Moonscars

The developers of Moonscars have taken the old Metroidvania techniques and Souls-like game mechanics and managed to mix them in a unique way, creating a wild fusion of visual style, emotional storytelling and gameplay.

Moonscars is a beautiful, grimdark homage to the Soulsborne genre, with engaging art and challenging action. Not everything is well explained, and both the game’s narrative and mechanics can feel unnecessarily opaque. It takes some time and effort to master Moonscars’ combat and systems, but the effort is worth the reward. It can be punishing, but only rarely feels unfair, and it’s one of those games that will probably compel you to keep inching forward.

Moonscars is a great soulslike for those willing to deal with the steep difficulty spike of the last two levels, but it will undoubtedly fall very short for those that don't already like the genre.

Black Mermaid debuts with a brutal and punitive action but at the same time manages to give great satisfaction once you have learned the different nuances that characterize its gameplay. Moonscars is an adventure with few flaws and boldly draws from the worlds of soulslike and metroidvania to propose a series of interesting solutions, the Moon and temporary enhancements above all, which make every single session almost always unpredictable and exciting.

Moonscars’ fluid combat mechanics, fun boss battles, and lovely art stylings kept me engaged and made me a believer that there is a lot more enjoyment still to be milled from the souls-like subgenre.

Despite minor bugs and a save system that could cause frustration, the core of Moonscars is a pleasurable journey through a crushingly dark world. Black Mermaid’s first title is filled with love for the platforming genre, and it shows in every aspect of the game. It will be interesting to see which direction this new developer goes in future titles, or if it will choose to continue to build on the dark and bloody world introduced in Moonscars.

Moonscars is an amalgamation of different ideas merged into one 2D Soulslike package, and while a few feel undercooked, the rest manage to tie everything together into an excellent action-RPG experience. The gorgeous visuals are also worth experiencing, as it's rare to see a gameplay pull off an art style as well as Moonscars. The dark world of the clayborne is a fascinating and deadly one, and like its clay protagonist, the player only gets stronger as each death reshapes them.

Moonscars is a triumph for Black Mermaid. The studio’s unique art style brings Moonscars‘ world to life with flourish, while challenging fights and perilous platforming mean you’ll move through this universe with your heart pumping the entire time.

When I first booted up Moonscars, I couldn’t help initially thinking that this would be a familiar experience to other titles of these genres, such as Blasphemous or Slain: Back from Hell. Though there are comparisons for the genres, I think Moonscars does a great job of standing out amongst the rest. The art is terrific, and the combat feels rewarding despite its intensity and difficulty. While the story isn’t gripping, the gothic aesthetic is enticing, and I had a great time trudging through this forlorn adventure.

Even if we feel that the Moonscars formula is not at its full potential, the Black Mermaid studio delivers here a solid and often quite ingenious action-RPG. Between mixing genres with a touch of rogue-lite; two-speed difficulty; good sensations in combat and beautiful artistic direction, there is really something going on, controller in hand. It is finally two or three inaccuracies, in terms of balancing and finishing, which pull Moonscars down. Regardless, it's always a pleasure to restart a game. A good pickaxe for fans of demanding action games.

Moonscars is a soulslike (although ‘lite’ would better describe it) with a very evocative visual style and well-written characters. The gameplay is also good, but it suffers from a certain lack of enemy variety and a poor balance of character options, especially egregious when it comes to special weapons. Still, it’s not a bad game by any means, but the competition is fierce in the 2D metroidvania / soulslike genre and standing out is not an easy feat.

Despite taking clear inspiration from other prominent Soulslike and Metroidvania titles, Moonscars does enough with its unique art direction and gameplay features to stand out from an increasingly populated crowd. Although its lore and plot could have stood to be more clearly communicated, and not all of its additional mechanics feel as enjoyable as the core combat and exploration, Moonscars’ visceral gameplay and gorgeous visuals make it worthwhile to check out for Soulslike fans seeking a new challenge.

Moonscars brings a deeply satisfying core combat loop and exciting art direction to the Soulslike genre, even if it has some teething issues with its overlapping systems and narrative.

Moonscars is a video game that knows what kind of atmosphere it wants to create, how to create it and how to dance on those notes from the first to the last minute of play. The combat system is simple but satisfying and, although it needed more attention from a technical point of view and the story does everything to keep the player away (at least in the first hours), the adventure manages to entertain from start to finish.

Black Mermaid understood the ideas that made the 2D Soulslike genre successful and added new mechanics that reflect its own identity. If it didn't have flaws like story being too messy and combat having balance issues, it could have made its mark among the best examples of the genre.

Moonscars is a good debut by Black Mermaid with some unique ideas and missed potential. The gameplay is fun and engaging but some mechanics feel a little unbalanced and in some cases can even forget about them and still finish the game. The story is well written, especially the dialogues but the lore and character building lacks enough depth to feel close to them. Overall the story and art style of the game is forgettable and this made the sound editing and music of the game lose their power and therefore feel shallow.

Moonscars lacks the depth you would want from an Metroidvania title in its exploration and character building, but manages to deliver as a hardcore Soulsborne game.

Whilst it’s certainly interesting, it remains largely incoherent. Subsequent playthroughs, which are mandatory to experience all the game has to offer, don’t really clear up any of the confusion either. Still, Moonscars does offer something worth playing. If you’re in the market for a new Metroidvania or Souls-like game, then I’d recommend giving this one a shot.

Moonscars is an intentionally bleak adventure in an unforgiving world, but players who seek a genuine challenge will certainly find it here.

If you've played any other Metroidvania game, you can easily pass this one up. It means well, and Grey Irma is a beast, but with a convoluted story and characters you will never care about, dying over and over is probably the best part of the game. Beautiful game. Questionable story. "Every death makes you stronger." goes the tagline. I question where the strength actually goes. Slash, slash, dodge.

Moonscars has a lot of promising ideas. Unfortunately, the threadbare plot, questionable level design, and odd execution of mechanics hold it back.