Moonlighter

Moonlighter is a fantasy roguelike action RPG for PC, PS4 and etc. in which we assume the role of a simple shopkeeper who dreams of becoming a real hero. The title was developed by Digital Sun Games, a Spanish studio that managed to obtain player’s approval within Square Enix Collective, a Square Enix’s program of supporting indie developers

Plot

The action is set in the small merchant town of Rynoka which is surrounded by many unexplored dungeons. The protagonist named Will, whose ambition is to become a real hero, runs a store in this place. To fulfill his dream, he has to gather adequate equipment and master various useful abilities. In the game world, everything has its price, though—therefore, at nights, when the store is closed, the protagonist visits the nearby dungeons, where he obtains different wares that will let him make his dream come true after he has sold them. Subsequent journeys of Will are just an introduction to the adventure that awaits him after opening the last and the most mysterious dungeon that nobody has ever dared to enter.

Mechanics

The mechanics of Moonlighter combine elements of a classical roguelike action RPG and a trading game, while the gameplay is divided into two main parts. The first one is regular raiding of the nearby dungeons where Will can acquire a myriad of valuable things by defeating his enemies. In the randomly-generated underground, the protagonist faces both the ordinary and not very intelligent opponents as well as quite powerful bosses that, once defeated, drop tons of equipment. While adventuring, the hero can use various weapons (which force us to use different tactics), wear increasingly powerful armors, and utilize varied special abilities thanks to ancient scrolls. Potential death of the protagonist isn’t permanent but it takes us back to the beginning of a given dungeon and we lose a large amount of the inventory.

The second aspect of the gameplay is Will’s shop where we can sell the goods that we gathered in the dungeons and thus fill his pouch with gold. To achieve success, we have to incessantly expand the shop with new elements that can attract potential customers. While playing, we also improve our knowledge of the things we sell which lets us gain bigger profits from selling them.

The production doesn’t have a typical experience-based character development system, and the only element that lets us develop our character is obtaining more powerful weapons and armor. The latter and former can be purchased by visiting other merchants or created with the built-in crafting system.

Technical aspects

On the technical side, Moonlighter for PC, PS4 and etc. has a typically roguelike style, putting emphasis on old-school retro graphics that, at the same time, are very colorful and fabulously-looking. The developers at Digital Sun Games say that they were inspired by, among other titles, the legendary Zelda series as well as such modern productions as Rogue Legacy and The Binding of Isaac.

Last updated on 01 March 2019