A Double-Edged Adventure?
Adventure can be as double-edged as the sword one uses to carve through foes and flora. While you encounter new experiences and grow, there will be growing pains along with setbacks. This also sums up my experience with Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault.
For fans of the first Moonlighter, Moonlighter 2 is a relatively easy recommendation albeit with some asterisks. For newcomers, it may be better to wait for the rough edges to be smoothed out.
Repeat Customer
For those who haven’t played Moonlighter, Moonlighter 2 is a direct sequel but gets you up to speed from the start by covering the plot of the original from start to finish, before chucking you onto your face into the gameplay. Literally.
Ms. Scratch, a red lizard-like landlady, throws you out, demanding you find relics to sell. And so the loop begins as you resume your journey as Will, shopkeeper and adventurer extraordinaire. For those who have not played the first Moonlighter or have not returned to it for years and forgotten, the story is explained in the opening cutscene. This covers everything from the original plot, the ultimate bad guy, and how you ended up in Tresna, instead of the original setting of Rynoka.
With the new setting comes a new perspective and one of the biggest changes between the original and the sequel. The good news is that the shift from 2D to 3D is for the better. While the first Moonlighter had a great aesthetic and detail, the visual change has not only allowed for more detail but has somehow allowed them to add even more charm to the aesthetic. Coupled with a satisfying soundtrack and sound effects, it makes Moonlighter 2 an easy sell for the senses.
Mercantile, Mayhem, and Mishaps
What hasn’t changed is the core gameplay loop. You will still alternate between adventuring, defeating enemies and filling your backpack with relics to then sell for money afterwards.
For the adventuring half, you will venture to three dimensions with two worlds each. The combat is great. Rolling to avoid enemies while taking swings with your weapon, shots with your gun, and swings with your backpack when the enemy is stunned, feels fast and fluid without being overcomplicated.
A great addition to this are the roguelite elements and map. After completing a segment you will get a reward, either relics, a challenge or a perk from a selection of three. This is predetermined based on the path you chose on a map which you can see and choose after each segment. These paths inevitably converge on two points: a mini boss and final boss. Unfortunately there is not much variation within these worlds and bosses over each run, giving just enough variation to not feel repetitive but still feeling there’s a lack of depth and variety.
An aspect that has plenty of depth though are the weapons. For these adventures, you can choose from four classes of melee weapons, as well as a gun with a variety of alternatives to unlock. There are some armour choices too. For the melee weapons, each category has a number of variations which don’t fundamentally change the weapon but how you interact, giving buffs to certain playstyles or skills. This makes the combat really stand out as you perfect playstyles and experiment with others.
As mentioned, the second half of the gameplay loop is focused on selling the acquired relics from the aforementioned adventure. While working retail sounds more like punishment than playing, Moonlighter 2 does a great job making it engaging throughout. You’ll be restocking and setting prices for the relics you find in your adventures, making sure you don’t set them too low or too high. However this is not a passive experience as you have to check for special guests and also choose upgrades via the same system you use for the adventures. The money earned here funds upgrades to Will as well as your store, Moonlighter. Furthermore, it funnels progress along the main quest.
A Variety Of Quests
While there are a variety of quests you will be tasked with, the main one involves the titular Endless Vault, which you meet shortly after the tutorial and provides the main path of progress. By giving you goals tied just to the amount of money earned, it ties both forks of gameplay together and allows you to always make progress even if you have a bad run. The rest of the quests tend to be tied to the adventures and finding side paths for bonus areas which earn you recipes for new weapons.
All this to say: Moonlighter 2 is a joy to play. When it lets you play it. Unfortunately, that isn’t always a guarantee. Moonlighter 2 froze on the first loading screen after the combat tutorial. Quitting and loading back in to continue put me back at the beginning of the tutorial. However it did work for a while after that. Although I was not through with technical issues. The game crashed one more time during a loading screen, which in general do tend to take a surprisingly long time for the relatively small areas as well as look choppy. And lastly, while it was not a freeze or crash, I did get stuck once between the armory and gate in the central area and had to quit to reset my position.
While these were the biggest issues that required me to stop playing, they were not all the problems I ran into. The only other technical issue I ran into was one time where, despite there being an obstacle in the way, I rolled through it and off the map. This was also not limited to me as enemies have also slipped through terrain. And lastly, some quests have issues. One quest giver, no matter how many times I talked with him, would not give me the quest until I reset. Furthermore, As of the writing of this review, one of the quests, Weapon Mastery, is bugged which they are apparently aware of and working on a fix.
While nothing was ultimately game breaking or resulted in losing too much progress, it was annoying and also always led me to worry of when the next crash might come and how much progress I would possibly lose if out on an adventure.
Hard Sell
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault can deliver a great time where each run is not only enjoyable but feeds into a variety of interlocked improvement systems, ensuring it feels like you are always making progress. This coupled with the moment-to-moment gameplay, whether adventuring or managing your shop, is engaging and does a good job of giving you enough to keep your attention while never getting overwhelming or repetitive.
This makes the technical issues all the more jarring as there is clearly care and attention to detail in all the other aspects. But it’s telling that despite these technical issues and a relative lack of depth that I was always wanting to get right back into the action. So while there’s plenty here to satiate new and returning players, it’s far from a painless journey.
Important Links
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault Is Now Open On Xbox, Game Pass And More! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/moonlighter-2-the-endless-vault-is-now-open-on-xbox-game-pass-and-more/
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault – Will the Hero Merchant Returns for a New Adventure – https://www.thexboxhub.com/moonlighter-2-the-endless-vault-will-the-hero-merchant-returns-for-a-new-adventure/
Hollow Knight Composer is Scoring Game Pass’ Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault – https://www.thexboxhub.com/hollow-knight-composer-is-scoring-game-pass-moonlighter-2-the-endless-vault/
Download from the Xbox Store, through Game Pass if you like – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/moonlighter-2-the-endless-vault/9ndjx252q5bw
There’s a Supporter Pack too – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/moonlighter-2-the-endless-vault-deluxe-supporter-pack/9nr0rqchrjdk
