Moonscars

 Switch
Metascore
65

Mixed or average reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Jeuxvideo.com
    Oct 16, 2022
    75
    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.
  2. Multiplayer.it
    Sep 30, 2022
    74
    Moonscars is a stylish metroidvania soulslike game, packed with a solid yet derivative gameplay, many different enemies and a compelling story.
  3. TouchArcade
    Nov 1, 2022
    70
    While I did enjoy a lot of Moonscars in the time I’ve put into it on Switch as of version 1.3.003 and the current PC build, it feels like an early access release that is close to hitting the finish line. There are a few things that need work like enemy HP, some areas looking too similar, and the unforgiving nature not pushing me to learn, but frustrating me in parts. In its current state, I’d recommend it assuming you’re ok with all of that and some performance issues on Nintendo Switch.
  5. Nintendo Life
    Oct 11, 2022
    70
    Moonscars is a dark and punchy 2D action adventure that tweaks the Soulslike formula just enough to make it worth jumping into yet another entry in this most overstuffed of genres. The combat here is super slick stuff that's meticulously animated through the game's exquisite pixel art style, there are a ton of cool skills and weapons to get your hands on, and the world and its enemies are thoroughly well-designed. It's a shame, then, that this Switch port currently suffers from fairly consistent frame rate issues, because beyond a few difficulty issues here and there, it's pretty hard to find fault with what Black Mermaid has served up. Let's hope this one gets a performance patch for those stutters.
  6. NintendoWorldReport
    Oct 12, 2022
    50
    I said that Moonscars is a game of inches and I mean it—you’ll fight for every inch of progress. Personally, the game presented too many challenges for my enjoyment. If the difficulty didn’t go up every time I died or I could activate checkpoints without having to fight a clone afterwards, it might be a different story, but I don’t appreciate being punished for doing inevitable things (dying, saving). Did you find Hollow Knight and Blasphemous too easy? If so, Moonscars may give you the challenge you crave. For the rest of us? It has limited utility.

User Reviews

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User Score
2.4

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 4 out of 5
  1. Loonlamb007
    Sep 30, 2022
    1
    Maybe its just the Switch Version, but I am not gonna buy this on ps4 to give it another try..., Played about 10 hours. What a humongousMaybe its just the Switch Version, but I am not gonna buy this on ps4 to give it another try..., Played about 10 hours. What a humongous dissappointment!! Besides the nice Music and atmospheric graphics (which become pain in the ass as soon as more than 2 enemies come on stage, because within the bustle you dont see very good whats actually going on during fights ) this is an absolute buggy mess. Framedrops constantly... Sometimes Freezes for half a second which causes death after death. I had an issue that my tomb stood directly in place with the "Bonfire"... So guess what? I could not catch it up anymore. WTF??? The absolute joke is the parry system, it seems totally rng!!! To me it feels Like as soon as more than one enemy comes in it is just not working properly. One Enemy works fine, from two enemies on its total rng... Sometimes it works sometimes it don't. Too dumb that a Lot of fighting mechanics in this game base on parrying. Good Potential, but absolutely bad execution. Not Worth my time. Maybe with Patch 3.1 I give it another try. By now, this Game is a No Go to me!!!… Full Review »
  2. iamvaro
    Oct 2, 2022
    0
    Full of bugs, performance issues and crashes. Balancing issues, badly designed mechanics that do not make the game hard but instead tediousFull of bugs, performance issues and crashes. Balancing issues, badly designed mechanics that do not make the game hard but instead tedious and frustrating. Awful map and UI design in general. It just feels extremely amateur, which is a shame because the trailers looked so promising… Full Review »
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