feels like it would be even better on Switch, so keep an eye out for Cubed3's review of that version soon!
Every action you take, whether it be in the dungeons collecting materials or in your shop earning gold to spend on upgrades, helps to move you further along towards your end goal. There were a few technical hiccups that cropped up from time to time and the last few upgrades needed a bit of grinding to unlock. But despite that, I constantly found myself falling victim to the classic “just one more run”.