Moonlighter

 Switch
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 139 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 93 out of 139
  2. Mixed: 34 out of 139
  3. Negative: 12 out of 139
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  1. nirvana328
    Oct 24, 2021
    3
    nice graphics and story, poor gameplay mechanics and controls...could not get past the first dungeon due to bad controls and poor difficulty balance at the beginning of the game.

    the store mechanic is also interesting but again poorly designed. I would post items for sale but the towns people would wander around the store and not buy anything, and there was a poorly designed menu with no    nice graphics and story, poor gameplay mechanics and controls...could not get past the first dungeon due to bad controls and poor difficulty balance at the beginning of the game.

    the store mechanic is also interesting but again poorly designed. I would post items for sale but the towns people would wander around the store and not buy anything, and there was a poorly designed menu with no clear way to see which items were wanted and what was the best price to sell them for.

    overall the game has great potential with dungeon crawling and a store selling and item upgrading mechanic but the game is severely limited by it's poor design, frustrating gameplay mechanics and poor difficulty balance at the beginning of the game. It has potential but it's reviews are way over hyped and don't mention all the limitations you hit at the beginning of the game. I would consider this but only if you are aware of the major hurdles at the beginning of the game.    … Expand
  2. Turtlez322
    Jun 18, 2022
    0
    this game had great potential and some cool features but the slow and repetitive combat ruins the whole experience
  3. Natedog1985
    Apr 14, 2021
    1
    Good idea, awful game. It's classic Zelda where nothing makes sense and way worse gameplay. Don't waste your money.
  4. Syntheticproduc
    Jun 14, 2021
    0
    Don't buy this game untile they fix the usability issues. Impossible to use the pendant in the dungeon. I die over and over with max inventory without being able to get out. Game doesn't tell you ANYTHING. Worst UI experience in a game ever. Trash it and don't look back.
  5. SgtWantCuddles
    Jun 5, 2023
    3
    Moonlighter is a game that really looks up to Recettear, like a child looking up to an older sibling, and tries its best to copy the mechanics, but ultimately lacks the polish, charm, and UI needed to perfect the experience.

    As others have said, the performance on Switch is abysmal. More than once, stuttering cost me loot, health, or both. I got stuck on the wrong side of the blacksmith    Moonlighter is a game that really looks up to Recettear, like a child looking up to an older sibling, and tries its best to copy the mechanics, but ultimately lacks the polish, charm, and UI needed to perfect the experience.

    As others have said, the performance on Switch is abysmal. More than once, stuttering cost me loot, health, or both. I got stuck on the wrong side of the blacksmith counter due to that stuttering - glitched through the wall - and lost an entire dungeon's worth of loot and progress due to the game's unnecessary insistence on only saving when you sleep or finish a session of selling at the shop.

    DLC actually adjusts the base game once you start the DLC. Full health potions, for example, could be crafted but now have to be bought, just for gold sink purposes. The DLC is just monsters tuned up to ridiculous health until you build ridiculous equipment. And even then it won't save you - the ball-and-chain enemies can hit you multiple times a second. One caught me in a doorway and took my HP from 900+ to 0 before I could react. The enemies that steal your items - and then steal more and the original stolen ones are gone forever - are absolute garbage and I can't believe they included that.

    Mechanics and UI - awful. They took "show, don't tell" too literally and now they're trying to explain to me how major game mechanics works with 4 pictures. You need more than that to explain that the pendant costs money, for example. I ended up taking Switch screenshots because the first time they explained something I accidentally closed it and - of course - there's no way to view previous tutorial screens.

    The story is...OK? Not much progression other than "you unlocked another dungeon" until the info dump at the end. I'd be surprised if there were more than 100 sentences in the entire game.

    Skip Moonlighter; it's too glitchy, half-baked in the areas that need to be well-done, and the time you invested could be better spent on another game.    … Expand
  6. Punk564
    Dec 22, 2022
    1
    Played a lot of roguelikes in all forms and this one is the worst. Frustration is to be expected from these games but in this one in particular, it doesn't come from the difficulty but from the poor controls and the repetitive combat. Defeating enemies and bosses doesn't feel rewarding and the story is poor.
    It's a shame, the art style is cute and the ideas were interesting but poorly executed.

Awards & Rankings

52
#52 Best Switch Game of 2018
39
#39 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2018
91
#91 Most Shared Switch Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Aug 28, 2019
    80
    Link may never get a night job. But Will has, and his insomnia makes for a great idea for a game! [Issue #39 – May/June 2019, p. 73]
  2. IGN Japan
    Apr 29, 2019
    80
    Moonlighter is a game that has you experience the life of a hero and a shopkeeper at the same time. You fight enemies to obtain items at a dungeon, and go on to sell these at your shop, allowing you to buy better armor. The gorgeous graphics enhance the experience and the gameplay loop is great. The game could have offered more to do and the story is a bit simple, but it’s an enjoyable ride nonetheless.
    Read full review
  3. Cubed3
    Dec 28, 2018
    90
    In spite of an ending that arrives too soon, Moonlighter manages to offer an engaging balance of commerce and action up to the very end.
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