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.