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. knirfie
    Jun 8, 2020
    5
    A fun and addictive game that is unfortunately plagued by some annoying bug and glitches that will most likely make you stop playing before completing it.

    Complaints: Performance on Switch: prone to frame drops and stuttering when entering rooms or defeating an enemy. Not acceptable with the complexity and graphics. Gameplay bug: Occasionally the dodge rolls get you stuck in the    A fun and addictive game that is unfortunately plagued by some annoying bug and glitches that will most likely make you stop playing before completing it.

    Complaints:
    Performance on Switch: prone to frame drops and stuttering when entering rooms or defeating an enemy. Not acceptable with the complexity and graphics.

    Gameplay bug: Occasionally the dodge rolls get you stuck in the middle of objects or outside of the level. The only thing you can do is teleport home, or restart the game, and you will loose your progress. Played the game for 6-8 hours and this happened to me about 40 times or so.

    Longevity: Around the end of the 3rd dungeon you loose interest in selling stuff as there is nothing to spend your money on. When I stopped playing (because I got trapped in an object during the boss fight and died, again) I already had 14 million credits with nothing to spend it on.    … Expand
  2. SebboBastian
    Dec 24, 2018
    7
    I got big Azure Dreams vibes from the early trailers for this game. Don´t get me wrong, it´s a ok game, a nice little adventure. Besides all the bugs I had I was missing some puzzles and more secrets in the dungeons. Hit a wall, move a statue, hit stuffs in a special order, find some strange writings, anything that will give the dungeons more interesting deep and exploration. And why notI got big Azure Dreams vibes from the early trailers for this game. Don´t get me wrong, it´s a ok game, a nice little adventure. Besides all the bugs I had I was missing some puzzles and more secrets in the dungeons. Hit a wall, move a statue, hit stuffs in a special order, find some strange writings, anything that will give the dungeons more interesting deep and exploration. And why not have strange random characters in the town that both give you missions, strange items or whataver, just to make the town more interesting and a reason to explore it more.
    But I can understand, probly money and time like always when you have to kill your darlings in game production. But overallt, a ok game.    … Expand
  3. 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
  4. Blackdog22
    Sep 19, 2020
    6
    So after getting the RogueLike itch I looked up some games and stumbled upon this little beauty. Tons of great reviews, nice looking art, dungeon diving. Seems good. The game starts off fantastic. You have tons of stuff to unlock, multiple upgrade paths, you manage a shop on the side. Holy smokes this game has a lot!

    Then I kept playing. Dungeon 1, nicely paced. Took me a good while to    So after getting the RogueLike itch I looked up some games and stumbled upon this little beauty. Tons of great reviews, nice looking art, dungeon diving. Seems good. The game starts off fantastic. You have tons of stuff to unlock, multiple upgrade paths, you manage a shop on the side. Holy smokes this game has a lot!

    Then I kept playing. Dungeon 1, nicely paced. Took me a good while to get my equipment upgraded and beat the first boss. Then comes dungeon 2. I get more gold from the shop, I upgrade my equipment a tad too fast, and down the second boss. No real.... mechanics thus far from the bosses. Just basic moves. Then onto the third and fourth. I upgrade all my gear within 1 run of the dungeon. The gold you get from items vastly outpaces the cost of the items themselves. I 2 shot the 3rd boss and 1 shot the 4th (The fourth was stupidly easy). Simply put, the pace is garbage, the bosses are bland. The idea was fun just as an idea, it wasn't fleshed out very well once you get later into the game.

    Also, the game on Switch has a memory leak worse than my grandmothers **** I don't know why, but after playing for a bit the game starts glitching out and your framerate drops to nothing doing basic things + you skip everywhere. Items just randomly disappear. Mobs will randomly glitch into you. Text will read wrong (Say you have 2 items when you actually have 5) A pretty embarrassing showing from a stability standpoint.

    Also, your Grandfather is the most BASED dude ive ever seen. He pretends he wants to keep you safe, but keeps telling you about new dungeons opening, clearly baiting you to go die. Idk wtf is with that dude, but hes definitely an ****.

    The writing is also garbage. No animations on shopkeepers, no real point to the town at all and I would say half the stuff you can unlock serves no purpose. Oh, and all the rings from bosses do the same thing. The same fkn thing. There is no variety. Very lazy gearing concepts.

    All this besides I gave the game a 6 because the Music is badass and also because the concept on its base is actually a ton of fun. Just seemed like the devs got bored of it and phoned it in at the end, or ran out of money. Either way, it shows.    … Expand
  5. R1_gryf
    Nov 10, 2020
    6
    la première moitié du jeu est très sympa dans la progression cependant un fois avoir fini le deuxième donjon je me suis retrouver finir le troisième en une dizaine de try et le dernier en seulement deux essais pour moi ce jeu manque d'équilibrage et est inconstant dans sa difficulté et sa courbe de progression
  6. TempoTheMan
    Aug 12, 2021
    5
    a boring cycle of going into the dungeon, using your teleport to save your location when your bag is full, selling and repeat, pretty boring.
    also the combat becomes boring in the 50th time you go into the dungeon, there are better rougelikes on the switch, buy them instead
  7. Turtlez322
    Jun 18, 2022
    0
    this game had great potential and some cool features but the slow and repetitive combat ruins the whole experience
  8. Maverick_ZA
    Nov 11, 2018
    7
    Great game, with great objectives. However the games needs some patching/optimizing, as the game seems to suffer from some insane frame drops.
  9. Vedm55
    Mar 29, 2019
    6
    Time to complete the game is short.
    Mechanics and gameplay are simplified and uncomplicated
    Enemies is boring. Music is inexpressive that does not interest. The visual part of the game is soft and heartwarming. After watching the first trailer, I have been so captivated by the idea of mysterious dungeons, lots of items, trade and my own store. But in fact, everything turned out to    Time to complete the game is short.
    Mechanics and gameplay are simplified and uncomplicated
    Enemies is boring.
    Music is inexpressive that does not interest.
    The visual part of the game is soft and heartwarming.

    After watching the first trailer, I have been so captivated by the idea of mysterious dungeons, lots of items, trade and my own store. But in fact, everything turned out to be easier, boring and has fallen short of expectations.    … Expand
  10. 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.
  11. MartyMcFlyJr
    Nov 26, 2020
    10
    Awesome indie game, had a lot of fun and I liked the combination of having your own store and be an adventurer! I never played the dlc, but It's on my list
  12. kremling_chaos
    Dec 6, 2018
    8
    Fun dungeon crawling, tight mechanics (aside from occasional bugs), great soundtrack / art / atmosphere, and the shopkeeper mechanics is truly a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. The world and characters are super charming! If you ever played Stardew Valley and wished there was more to the mine, this will scratch that oddly specific itch. Would recommend to any fan of dungeonFun dungeon crawling, tight mechanics (aside from occasional bugs), great soundtrack / art / atmosphere, and the shopkeeper mechanics is truly a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. The world and characters are super charming! If you ever played Stardew Valley and wished there was more to the mine, this will scratch that oddly specific itch. Would recommend to any fan of dungeon crawlers.… Expand
  13. wcheehou
    Mar 25, 2019
    8
    Bought the digital copy, a little regret though, since you could resell it if you finished the game.
    But! The details of the game is really great. The movement, control of the character is smooth.
    After the defeat of the 3rd dungeon, you may feel a little repetitive. I have not finished the game but overall, the game is quite enjoyable. Good game to invest on if you like dungeon crawling    Bought the digital copy, a little regret though, since you could resell it if you finished the game.
    But! The details of the game is really great. The movement, control of the character is smooth.
    After the defeat of the 3rd dungeon, you may feel a little repetitive. I have not finished the game but overall, the game is quite enjoyable. Good game to invest on if you like dungeon crawling and with tons of grinding.    … Expand
  14. 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.
  15. Wakisashi
    Sep 24, 2019
    8
    Bugs aside--and there were many--I really enjoyed myself in this game. The art style, music, and overall gameplay was very enjoyable. Sure there are certainly things that could be improved, however, at the end of the day, I'm glad I played this title--even with all those challenges. I felt challenged, and rewarded. If the game was patched, I'd easily rate a 9. Certainly will recommend toBugs aside--and there were many--I really enjoyed myself in this game. The art style, music, and overall gameplay was very enjoyable. Sure there are certainly things that could be improved, however, at the end of the day, I'm glad I played this title--even with all those challenges. I felt challenged, and rewarded. If the game was patched, I'd easily rate a 9. Certainly will recommend to friends, however, those expecting a flawless play should probably look elsewhere.… Expand
  16. Dazrok
    Sep 29, 2019
    8
    Moonlighter is a simple game.

    You gain items in the dungeons and sell them in your shop, with the money you make you can upgrade your tools, shop and other items. The dungeon part if fun and great, the shop is a bit more trial and error but when it clicks you can easily make it work. The only thing prevent the game from a 10 is the bugs that occur in the game especially in the dungeons,    Moonlighter is a simple game.

    You gain items in the dungeons and sell them in your shop, with the money you make you can upgrade your tools, shop and other items.

    The dungeon part if fun and great, the shop is a bit more trial and error but when it clicks you can easily make it work.

    The only thing prevent the game from a 10 is the bugs that occur in the game especially in the dungeons, sometimes I had to exit before I even started.

    In general the game is fun but the bugs have to be addressed.    … Expand
  17. Nezz
    Apr 16, 2020
    8
    Really great, interesting and laid back game. Was fun to play. Not too short for me as I do not play often and in short sessions.
  18. Tiank
    Jan 3, 2021
    7
    I was disappointed with this game. While the graphics are really nice, and the idea of making a hybrid of rogulite game with shop simulation elements was really good, the execution of it is mediocre. Game gets repetitive very quickly, I didn't really want to finish the 4th dungeon as I didn't feel engaged in the game, or the scraps of a story for that matter, enough. Might be good to playI was disappointed with this game. While the graphics are really nice, and the idea of making a hybrid of rogulite game with shop simulation elements was really good, the execution of it is mediocre. Game gets repetitive very quickly, I didn't really want to finish the 4th dungeon as I didn't feel engaged in the game, or the scraps of a story for that matter, enough. Might be good to play for a bit, and to get it on 60/75% sale, but it's definitely not worth the full price, sadly.… Expand
  19. jcolin
    Apr 9, 2019
    8
    This was a fun little game, definitely worth the price on sale and if you like this style of game at full price, which is only 20 dollars I believe. The length is not very long, but it does include a new game plus. It has a shopkeeper mechanic sort of like recettear combined with dungeon crawling like the original zelda. I read somewhere that this was an action rpg with stardew valleyThis was a fun little game, definitely worth the price on sale and if you like this style of game at full price, which is only 20 dollars I believe. The length is not very long, but it does include a new game plus. It has a shopkeeper mechanic sort of like recettear combined with dungeon crawling like the original zelda. I read somewhere that this was an action rpg with stardew valley elements. This is absolutely not true, it is nothing like stardew valley. The shopkeeper part is a very important part of the game, but it's fairly simple, as is expanding the town, which only involves paying for new merchants, of which there are 5. The other thing you can do is expand your shop. You can make it bigger, improve your bed, cashregister, storage and add a discount box to your shop. That is everything, so you see, it's hardly rebuilding a town or anything like that. It is still a good game and there are a lot of choices for weapons and armor, which is the only way you get stronger. There are no spellcaster builds, just melee weapons and a bow.… Expand
  20. TheFlannelFox
    Dec 31, 2018
    9
    Moonlighter is a top-down action rpg, where you play as the owner of a store named Moonlighter, whom has a dream to be a hero. To become that hero he embarks on an adventure to clear four dungeons, each one ruled by a deadly boss, each night to find items to sell, monsters to slay, and glory to hold.

    Beginning with only a broom and a small simple shop, you are dropped into the first    Moonlighter is a top-down action rpg, where you play as the owner of a store named Moonlighter, whom has a dream to be a hero. To become that hero he embarks on an adventure to clear four dungeons, each one ruled by a deadly boss, each night to find items to sell, monsters to slay, and glory to hold.

    Beginning with only a broom and a small simple shop, you are dropped into the first dungeon where you’re quickly shown the ropes and learn that when you die in the dungeons you lose ‘all of the items you have collected on that run and are teleported back to town. You are then given a sword and shield to better fight your foes, beginning your journey.

    As you play through each dungeon you collect items that will stock your shop the next day. The deeper in the dungeon that you go, the better loot you’ll find. So when stocking your shelves that night when you get home, you price the items accordingly. The common items lower and the rare items higher, monitoring your customers reactions and trying new price points until you reach that perfect number to keep your popularity at its peak potential. Make sure you don’t overflood the market with certain items as then they won’t be worth as much, the same goes for holding back certain items to supply that demand for them.

    At the end of your sales day you’ll get a full rundown of your sales, and robbery attempts! Yes you thieves will steal your goods, but if you catch them in time you can give them a good walloping and send them on their way.

    The earnings for the day are yours to choose the best way to progress forward. Should you upgrade your shop? Allowing you more spaces to have more items on the sales floor at once or craft that new great sword enabling you to slay more golems to collect higher valued items? The choice is yours and boy is it a satisfying one. Saving up tons of greatly valued items after upgrading my shop space to have a HUGE sales day, then using my 500% increase in profit to enchant my weapons and demolish a dungeon boss is rewarding on so many levels that you have to experience.

    Along with the incredibly rewarding progression is the addictive combat. When inside the dungeons the levels are reminiscent of early gen Zelda games, moving from room to room trying to find the door to the next level of that dungeon.

    The combat consists of a light attack, heavy Zelda like 360 attack, shield block, and if you equip a bow, a ranged attack. Personally I used a great sword for heavier damage and a bow. Also having a dodge roll similar to Enter the Gungeon, where you are invincible during the roll and use it to leap over gaps. Truly giving you the complexity of modern melee games and once you get into a rhythm you’ll be blowing your way through dungeons with ease. A perfect balancing of getting good and upgrading your gear.

    Playing on both the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, they both look fantastic and while experiencing minor bugs on the Nintendo Switch, which I put in much more time on, none of them had serious repercussions. I’d definitely recommend the Switch version, because on planes, trains, and automobiles, you can Moonlight.

    Moonlighter is an absolutely amazing. From the moment I started playing I knew this game was made for someone just like me. The systems of shop keep/base building work so incredibly well with the rogue like dungeon crawling that it’s hard to put down and I can happily recommend it on PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch.    … Expand
  21. Reed618
    Apr 12, 2019
    10
    I just beat it and overall I got to say I had a blast playing it :). It has a very addictive gameplay loop. Raiding dungeons and collecting to sell so I can upgrade weapons, armor, the shop and my town... I got completely lost in it.
    It's not a perfect game. I think the combat doesn't really stand out and the dungeon bosses aren't that tough, some of them felt easier than regular enemies.    I just beat it and overall I got to say I had a blast playing it :). It has a very addictive gameplay loop. Raiding dungeons and collecting to sell so I can upgrade weapons, armor, the shop and my town... I got completely lost in it.
    It's not a perfect game. I think the combat doesn't really stand out and the dungeon bosses aren't that tough, some of them felt easier than regular enemies.
    But I found it to be so much fun overall and as I got it on sale for less than twenty bucks... totally worth it. 15 hours well spent :).
    Definitely worth a look and I got to say it's one of my top switch indies now.    … Expand
  22. katpjs
    Dec 20, 2018
    8
    I very much enjoyed Moonlighter. Overall, the dungeon crawling mechanic tugged at me to play and I loved and still love every second of it. The graphics are bitty and wonderful and the side job of running your own shop in addition to the dungeon exploration makes this a charming and appealing experience.

    My only complaint is there could be some minor optimizations made to the game.    I very much enjoyed Moonlighter. Overall, the dungeon crawling mechanic tugged at me to play and I loved and still love every second of it. The graphics are bitty and wonderful and the side job of running your own shop in addition to the dungeon exploration makes this a charming and appealing experience.

    My only complaint is there could be some minor optimizations made to the game. During my 20-25 hours playing thus far, the game has crashed no less than 3-4 times all during points where I was in a dungeon with a ton of hard-earned booty. Additionally, there have been glitches of walking through a door and the character not following and being stuck in the other screen, a dungeon becoming unplayable as it instantly progressed to the boss room every time I entered the third floor, and an unkillable monster that I was stuck in a room with (thank god for the pendant, am I right?).

    Overall though, this game is worth the buy. There is no ceasing of my enjoyment in this title and I highly recommend!    … Expand
  23. bl1rt
    Mar 3, 2019
    6
    This is a pretty fun game that does what it sets out to do, but comes with too many bugs and glitches.

    The game's formula is simple but fun: kill enemies for items in dungeon until you run out of energy, go back to town to sell items and buy better equipment, and repeat. Emphasis is put on managing your inventory: You can only carry a limited amount of items, so you constantly have to    This is a pretty fun game that does what it sets out to do, but comes with too many bugs and glitches.

    The game's formula is simple but fun: kill enemies for items in dungeon until you run out of energy, go back to town to sell items and buy better equipment, and repeat. Emphasis is put on managing your inventory: You can only carry a limited amount of items, so you constantly have to decide which items to discard. And instead of selling the items to a shop, your have to manage the shop yourself, which includes figuring out a good price, restocking the shelves, catching thieves and such. It is a bit like a minigame, which offers a nice change to the routine, and an interesting addition to the otherwise well-known formula.
    All of that is pretty addictive and fun - within limits, and I like how the game does not overstay its welcome: you can get through it in less than 30 hours. I'll forget about it pretty fast, but it was fun while it lasted. There is not much replay value in there for me.

    Still, it would be a solid game, if not for all the glitches, and there are tons of them:
    You constantly go through doors without triggering an entry to the next room; when you duck-roll while being hit you can go through walls and find yourself outside the room; boxes in the inventory can be stuck in highlighted mode for pretty long time; there is an enemy that explodes on death, but the area of the explosion deals damage to you about a second longer than its animation; the controls are often sluggish, especially during fights and in menus. Most of this is just silly, but the sluggish controls are a bother during boss fights, and become especially damning for a game where you spend a lot of time moving items around - I accidentally discarded the wrong items several times, when I repeated the combination that the game seemingly hadn't picked up. Also, there is a flicker when you switch between your item and the item compendium, which made me noticeably nervous, and ruined a lot of the otherwise more relaxing vibe of the game.
    Made me wonder if there is a github page where I can report bugs to, which I don't want to do for a game in that price range - indie or not.

    The game does not work well in portable mode.

    This is probably a good game for when you are sick in bed for a few days and need to kill time. I picked it up on sale, and don't regret it.    … Expand
  24. brently
    Jan 4, 2019
    10
    Bought this on Steam then when it was released on Switch I bought it again. It's just an amazing game for casual play and is perfect for the Switch. Also great for 30 min lunch breaks.
  25. svonton
    Jun 24, 2022
    7
    Port part: run smooth, yeah it will be grate suprize if pixel art style game start to lag. Game itself: rogue like game with interest shop keeper mechanic but kinda boring after several hours.
  26. tokuhirom
    Jan 5, 2020
    7
    Good enough. But...
    Selling items is not so important part when the late part of the game, since every items are high price enough.
  27. GabFire
    Aug 10, 2020
    8
    É um jogo muito bom e que faz você viciar com sua jogatina, eu nem cansei de jogar e ainda tenho vontade de repetir.
  28. sircastro
    Feb 9, 2020
    8
    Moonlighter presents a good balance of and action packed binding of isaacish game and a chill store simulator where you're figuring out what's worth selling or not to the townspeople interested in some alien crap, I guess...

    Gameplaywise, -- The game rogue-like dungeons feel like a fair challenge. You are always learning something, even in deaths. The bosses can be hard to beat, but    Moonlighter presents a good balance of and action packed binding of isaacish game and a chill store simulator where you're figuring out what's worth selling or not to the townspeople interested in some alien crap, I guess...

    Gameplaywise,
    -- The game rogue-like dungeons feel like a fair challenge. You are always learning something, even in deaths. The bosses can be hard to beat, but eventually, you'll breeze past them once you figure out their moves.
    -- The antique store simulator is an interest excuse to read a bit of the lore, figure out what items should be stored away for weapon upgrades (there are a lot a those here) and which are just junk you'll sell for money.

    Over my gameplay, i only felt frustrated a couple of times when the game wouldn't register my commands and i'd die stupidly on the last floor of the dungeon. And the pace of the game might feel a bit too slow due to the grinding you are encouraged to do in order to get some decent gear.

    I would normally do several 2 to 3 hours sessions each time, and that worked perfectly as I was drawn to play a couple of runs every day after work. Simple mechanics, simple game, great time killer.

    Story - there is pretty much no story here. Enter the dungeon, kill the creatures and don't care about the unimportant characters. You should be good to go!

    Nice game overall,a decent 8/10.    … Expand
  29. Alberto_Rahl
    Mar 4, 2020
    8
    No lo veo como un juego para pasarte horas y horas seguidas jugándolo pero si como uno al que juegas cuando te atascas en otro o solo tienes unos minutos libres.

    Moonlighter encuentra su sitio perfecto en la switch. Parecen estar hecho el uno para el otro.
  30. Daisuk
    Jun 29, 2020
    7
    The gameplay loop is good, but the separate activities by themselves just aren't interesting enough to keep you playing for very long. Especially the combat gets repetitive and boring very quickly, in my opinion. Still an enjoyable game, lovely graphics, and some cool mechanics, but the lack of variety in combat and shopkeeping lets it down more than it should.
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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

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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.
    Read full review
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