I was scrolling through the playstation plus extra section of the store looking for something to play for just a few days before starting the massive Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. I didn't have enough time to really dive in or replay anything substantially longer nor did i wanna spend money on something that I only wanted to play for a few days. I saw a quick minute video on the store front from moonscars that I've never heard of but looked like a gothic metroidvania and in combination of looking at the average completion time on how long to beat fit my criteria pretty well. A nearly complete blind buy.
For what i was looking for Moonscars did fit that bill but in all honesty is a pretty terrible game. Right from the get go the story is presented in a equal part minamalistic and nonsensical way. Trying to follow it was quite annoying, as it all text info dumps and boring. Nothing in the world or the game characters or backgrounds help pain a picture of what you are doing or whats going on. It always feels like it's trying to be a complex story but very little actually happens to keep the player motivated or curious as to what happens next. At about the half way point I just started skipping the text boxes, which is something I very rarely do, even when I'm not enjoying the story. The visuals at first felt unique and gothic but you will soon come to realize that this is the only style and color pallete the game is going to show. It is unlike say Hallow Knight where yes the game is comprised on dark and moody colors but has sprinkles of life and color all around it. Moonscars starts to feel like staring into a magic eye poster where everything is just bleeding gray and the only visual interesting thing that really stands out is your character and all you really see of that is the same three or so different animations that the character does.
As for the gameplay Moonscars is your standard metroidvania. Acutally saying standard is a disservice because while it doesn't do anything flat out terrible in it's traversal or combat it is quite below average in excution on all levels. Moonscars is functional and things attack you and there is pushback from the enemies but it is never satisfying. You really never deviate from basic strategies for destroying enemies. You have your basic strike combo and your prefered spell you spam when your meter is built up. There is one special attack that you can also use that you can periodically switch out that has better attack animation that usually buffs your character slightly but the long animation windows usually cause you to get damaged far more than you give out so it's rarely ever worth while. You simply do more damage through sword strikes and spells. Spells and health regeneration are tied to the same meter so you would think it would be a balancing act of a risk and reward but it's not. It's the same meter but tied individually to each action. Attacking enemies builds the meter and you can heal and use spells unlimitedly at almost all times. Who cares about trying to attack bosses defensively or reactively when you can just run up and spam attacks and heal at the same time. It's nice not having to rely on items to heal but this system just doesn't work well.
All of the rogue like elements this game has also are lazily designed or make such a minor difference they are not worth seeking out. Like souls games when you die you leave behind your spoils and they can be recollected on the next life. Pretty standard stuff in the genre in this day. The things you can buy with said spoils are so bland and situational they are not worth experimenting with. Plus a lot of said items you can buy can not be combined with other like items. Pushing back enemies slightly further from attacks, slight damage increase on next attack after a kill, increased defense but slow walk speed and so on. Boring. On top of that have you ever played a metroidvania where while exploring the world there is only ONE movement upgrade or skill that allows you to reach new areas? No double jump unlock to reach new heights, or transformation ability to get into a previously unacessible room or an item that allows you to climb to a place you couldn't reach before or boots that allow you to walk on spikes/poisen. Nothing like that. Just a single dash mechanic that use a couple of times. The whole game is just walking to one section of the map, finding a key and walk to another section. This game made me appreicate even the most basic of other metroidvania's. By the time I got to the end I was just begging for it to be over. I can only slay the same three or four basic fodder enemies over and over again. Don't waste your time on Moonscars.
For what i was looking for Moonscars did fit that bill but in all honesty is a pretty terrible game. Right from the get go the story is presented in a equal part minamalistic and nonsensical way. Trying to follow it was quite annoying, as it all text info dumps and boring. Nothing in the world or the game characters or backgrounds help pain a picture of what you are doing or whats going on. It always feels like it's trying to be a complex story but very little actually happens to keep the player motivated or curious as to what happens next. At about the half way point I just started skipping the text boxes, which is something I very rarely do, even when I'm not enjoying the story. The visuals at first felt unique and gothic but you will soon come to realize that this is the only style and color pallete the game is going to show. It is unlike say Hallow Knight where yes the game is comprised on dark and moody colors but has sprinkles of life and color all around it. Moonscars starts to feel like staring into a magic eye poster where everything is just bleeding gray and the only visual interesting thing that really stands out is your character and all you really see of that is the same three or so different animations that the character does.
As for the gameplay Moonscars is your standard metroidvania. Acutally saying standard is a disservice because while it doesn't do anything flat out terrible in it's traversal or combat it is quite below average in excution on all levels. Moonscars is functional and things attack you and there is pushback from the enemies but it is never satisfying. You really never deviate from basic strategies for destroying enemies. You have your basic strike combo and your prefered spell you spam when your meter is built up. There is one special attack that you can also use that you can periodically switch out that has better attack animation that usually buffs your character slightly but the long animation windows usually cause you to get damaged far more than you give out so it's rarely ever worth while. You simply do more damage through sword strikes and spells. Spells and health regeneration are tied to the same meter so you would think it would be a balancing act of a risk and reward but it's not. It's the same meter but tied individually to each action. Attacking enemies builds the meter and you can heal and use spells unlimitedly at almost all times. Who cares about trying to attack bosses defensively or reactively when you can just run up and spam attacks and heal at the same time. It's nice not having to rely on items to heal but this system just doesn't work well.
All of the rogue like elements this game has also are lazily designed or make such a minor difference they are not worth seeking out. Like souls games when you die you leave behind your spoils and they can be recollected on the next life. Pretty standard stuff in the genre in this day. The things you can buy with said spoils are so bland and situational they are not worth experimenting with. Plus a lot of said items you can buy can not be combined with other like items. Pushing back enemies slightly further from attacks, slight damage increase on next attack after a kill, increased defense but slow walk speed and so on. Boring. On top of that have you ever played a metroidvania where while exploring the world there is only ONE movement upgrade or skill that allows you to reach new areas? No double jump unlock to reach new heights, or transformation ability to get into a previously unacessible room or an item that allows you to climb to a place you couldn't reach before or boots that allow you to walk on spikes/poisen. Nothing like that. Just a single dash mechanic that use a couple of times. The whole game is just walking to one section of the map, finding a key and walk to another section. This game made me appreicate even the most basic of other metroidvania's. By the time I got to the end I was just begging for it to be over. I can only slay the same three or four basic fodder enemies over and over again. Don't waste your time on Moonscars.