Oof. This is a tough score to give. I really really really tried (and managed to, at least for a while) to enjoy the game. Progression is fun and the ps1 era vibes is also great (Could be better, the realistic fire on the torch, to cite on example, feels very uncanny), but the game has LOTS of problems from that era.
Clunky is the definition of the game. The game started with me killing every enemy twice because i didnt knew how to open a locked door, The requirement to unlock it was always very clear, a key that costed 1C from the merchant, but I had zero even after killing everything twice and also breaking every pot near the pit. I then thought "Okay, makes sense that snails don't give any money but there is no way I have to grind" and I did and that was the first problem I had playing Lunacid. It is terrible game design to lock progression behind a random drop that you haven't even told the player that it's obtainable! That's ridiculous and it was so simply solvable by having one single snail have a guaranteed drop... I then googled how the hell to get coins and then grinded for a bit to proceed.
All maps are labyrintic and the lack of variety within the same area + the lack of an actual map makes most areas a hell to navigate, and this is exactly what made me drop the game. It's unnaceptable for me the fact that a game focused on discovery/exploration is so unpleasant to explore like this. But it got way worse when the game makes an area terrible to navigate on purpose and punishes you if you stay there for too long. After loosing some hours of progress because of that, I can't see myself picking up the game again.
The combat is nothing spectacular, but it's fun most times, besides the fact that some enemies take too many hits to die and at the same time did almost no damage at all to me, like the first and only boss fight i faced.
The soundtrack is very hit or miss, while sometimes it gave me chills other times the songs feels very out of place, destroying the ambiance. Another stupid thing is the decision to show what song is playing, this breaks the entirely immersion of the game, bothering me a lot.
I really had fun with this game for a while, but it have way too many flaws for me to overlook and put in the work to recover the progress I lost, so i'm dropping it. If I can take anything from it is that indie devs must understand that it's not because the game is based in an onder generation that it can't learn and take advantage of modern game design.
Clunky is the definition of the game. The game started with me killing every enemy twice because i didnt knew how to open a locked door, The requirement to unlock it was always very clear, a key that costed 1C from the merchant, but I had zero even after killing everything twice and also breaking every pot near the pit. I then thought "Okay, makes sense that snails don't give any money but there is no way I have to grind" and I did and that was the first problem I had playing Lunacid. It is terrible game design to lock progression behind a random drop that you haven't even told the player that it's obtainable! That's ridiculous and it was so simply solvable by having one single snail have a guaranteed drop... I then googled how the hell to get coins and then grinded for a bit to proceed.
All maps are labyrintic and the lack of variety within the same area + the lack of an actual map makes most areas a hell to navigate, and this is exactly what made me drop the game. It's unnaceptable for me the fact that a game focused on discovery/exploration is so unpleasant to explore like this. But it got way worse when the game makes an area terrible to navigate on purpose and punishes you if you stay there for too long. After loosing some hours of progress because of that, I can't see myself picking up the game again.
The combat is nothing spectacular, but it's fun most times, besides the fact that some enemies take too many hits to die and at the same time did almost no damage at all to me, like the first and only boss fight i faced.
The soundtrack is very hit or miss, while sometimes it gave me chills other times the songs feels very out of place, destroying the ambiance. Another stupid thing is the decision to show what song is playing, this breaks the entirely immersion of the game, bothering me a lot.
I really had fun with this game for a while, but it have way too many flaws for me to overlook and put in the work to recover the progress I lost, so i'm dropping it. If I can take anything from it is that indie devs must understand that it's not because the game is based in an onder generation that it can't learn and take advantage of modern game design.
Lunacid's ambience and exploration is very appreciated. While not every area in the game is a masterpiece, I find myself invested in them nonetheless. Feeling lost in winding paths, coming across secret doors, figuring out how to gain access to something locked away to me, backtracking to somewhere I've been before to discover there was a whole lot more for me to venture now that I'm fitted with better stats and equipment—all of it is a great part of Lunacid's beautiful world. While there is combat and boss fights, these aren't really Lunacid's focus. What you set out to do is to get immersed in its exploration and find as many secrets as you can. The whole gameplay loop is very relaxing. I do need to point out that I personally had some incredibly frustrating bugs near the end of my playthrough that nearly locked me out of an ending, even with the use of the official save editor to mediate it. Just a tad bit of a warning for any completionists interested.
What a nice dream