Moonlighter

Mostly PC, but console and mobile too
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Leisher
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Moonlighter

Post by Leisher »

Another short indy game I ripped through to avoid life. This one has you taking over the family business of an item shop in a fantasy setting. Nearby are some mysterious dungeons where you go to get stuff to sell.

Cute game, but clearly an indy (it was a kickstarter) because some things are not fleshed out completely.

The selling game, believe it or not, is interesting. You sell items and try to figure out the best prices based on limited knowledge and how your customers react. You then take your profits and invest in adventuring equipment or upgrades for your store and town.

The adventure game plays like the original Zelda right down to the lack of diagonal attacks. The enemies are varied...mostly...and can be challenging. In fact, they require the ability to switch from melee to ranged weapons often. (Gamepad recommended) The dungeons completely change every time you start them over. Only three levels for each of the 4 dungeons and then an end boss. The 5th dungeon isn't a dungeon. Maybe that's a spoiler, but I'm doing you a favor. Just go in prepping for two big fights.

The story is fine and a good idea. Original as far as I know too.

My main problems are the things that aren't fleshed out:
-The shop assistant is worthless. She basically does nothing when you work the store. You can leave her in charge of the store, but she takes 30%. That's already a lot, but what's worse is she doesn't account for tips. Tips become a LARGE portion of your profits. Point being, she's taking a lot more than 30%. Don't bother using her.
-There's a whole monster egg feature that isn't explained and I never used the entire time.
-There's no reason to test or invest in most of the items in the potion shop or the blacksmith.
-The artist guy you pay to come in is pointless aside from the two items that earn you more in tips. Him only being available in the day time is dumb.
-Ditto for the banker. By the time I got him, I had no use for him.
-The other store owner I never needed to use, so...a waste of design time there.
-There are balance issues. The fourth dungeon was much tougher than the previous ones and it didn't feel like my weapons were as powered up as they were in the previous ones. (Each dungeon brings new weapons and armor...)
-The item list is a bit weird. There's stuff that you would think would be for YOU, but no. Hint: Wishlist the items you want from the blacksmith and sell everything else. Except the red crystals. Keep them for equipment enhancements.

There are some other things, but you get the point. Overall, this was a fun experience and I could see it leading to a good sequel that's far more fleshed out. Probably worth a couple bucks in a sale.
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