Dancrane212

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,990







Launches today on Switch, PlayStation, PC and Xbox with the latter two platforms releasing directly into Game Pass.


Opencritic
Metacritic
XB1 | XBS | PC | PS4 | PS5 | Switch

noisypixel - 8/10
When I first booted up Moonscars, I couldn't help initially thinking that this would be a familiar experience to other titles of these genres, such as Blasphemous or Slain: Back from Hell. Though there are comparisons for the genres, I think Moonscars does a great job of standing out amongst the rest. The art is terrific, and the combat feels rewarding despite its intensity and difficulty. While the story isn't gripping, the gothic aesthetic is enticing, and I had a great time trudging through this forlorn adventure.

GameRant - 4/5
Despite minor bugs and a save system that could cause frustration, the core of Moonscars is a pleasurable journey through a crushingly dark world. Black Mermaid's first title is filled with love for the platforming genre, and it shows in every aspect of the game. It will be interesting to see which direction this new developer goes in future titles, or if it will choose to continue to build on the dark and bloody world introduced in Moonscars.

NME - 4/5
Moonscars is a triumph for Black Mermaid. The studio's unique art style brings Moonscars' world to life with flourish, while challenging fights and perilous platforming mean you'll move through this universe with your heart pumping the entire time.

Screenrant - 4/5
Moonscars is an amalgamation of different ideas merged into one 2D Soulslike package, and while a few feel undercooked, the rest manage to tie everything together into an excellent action-RPG experience. The gorgeous visuals are also worth experiencing, as it's rare to see a gameplay pull off an art style as well as Moonscars. The dark world of the clayborne is a fascinating and deadly one, and like its clay protagonist, the player only gets stronger as each death reshapes them.

TheGamer - 3.5/5
Moonscars is a collection of good ideas executed poorly and held back by a baffling story. In the heat of battle with one of the game's well-designed and memorable boss fights, it shines almost as brightly as those it's inspired by. Unfortunately, the saturation of the genre means it's not enough to nail the core mechanics of a soulslike anymore, and Moonscars falls down whenever it tries to stand out. It's a fun enough time if you're wild for the genre, but those looking for something more unique should steer clear.

PSU - 9.5/10
Moonscars is a standout example of what a 2D souls-like should be. From its beautifully atmospheric world, exceptional animations, to its fluid and gratifying combat, makes Moonscars an absolute pleasure to play. A best in class 2D souls-like.

PCInvasion - 6/10
Moonscars has a lot of promising ideas. Unfortunately, the threadbare plot, questionable level design, and odd execution of mechanics hold it back.


Note that there is a fix incoming for a "critical bug" but it will not be available at launch. No timing for the patch has been detailed aside from ASAP as platforms allow.

View: https://twitter.com/PlayHumbleGames/status/1574760936191234051
 
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Clive

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,162
Nice to see strong reviews. Since Phil is hooking me up with a free copy, it would be impolite to not at least give it a spin.
 

rude

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,812
Reviews are a bit of a shock because the demo was very boring. It must improve a lot with time.
 

Messofanego

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,695
UK
With that communication about the critical bug, I would say they should fix it before launching and postpone. People will be marathoning through the game on first day, and will come across it, leave a negative review and move on to some other game because not everyone checks updates.
 

MeltedDreams

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,187
6/10

www.pcinvasion.com

Moonscars review — Clay or nay?

Moonscars has you battling doppelgangers and other strange creatures in a grim world. Is it worth your while?

+ A gritty Souls-like Metroidvania where you fight doppelgangers and other creatures.

- Moonscars has a lot of promising ideas. Unfortunately, the threadbare plot, questionable level design, and odd execution of mechanics hold it back.

I'll wait for for them to fix the game.
 

Rocketz

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,011
Metro Detroit
I'll wait till the bug is patched before jumping in. Had it set to download so I'll keep an eye out for when that drops.
 

Adryuu

Master of the Wind
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,646
Looks solid at least. I'm very interested but I'll wait for the patch, I'm on vacation without a console anyway and wouldn't want to play this on cloud probably.

Be sure to post impressions, those of you who start it now!
 

Bardeh

Member
Jun 15, 2018
2,856
Still not letting me download on Game Pass PC.

DVgCUjT.png
 

Izanagi89

"This guy are sick" and Corrupted by Vengeance
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
15,206
Reminds me a lot of Blasphemous and Death's Gambit. Will give it a go on GP whenever I sub again but it doesn't look that compelling tbh. These games are starting to blend together in my head.
 

PersianPrince

Member
Feb 12, 2019
1,662
A part of me wants to download this right away, but another part of me is telling me to wait because a lot of these indie games get patched with QOL updates down the road so I want to play the best experience...
 

Tohsaka

Member
Nov 17, 2017
6,810
The fact that it apparently leans hard into the Souls penalties make me hesitant to play it. I'm really tired of so many Metroidvanias incorporating stuff like that where it's not needed. I really enjoyed HAAK recently since it didn't have anything like that.
 

jb1234

Very low key
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,286
At this point, I feel like I need to get more choosy with games in this genre. I've played too many of them and they all blur together.
 

Suedemaker

Linked the Fire
Member
Jun 4, 2019
1,777
I've been replaying Blasphemous lately so hopefully by the time I'm done with that I won't be burned out enough on the genre to avoid this. Looks great but I did bounce of Salt & Sanctuary and Death's Gambit so we'll see where this lands.
 
Oct 27, 2017
3,590
I feel like Blasphemous was different enough and much less punishing, though it was frustrating at times. I dropped both Salt and Sanctuary and Death's Gambit pretty quick.

I just started playing Moonscars and so far, I feel the combat is much more fast paced than Blasphemous. Everything just feels more fast paced and feels a bit arcadey. I also dropped Death's Gambit and Salt and Sanctuary pretty quickly. Both those games didn't stick with me.
 

Hokey

Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,164
Lol that noisypixel review touches on exactly the doubts I had as I already have Blasphemous and Slain. Been looking for a good 2d metroidvania lately cuz the wait for Silksong is agonising.
 

Nihilus

Member
Oct 28, 2017
398

basic_text

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,117
Derby, UK
The fact that it apparently leans hard into the Souls penalties make me hesitant to play it. I'm really tired of so many Metroidvanias incorporating stuff like that where it's not needed. I really enjoyed HAAK recently since it didn't have anything like that.

How was HAAK overall? I've had my eye on that since it launched on Switch.
I just started playing Moonscars and so far, I feel the combat is much more fast paced than Blasphemous. Everything just feels more fast paced and feels a bit arcadey. I also dropped Death's Gambit and Salt and Sanctuary pretty quickly. Both those games didn't stick with me.
Are you me? That's pretty much my experience with those games but really like the combat in this
 

Love Machine

Member
Oct 29, 2017
4,312
Tokyo, Japan
Played for an hour undocked and everything is smooth, some hiccups here and there but nothing too serious. I can not say if it is 30 or 60 fps but it is running really smooth.

Here is a switch gameplay vid:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kKqWPFMJ7w&t=1120s

Thanks! It looks great, actually.

The fact that it apparently leans hard into the Souls penalties make me hesitant to play it. I'm really tired of so many Metroidvanias incorporating stuff like that where it's not needed. I really enjoyed HAAK recently since it didn't have anything like that.
I'm also a bit wary of games that employ those death penalties seemingly for the sake of it. Wonder if there are any accessibility options that can mitigate that...
 

carlsojo

Shinra Employee
Member
Oct 28, 2017
34,365
San Francisco
Punishing you by dumping a doppelganger at you every time you find a new save point fucking sucks.

The enemies are pretty boring and environments are all the same. Game better get interesting fast.
 

Toejam2501

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13
I loved Blasphemous and finished Death's Gambit, couldn't get into this or Salt and Sanctuary. Felt this had an odd save system, odd enemy placement and parry your only option. I might give it another try but didnt like what I played thus far =(
 
The fact that it apparently leans hard into the Souls penalties make me hesitant to play it. I'm really tired of so many Metroidvanias incorporating stuff like that where it's not needed. I really enjoyed HAAK recently since it didn't have anything like that.

*slowly raises hand*

It's essentially what is making me not want to buy it. Blasphemous was pretty much my 2D 'souls-like' metroidvania and I am having a hard time wanting to play others games in the genre like it. There may not even be that many souls-like metroidvanias, but it certainly feels like it.
 

hydro94530

Chicken Chaser
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,003
Bay Area
The fact that it apparently leans hard into the Souls penalties make me hesitant to play it. I'm really tired of so many Metroidvanias incorporating stuff like that where it's not needed. I really enjoyed HAAK recently since it didn't have anything like that.

Slight derail but how long did it take you to beat HAAK?
 

SoneaB

Member
Oct 18, 2020
1,220
UK
Trying to play this on PC via gamepass and not sure how I feel about it yet. I really hate the way parries work and find reading the timing for parrying attacks a pain in the ass. Also I keep getting stutters for no reason which makes timing extra awkward.
 

Lylo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,181
Man, thank god GamePass exist. I don't like this game at all, the combat is very unsatisfying, not sure how to feel about the art, sometimes I think it looks good, sometimes it looks bland. Shame, I really wanted to like the game...
 

Hispanicguy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,440
I'm about 4 hours into it. I'm enjoying my time with it but it's not blowing me away. Decent enough for me to continue.

I didn't find parrying tough 1v1 but when multiple enemies are there, that's when you'll get frustrated lol since different enemies have different timing windows.

I feel the map is horrible. I would look at a part of the map where I thought I missed a section but it's actually a dead end. It needs better outlines to signify hey, this was a room you already visited and you're done with it.

The ability tree doesn't look impressive. I've unlocked the poison one and now I'm trying to get the middle ones (where you can summon help). Everything else doesn't seem good enough going by their description.

Special attacks look awesome. The animation is on point. There aren't enough special attacks though. 4 or 5 maybe? I was surprised within the first 2 hours to get an achievement that says unlock all special attacks.

The Spite mechanic is whatever. I feel it's just there to add something else to the game. You get kills and eventually get to choose between 3 upgrades that stay with you until you die. Wasn't impressed.

When you find a new save point, you get teleported back to your "base" and when you teleport back to the original save point, you need to fight a clone of yourself. This happens every time you find a new save point. Pointless.

When you die, the moon turns red. That means enemies get stronger. By giving a specific item, you can bring that down and make things normal.

I've had 2 crashes so far. I've clipped into a room and enemies have clipped through walls as well.

The game definitely needs a little polish. I'm aware there's a game breaking bug towards the end of the game. If I come across it, I'll just wait for the patch. For now, I'll continue playing since it is offering me a fun time, despite the odd things I've come across.
 

Tohsaka

Member
Nov 17, 2017
6,810
Oh wow very nice. Did you 100% it or was this just main path playthrough? Looks REALLY cool!
There are a number of sidequests, and I did a bunch of them but not all since there were no objective markers on the map and I didn't want to keep looking after being at the end of the game already. I had almost 100% map completion, too.
 

hydro94530

Chicken Chaser
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,003
Bay Area
There are a number of sidequests, and I did a bunch of them but not all since there were no objective markers on the map and I didn't want to keep looking after being at the end of the game already. I had almost 100% map completion, too.

Got you, thank you so much!! Just purchased, looks right up my alley.
 

Ahti

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Nov 6, 2017
9,470
I´ve been really enjoying it so far (about 3 hours in). Movement is smooth, controls are responsive and parrying works reliably. Overall the combat is surprisingly fun and reminds me of Dead Cells with how smooth it feels. The atmosphere is great, characters & story seem interesting and I´m glad the game doesn`t take itself too serious. It´s dark, but it`s not THAT dark.
I appreciate the developer`s take on Souls-mechanics and the Rogue Like-elements, one of these is quite annoying though. And the map is giving me the creeps. But overall my first impression is quite positive and I can`t wait to play more.