Moonlighter Video Review
The shopkeeper is one of the most overlooked characters in video game history. Regardless your setting, genre, or era, the shop keeper stands vigilant behind the counter to serve you, the hero, on your quest. Sometimes the shopkeep will ask a favor of you, but for the most part they remain content to sit idly by and sell their wares. Have you ever wondered just how the shop manages to keep up with supply and demand when they seemingly spend their entire life leaning on the counter? Moonlighter tackles that very question with a unique take on the RPG/ dungeon crawler formula. Have we piqued your interested? Check out the video review for Moonlighter and find out the true story of that seemingly dull shopkeep.
Moonlighter is a dungeon crawling RPG with rogue-like elements that sets out to tell the story of the often overlooked shopkeeper. Players will take the role of a shopkeeper in the small village of Rynoka. You’ll be tasked with setting up your merchandise, setting the price to meet demand and generally trying to keep the people happy. By night, you’ll take up your sword and head into dungeons, looking for loot you can either sell at the shop or keep for your own adventuring. You aren’t required to do all this dungeon crawling at night as the title might suggest, but why go out during the day when you have a shop to run?
Moonlighter also features customization options for your shop, letting you expand and put out trinkets that give a variety of buffs to the store. Keeping your prices in line with the market to get the most money can actually be quite satisfying, and the ever changing demands of the people makes each adventure into the wild that much different as you head out in search of a variety of valuables each time. While the game feels incredibly fresh, the use of palette swaps for enemies and a lack of cosmetic customization for the shop feels like a missed opportunity.
Moonlighter is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. For more information, check out the game’s official website.
