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A lot of concerns can come up when a developer releases a sequel. Will it properly build on the original? Is there still a story to tell? Will the studio be able to define and differentiate it enough that its merits come through? With Moonlighter 2 there’s another challenge, in that it is going from an what seemed like a successful end for Will, Moonlight, and the town of Rynoka in the first game and is shifting from 2D to 3D. While it’s still early days for this early access game, as Digital Sun noted on Steam it will be in this state “as long as the game needs it,” what’s here now feels comfortingly familiar and promising.
To provide an excuse for Will, Tomo, and Zenon being back at square one, Rynoka is gone. The Collector took the town, and the three are now refuges in a new, small, ramshackle place called Tresna. They also don’t seem entirely welcome or well-situated at the start, as the landlord Ms. Scratch is frustrated by the fact that Will isn’t pulling his weight at the new shop where he works and tosses him into a portal to find Relics to sell. While there, he starts hearing a mysterious voice that guides him through the area and seems to go out of its way to assure him that they are a friend. Upon returning to town with a newly acquired pendant and going through a quick shop management tutorial, a mysterious Endless Vault appears and promises to open and grant a wish if Will continues to make money. Ms. Scratch sees it as a chance for success, Will sees it as an opportunity to get into heroics again, and Tomo wonders if the wish could be used to restore Rynoka.
In terms of gameplay, Moonlighter 2 feels a lot like the original in many ways, even though there are immediately visible changes and quality of life adjustments. Will starts with a broom as a weapon, but we immediately gain access to the opportunity to pick a sword, large sword, spear, or gauntlets after that introduction. In addition to the normal attack, there’s a special for each weapon type that offers an additional options for things like AOE damage or greater speed. Will has access to a gun for ranged hits, which can be aimed with a joystick, and refills as you deal standard attacks. There’s also the standard dodge for rolling out of the way of attacks, and we have a potion we can use to recover with the tap of the D-pad and a pendant for escaping back to town.
Gathering Relics works similarly to the first game. We get the opportunity to grab one typically after clearing each node on the map when we’re going through an area. These fall into different types, have different elements of quality, and can include a curse or influence that affects other Relics in the bag. For example, one of the earliest is one might burn Relics in specific positions indicated, eliminating them. However, some Relics might offer a buff and do things like grant armor to adjacent items when burned. If you get one item, it might add increase the quality of others in that column. Inventory management still feels like it carries weight.
Going through areas when outside of town feels like other types of roguelikes, such as Slay the Spire or Monster Train, as you’ll have an idea of what to expect in the next location when going through the Moonlighter 2 map. This means you could make decisions about which direction you take based on the risk and reward. In terms of other roguelikes, I almost feel like it’s a bit more forgiving in its earliest hours so far. We do have the pendant that allows us an easy escape while maintaining our inventory. And the earliest areas do still feel like something of a tutorial even though there can be some challenging enemy groupings and boss-type encounters.
Once you get back to Tresna, the shopkeeping element begins. Will’s new, tiny storefront starts with four pedestals for selling things and absolutely no record of proper pricing. So everything you place is guesswork, and you need to watch potential buyers’ reactions to gauge if you should be going lower or higher. It’s simple enough to adjust on the fly. This time there is also robot named K33P3R that Ms. Scratch brings in that can store Relics for you and let you take advantage of a buying buff you select for each round of sales to help move merchandise and increase profits. The Endless Vault also automatically tracks the income milestones. Since we are seeing in real-time the effects of quality on sales and desirability of rare finds, it’s once again a situation where we get an immediate sort of dopamine hit that shows “we did good” after a run.
What I also noticed during this early access phase is that the pacing is really spot-on in Moonlighter 2 even during this point in development. While we start with the four weapons, after getting to only a halfway point in my first real run, I already unlocked a recipe node for the next sword. By my second run, I unlocked access to Silver to expand my backpack space when going through Kalina. (Keep an eye out for the character by going to a spot with a question mark on it.) Within a few hours, I’d even unlocked a second Perkmeter for K33P3R to ensure I’d make more money from sales.
While it’s early days, it really seems like Moonlighter 2 is already a roguelike in a pretty stable and promising position. The gameplay loop is identical to the original and as satisfying as ever. The transition to 3D means a few more combat elements, with the gun and specials proving handy. The K33P3R robot for shop management perks and storage is handy. Plus, the progression also seems to move at a steady pace. It seems on track to be another success.
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault is in early access on PCs via Steam, and it will eventually also be on the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
