It’s been almost seven and a half years since Moonlighter landed on digital shelves, and indie developer Digital Sun Games is finally back with the follow-up to the hit action RPG.
Launching in early access on Nov. 19, Moonlighter 2 picks up in the village of Tresna after Will and his friends flee their hometown of Rynoka following its destruction. Upon arriving in Tresna, our protagonist quickly returns to his ways: running dungeons by night and then selling his spoils during the day. Soon after the game starts, we meet yet another strange character, a floating brass vault who challenges Will to make the most money possible by selling his wares. In exchange, the vault offers Will a chance to reclaim his home.
That’s the basic gist of Moonlighter 2, and its gameplay will look mighty familiar to anyone who played the prequel with its combat, pack management, and shop systems. Digital Sun has kept most of what made Moonlighter great, while adding onto the core gameplay mechanics to steer the franchise more into the roguelite direction with additional replayability. But the development team didn’t just add a fresh coat of paint; they’ve seemingly listened to fan feedback from the prequel and recent playtests, making the newest title really feel like the next step for Moonlighter.
In Moonlighter 2, the gameplay loop is almost identical to the first game: embark on a dungeon run, which consists of rooms filled with monsters and loot, then return home and turn your treasures into profits. In a dungeon, you have a limited inventory space, meaning you’ll have to carefully plan how you organize your pack. Whatever you bring home can then be sold in a “shop run.” When you sell items, there’s a discovery feature; you don’t know what townsfolk will value an item at, and it’s a bit of a trial-and-error process before you settle on a fair deal. You can then use the money you make from the store to buy upgrades and items to assist you on your next dungeon run.
By far, Moonlighter 2’s most apparent change is the leap from 2D to 3D graphics. Moonlighter was already gorgeous with its crisp and colorful pixels and buttery smooth animations. Moonlighter 2’s additional dimension only adds more beautiful detail. The environment—with its unique, earthy color palette—is full of life, and you can see the textures of characters and the world more clearly in this transition to 3D. But it’s not all just for looks. The move to 3D introduces verticality to the map, and while this extra dimension isn't a total game-changer, it adds layers to combat when an enemy is shooting down at you, and you must either reposition up a set of stairs or use your gun to counter them.
What really redefines the franchise's gameplay are the roguelite elements that Digital Sun has added to expand upon Moonlighter’s replayability. The team has introduced key staples of popular roguelites—like dungeon paths, combat buffs, and weapon upgrades—to Moonlighter 2, spicing up runs and making each one a new experience.
In Moonlighter, dungeons are procedurally generated and randomized; you don’t decide what’s in the room in front of you, and it’s different every run. In Moonlighter 2, the dungeons are still procedurally generated, but you pick the types of chambers you want to encounter. This keeps the dungeon loop interesting and allows you to tailor a run to your needs. Here to collect trinkets to sell to your fellow townsfolk? Pick the path with the most chests. Gunning for the dungeon boss? Go for the rooms with Combat Perks that strengthen Will and give you a better chance of success.
Perks act as bonuses that reset after you exit a dungeon or close up shop. Combat Perks alter your attacks, adding damage-over-time effects or creating explosions that damage nearby enemies once you've hit a certain number of stacks. Shop Perks, on the other hand, upgrades the amount of money you can get from a sale. You’ll get to choose one of three randomized Perks every time you come across a pedestal in a dungeon or make a certain number of customers happy.
Like in Moonlighter, Will can unlock multiple types of weapons: swords, greatswords, gauntlets, and polearms. The bow no longer exists in Moonlighter 2, but you do start out with a gun that builds charges as you attack enemies with your melee weapon. In the original Moonlighter, Will had a basic attack as well as a special one. The sequel has added to this system, giving each weapon type a new combat effect outside of its own unique special attack. There are also blacksmith chambers in a dungeon with upgrades that differ between the various weapon types, much like the Combat Perk system, so your runs with one weapon may look a little different each time.
In between dungeon runs, you can speak to Eris the Arcanist to upgrade your health and potion count, the Countess to buy Homeware items that offer bountiful buffs, and K33per to improve the bonuses you get as a shopkeeper. But those aren’t the only NPCs who will help you on your journey. Babyl, a strange squid man, sells improvements to your gun. Andrei the Blacksmith, a friendly face from Rynoka, will craft new weapons for you. Will’s childhood friend Tomo offers research upgrades that improve the quality of Relics and Perks you’ll find in a dungeon. And despite all of her oddities, Ms. Scratch will give you decorations for your shop in exchange for the vouchers she can’t stop obsessing over.
It’s a ton of NPCs, and at times it feels as though there are too many places to purchase upgrades. Certain items you can get from the Countess, for example, improve the quality of the first shop Perk you select, just like some of the upgrades you get from K33per. In the same vein, the Countess sells Homeware items, items that you can use to decorate your shop, but are different from the superficial shop decorations Ms. Scratch sells. It would make more sense for Ms. Scratch to sell the Homeware items to combine the two vendors into one instead of having the player speak to the Countess, an NPC who, as far as I can tell, has little impact on the story or world-building of Tresna.
As a game in early access, Moonlighter 2 is subject to change, so it’s possible many of these systems could improve with time. Until then, Moonlighter 2 feels like a worthy successor with a few kinks to work out. Digital Sun has maintained the heart and soul of Moonlighter as an action RPG, while revisiting the core roguelite pillars and strengthening the franchise’s claim to the genre. It’s by no means perfect, but it’s what a sequel should be: an opportunity to expand upon what made its predecessor great while introducing new mechanics to freshen up the gameplay. As a big fan of the original Moonlighter, I’m excited to see the sequel's finalized version in all of its glory.
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