Moonlight Peaks

Update: I'm leaving the "Not Recommended" recommendation and below review for now, but I do want to state that the developer quickly patched the wine and other items selling prices back to normal after the public outcry and disappointment from their previous change. I will edit this review further if the below other issues are fixed. This game has potential which is why I DO have 76 hours already invested in it. It would just be nice if it felt like a fully fleshed out game rather than something early access. Original Review: I enjoy writing reviews for games, so naturally I've told myself for the past 76 hours of playtime to write something. But I couldn't bring myself to do it because even though I was enjoying the cozy aspect, there were still too many flaws to honestly recommend other players to spend real-life money to buy it and play. So I kept playing, hoping it would eventually redeem itself, and then I'd type something of a pros and cons list out. Then yesterday's update happened and it was the final 'nail in the coffin' in my deciding factor of the game. Moonlight Peaks is a $35 full release game. Not Beta, not Early Access, Full Release. However the game feels like a one-layered pretty shell and with the amount of updates it's taking to fix it proves it wasn't ready for full release despite the fact that it's already been out for almost two months. Additionally, the developers decided yesterday in an update to completely change the economy of this "full release" game with the excuse of "rebalancing it" by nerfing the only products (examples being wine, honey, etc.) worth producing because they actually made money. No one asked for this. Many people, myself included, had created designated areas of our farm for wine production as passive income because I don't enjoy grinding for money and purely play these "cozy" games for the story, characters, and decorating (which are also unfortunately flawed, as well, which we'll get to later). But now, with the ridiculous shop prices of items, tools, and materials ($16,000 + materials for each final tool upgrade, $25,000 for only the second house upgrade, for example) it's going to take forever to make money and enjoy the aspects that people are actually playing for. But unfortunately, we're now in a society where a development team can release a game that people pay real money for, then decide two months later to completely change that game. I honestly wish I could request a refund now out of spite because I've lost trust in the developers and this is a horrible practice anyway. But, all of the above aside, I will now list the pros and cons. Also the TL;DR version of the below: Full Release game should not be considered full release because it's not fleshed out, has too many issues/clicks to access content, and just isn't up-to-par compared to other similar games. Pros - the game is cute and cozy and the art is enjoyable/pleasing to look at - the characters, though one-layered, are diverse and feel like a community - the story concept is unique and enjoyable - though waaayyyyy too drawn out with too much time in between each story event - the soul blobs are fun to catch and the little blurbs often throwback to other games - the vampsters (while incredibly ANNOYING having to slowly walk back to the cave one-by-one) are fun to find - I like that we have the ability to decorate our house, farm, and parts of the town Cons - everything is too expensive with it being too difficult to make money, especially now with the wine nerf. I hate farming, that's not why I buy these games, so I have zero intention of grinding other crops especially when it takes forever with so little payoff - taking care of animals is incredibly tedious. I have 9 animals and barely interact with them anymore since almost all are at full hearts because there's too many clicks to talk, pet, collect milk, collect wool, etc. - tool upgrades do nothing. I understand it's supposed to take less stamina, but why is it simply not like every other game where an upgrade takes less hits. A silver axe (3rd upgrade) for example, still takes 8 hits to chop a tree down as it's original base level tool-form. Again, too. many. clicks. - lack of item descriptions. the developers have mentioned before that details are in the journal but not everything is there including not everything has sell price listed and items rarely give a description what they do. For example, I saw there was a firefly sanctuary but it didn't tell what it was for, then it still didn't tell what it was for after you made it. Plus I don't want to have to go to the journal every time. Too many clicks. Most games of this type simply allow you to hover over the item to give a detailed description. - too much time between each story quest. For example, you have to wait 7 FULL in-game days just to vote in a certain election only for the election to not really progress anything. I'm on spring year 2 and it still feels like a slow slog through events even though I'm at 4 - 6+ hearts with most characters - dates - please for the love of everything change up the date events. I've just started telling them no when one shows up to date because it's the same thing every time. The marshmallow one is especially horrible because it takes forever to get the marshmallow just right or else the date is considered bad. - character dialogue - I guess I was spoiled by Fields of Mistria giving multiple dialogues multiple times a day, but this game literally only lets you talk to each person once per day and then they don't say anything else, plus it's usually just a random one sentence. - sometimes cutscenes show up as sparkles on the map, sometimes they don't. when they do show up, I often have to avoid triggering one if I'm going somewhere because if the cutscene takes place on the opposite side of the map it will plop you down over there rather than finishing with you being where you're still at, so then it takes valuable in-game time to walk all the way back to where you were originally going. Ultimately, with all of the issues that are still taking bug fixes and the fact that the cons list contains things that are clearly not fleshed out, this game should not be a full release game.

Really enjoyable game. Feels different enough from other farming sims. Art is beautiful, story is good. I have only two major critiques (and they are major): 1. the dates are sooooo repetitive and disappointing, they really need to overhaul dating. 2. going on dates pushes back the storyline/main quests significantly 3. character assets like hair are shared with npcs so you end up looking exactly like an NPC with most choices and it costs over $1k in game to change it otherwise, great game but i really hope they fix dating and add more unique character assets

I was looking forward to playing this game as I'm a big Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons fan. I get that on some days there's not much to do besides farming. However, every day is like this... Cons: - Every day is the same. It's easy to earn a lot of money, but there isn't much to spend it all on. - Shallow and unappealing characters. Gifting them is befriending them, but besides progressing there are no benefits you get from them. - Upgrading tools. When do I get to finally upgrade my tools? There are huge trunks laying on my field preventing me from placing the expanded house. I need a better axe to chop them. - The sticks that come with certain crops can prevent me from watering the whole field as it's hard to get passed them. - Events. There aren't enough events to participate in like in the Story of Seasons games. - It's always night. It would be nice to be able to work during the day as well by getting to wear sunscreen or use magic. - The story is sooo slowly paced and upgrading or progressing at all depends on story progression, wich is too slow making this an unbalanced game. - Stuttering and very long loading screens. Pros: - Fishing! No minigame for fishing! - Watering crops is much easier and quicker than in other games. No more square by square watering. You can water the whole plot in no time at all. - Nocturna. The minigame is a card game that's a lot of fun! I like that NPCs can give you cards after you've defeated them and you can also find new ones while foraging. - The studio is trying to add something new to farming games. If I could turn back time, I'd have gotten the game during a big sale for half the price or less.

Si el juego no lo quieren traducir al español como han dicho, sera que no quieren ese target de comprador en steam. No recomendado.

I really wanted to love this game. Unfortunately, it's just too little. It falls short in so many ways. 1.) The NPC dialogue is super generic. Probably about as generic as Animal Crossing tbh. In a game with supposed romance and a story, that's... really not good. You have to talk to NPCs and gift them stuff every day to raise friendship, but they only ever say like 1 or 2 lines of dialogue to you. You're gonna talk to them a lot, but you won't feel like you really "know" them. 2.) The map is pretty small. I think it feels small because there's not much to do, the world isn't packed with little things. 3.) There's *really* not much to do. I only played for 3 weeks in game, the quest board never got a single quest on it. Despite starving for goals, or anything to actually do, the game couldn't throw me that single bone. This isn't nearly every problem with the game, but there's just not much to talk about here. There really is just that little going on. There's no fishing minigame, in fact I haven't seen a single minigame or puzzle at all yet. All you do is water crops, run around a small map, talk to the same NPCs who say a single line of shallow dialogue, and I guess go fishing, woodcutting, or flower picking. You might be thinking, oh well there must be something cool to do with the fish, wood, and flowers! No not really. Flowers give the same amount of friendship if you put them in a pot, or if you hand them over directly. Most flowers and fish get sold. Wood is used for upgrades, which... ok? That's the bare minimum zzzz

Toothless, empty, lacking depth, variety, choice. Very linear, main quest only kinda deal. Pass. Not worth it at even 1/6th the price.

🌙 A wonderfully cosy vampire life that I can already see myself losing 100+ hours to I'm currently just short of three hours into Moonlight Peaks, so there's obviously an enormous amount of this game that I haven't experienced yet. I've recorded my first two episodes for my YouTube channel, though, and I can already say that I've absolutely loved almost every detail I've encountered so far. The easiest comparison I can make is that it feels a little like a darker, vampiric cousin of Stardew Valley. Not because it's simply copying Stardew, but because there's something familiar about the rhythm of farming, clearing your land, improving your home, meeting people and gradually settling into a new life. Except, of course, we're a vampire. 🌙 That means our daily routine is slightly different. We wake up as evening arrives, spend the night farming, exploring and getting to know the world around us, then head back to bed as daylight approaches. It's such a simple reversal of the usual farming-game routine, but combined with the wonderfully cute gothic presentation it gives Moonlight Peaks an identity of its own. And visually, I absolutely adore it. Despite the darker setting, this is an incredibly cute and cosy game. The world has character everywhere I look, and I've already found myself wanting to clear up my land, improve the house and turn this slightly neglected corner of the vampire world into somewhere that genuinely feels like home. 🧛 There's also a story I'm increasingly curious about. We happen to be a descendant of Dracula himself, which could prove slightly awkward considering I invariably prefer playing good characters. I have a feeling the family history might become a little... problematic. 😂 I've barely scratched the surface of the relationships either. There are people to meet, friendships and relationships to develop and a sizeable world still waiting for me to explore. Having seen the scale of the map and how much appears to be available, this doesn't feel like something I'll be finished with next weekend. In fact, after less than three hours, I'm already fairly confident Moonlight Peaks is going to get 100+ hours out of me. That's probably the biggest compliment I can give it at this stage. 👤 There is one thing I would genuinely like to see changed: character choice. At present, you're required to play as a female character. I have absolutely no problem playing female characters, and I've played plenty over the years, but as a man in my 50s, if I'm playing a long-term life sim where the character is effectively me living in that world, my personal preference is to play as a male character when I'm given the choice. It certainly hasn't stopped me enjoying the game, but additional character options would make Moonlight Peaks considerably more inclusive for players who would simply prefer their vampire to represent them a little more closely. 💷 As for the price, I initially felt the full asking price was perhaps a little high. I bought Moonlight Peaks at its introductory price, which made the decision easier because I already knew I wanted to play it. Having now spent time with the game, seen the size of the world and begun discovering just how much there is to do, would I say it's worth the normal price? Yes, I think it is. There's clearly a substantial amount of game here already, and with developers who appear committed to continuing to support and expand it, I suspect there's considerably more still to come. Naturally, picking it up during an introductory offer or future sale is always a bonus, but based on what I've experienced so far, I wouldn't consider the full price unreasonable. 🌱 Most importantly, Moonlight Peaks has already given me that feeling I look for in the best cosy games: I don't want to rush it. I want to clear the land because I want to see what it becomes. I want to improve the house because I want it to feel like home. I want to meet everybody, uncover the story, build relationships, explore the map and simply settle into my strange little nocturnal life. I've played less than three hours. I'm already planning for the next hundred. 💜 Tom Recommends.

Moonlight Peaks is like a witchy, vampy Stardew that had a baby with magical Animal Crossing. Super cozy game, full of cuteness that will keep you captivated imo. I imagine I'll dump 100s of hours into this one just like Animal Crossing. If you're into crafting/building games with a little romance, doooooooooo itttt. Buyyyyy iiitttt. <3

I'm a big fan of vampires and farm games so it breaks my heart to give this a negative review, but the game in its current state is not worth the inflated asking price. It should have launched in early access and still has some basic features missing. To the developer's credit they are listening to the community and responding quickly when we get upset. Kudos on that truly. On the other hand, fence gates are still on the roadmap so... yeah. It's cute and if you're a superfan of vampires you will probably have a good time with it, but otherwise it may be worth waiting a while for updates