Moonlighterwas one of 2018 ’s best indie games . It see a concept that felt so obvious it was blow out of the water no one had done it that well before : go out and explore dungeons to find loot to sell in a shop players manage . It ’s a secret plan I ’d still extremely recommend to fans of 2D natural process dungeon crawlers , roguelike fans , or shop management secret plan fan to this twenty-four hours , and also one I ’m eagerly awaiting a follow - up to .
Developer Digital Sun Games assume some meter away from Moonlighter to createThe Mageseeker : A League of Legends StoryandCataclismo . However , the studioconfirmed last Decemberthat it is making a 3D sequel toMoonlighter . TitledMoonlighter 2 : The Endless Vault , I latterly saw this biz in military action and ask a developer some questions at an ID@Xbox roundtable .
It look likeMoonlighter 2will meliorate upon its already terrific predecessor in some of import ways . Hopefully , that ’ll mean it ’ll be just as easy to recommend when it comes out .
At its core , Moonlighter 2shares the same loop as its predecessor : explore keep , obtain dinero , betray that swag , use that money to improve your gear , repeat . To explain the reset of progress compare to the first biz , Moonlighter 2 sees protagonist Will whip away to Tresna , a Ithiel Town in a different attribute . As players attempt to get Will house , they ’ll engage with that core gameplay closed circuit and slowly mend Tresna into a bustling town . From the combat to the shopkeeping , there were a lot of topographic point where Digital Sun wanted to improve with this sequel .
Communications Manager Israel Mallen explained that while the first biz is more of an action - RPG with roguelike elements , Moonlighter 2aims to hug the roguelike side of thing a lot more . “ This time , we ’re get going for a full roguelike game , and that means that every weapon , every perk in the dungeon , and every perquisite in the shop should feel different , ” Mallen explain .
This is most clearly find out in the dungeon - crawling , where combat has been immensely fleshed out . While Moonlighter played like 2D The Legend of Zelda , Moonlighter take care more comparable toHadesorFuri . Players create character physique that fall into archetypes like tanks or range and go from room to room , clear them of enemies . Players can also enhance their mid - run abilities with fringe benefit find oneself after straighten out rooms .
on occasion , a tough genus Bos will have to be defeated . I saw a scrap with one predict the Herald , which constantly shot projectiles at the player and hid behind a sound barrier wall . Will had to hide behind walls and constantly roll dodge aside from projectiles before disabling the shield and attacking the best . The on - the - fly front thinking fromMoonlighter 2′s rivulet comes from deciding when to riposte to Tresna , as instrumentalist can misplace all of the relics obtained if they overstrain themselves .
On the shopkeeping side , players will want to maximize knapsack direction during a run to get the most out of what they obtain . When opening a shop , elements like where item are placed , how synergistic the items being sold are , and more are important to succeeder . While the saltation to 3D is the most now detectable new affair about this sequel , Moonlighter 2wants to up the ante from its forerunner in several room .
That speaks to how Digital Sun has grown as a team , as it ’s a more experient studio now than it was when the first Moonlighter was developed . “ We were a small team back then and we want to do a lot of things we could n’t do at the time , ” Mallen said . “ This time , with more resources , more time , more experience , we ’re aiming for adding a lot of replayability . ”
Moonlighter 2 : The Endless Vaultwill be release for PC , PS5 , and Xbox Series X / S afterward this twelvemonth and be part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate catalog from day one .
