Moonlight Peaks

Finally completed the main story over the weekend, but still have more I could do to 100%. The best description I've heard for this game is "a great story with farming sim elements", and I agree wholeheartedly. I loved every bit of the drama (especially the angry arm waving haha), and wanting to know what happens next kept me up way too late on many work nights. The recent angry reviews about the in game economy tweaks are legit, but the devs corrected that issue very quickly. They've been fantastic about listening to feedback from the community and are very responsive on their discord sever. This genre is also VERY new to them, and they're a relatively small company. So long as they're listening to their players, give them grace. The game isn't perfect, but it's so charming that the little quirks didn't bother me at all. I'm looking forward to playing it again on my Switch 2 somewhere down the road... especially now that they fixed Ridge's obsession with Persephone haha

Cute game, with a bit of a tragic backstory for several of the characters which are alluded to, but rarely spoken of. The stories are compelling enough that I very much want to know what happened in the past to result in all these single parents in town. Who are dateable along with their grown kids. It was certainly a choice, to be able to date both a father and his son, at the same time. A choice which I made. The townsfolk have yet to comment on it, but the year in-game is young. Perhaps there will be some drama further down the line... As for the Count, he made a comment about how weird it was for me, a Dracula, to date his daughter, and a week later agreed to go on a date with that very same Dracula, so.... He's trouble. Love the aesthetics and color palettes, and the farm animals are ridiculously cute (and you can talk to them when you transform! 12/10 game mechanic) I also love the progression, where multiple areas of the town are shrouded in mystery and a fog that blocks access until you progress in the story. The town keeps growing bigger and bigger! Spells require memorizing a pattern sequence, which is a bit tricky with my ADHD, but you can look up the sequence in your almanac if you forget it. I love collecting things, so I am thrilled that there are so many collections to fill, not just for the museum. In addition to typical museum collections, there are also cards to collect, lost soul blobs for Death, and squeaky little vampiric critters. I thought I was doing something wrong when I hadn't unlocked bat form by the end off fall as I thought I remembered it being available in the demo, and had to look it up. It turns out that it's unlocked late game and part of the story progression, and therefore unmissable. It's an unusual choice to not permanently track the liked/loved/hated gifts for the townsfolk, with only the most recent gifts and their reactions being tracked. If you gifted something they loved 11 gifts ago, that memory is gone.... but there are guides here on Steam, and also, the impact for forgetting in-game isn't really noticeable in the long run. Can't go wrong with gifting juice or jam fresh off your farm. 6/10 game mechanic I also love the mechanic of a storage system that is unlimited, accessible both indoors and outdoors on your farm with a click of a button, and that recipes can auto grab from this inventory whenever you are on your farm. You can build storage boxes, but there is no need for any whatsoever. Handy, useful, sleek and streamlined. I also like how the tools are separate from the backpack inventory, so they don't take up any travel storage. 40/10 game mechanic(s) All in all, I have encountered no bugs or issues playing on Steam Deck so far, but to be fair, I did wait a couple months for the bug fixes to roll out first, so I am thankful to the early players for reporting bugs, and to the devs for fixing them. The only thing I felt compelled to look up so far, was how to unlock bat form, as I was worried it might be bugged or missable. Turns out that all I needed was patience, so I'm happy I didn't miss anything after all.

This was the first farm sim outside the Story of Seasons franchise to hook me this much, and I’ve been playing those games since the original on the Super Nintendo. I'm not big on vampires, but I do appreciate a dark aesthetic. If you're looking for something that is truly dark, though, this is not it. It got as dark as a Hello Kitty cartoon. This is also not a fast-paced game, so you won't constantly have story quests demanding your attention. That gives you plenty of time to collect things, work on the farm, decorate, gather materials, raise friendship, and, you know, actually play the game. The beginning of the game is a bit packed because there is so much to introduce you to, then mellows out into the familiar daily grind of a farm sim. [h3]Praise[/h3] The game itself is beautiful, and I really appreciate the work that went into its environments. They don't feel empty or lifeless, like those games that simply slapped textures onto shapes and sprinkled on some grass. I also liked the map layouts, they were easy to navigate and memorable. The character sprites are also very expressive which added a lot to some cutscenes - the slow angry turn with trembling fists is especially fun. I loved that this game actually leaned into its theme instead of just sticking to the same formula. It has its own version of crops, farm animals, and take on quick travel instead of sticking to the generic "here is horse". It did not feel like just playing another Story of Seasons clone, though the usual mechanics are still present. The fact that the watering can doesn't just water one single square alone is a step above what most devs do - and that is without any tool upgrades! You also get infinite storage that can be accessed from anywhere at home, which includes crafting from storage (why some devs still fail on this one I will never know), and reduces the usual reliance on having chests everywhere. This is one of those farm sims where you can get magic to do some chores for you. The magic system is unique and once I learned the patterns of spells and got a stock of food/potions it was very handy. Other farm sims that have had magic just have it a press of a button - this one felt more immersive and the spell upgrades were nice. I enjoyed getting to know the game's cast. They felt like an actual town of families that had been living together rather than a checklist of "this is popular" inserts to appeal to the player. You'll like some, you'll hate some, or you'll just stick to farming and pretend they don't exist. The little things that they comment on that the player does were a nice touch. There are two art styles for the character portraits that you can choose from in the settings. v1 is the game's own painterly cartoon style which I love for the rich character and subtle realism. v2 is more your typical anime style. I think it's pretty cool of them to give players an option since everyone has their own preferences. People will always complain regardless, though. The game within the game was well thought out and fun. I enjoyed collecting all the beautiful cards and building unstoppable decks. It was simple enough that anyone can grasp it with just enough challenge to require building a deck around your opponent's techniques. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this game but I was pleasantly surprised and had a lot of fun. There are a few weak moments in the story where things were supposed to have impact, but it also felt like a result of the game trying its hardest to keep from actually getting dark so I don't fault it on that. It was well worth its cost and I got more out of it than I've gotten out of games costing similar or higher. The game isn't perfect (demanding that of any game is unrealistic) but it stands out as a refreshingly original experience. The developers have been actively patching things and implementing improvements since launch that have already addressed some of the negatives (story cutscenes getting pushed back by dates, romantic partner fawning over other love interests, a rebalance nerf rolled back in a single day). [h3]Gripes[/h3] Fish - Too few, especially compared with the critters. They don’t even have as much seasonal variety. Death - Where's your head at? Llemi - The only datable option I had issue with: the imp who is nothing like an imp. Pumpkin Head would have been a better romanceable given the game's theme. Viktor - I wish uncle [strike]Bartok[/strike] had more daily involvement beyond sitting in his crypt all day, or that we could, like, help him. The rest of the family can stay in their house on the hill... Dates - Having a character locked into one type of date was not enjoyable, especially when they keep requesting to go on one even after marriage. So I just said no whenever it came up. Non-Giftable NPC Birthdays - Why even? Characters - There are no rugged or unconventional female romance options (both of the odd ones out are guys). I also felt that the male characters were given more pronounced personality flaws and troubled histories than the females, which made the cast feel biased (three single dads and four guys with huge egos... lots of variety there). Only one of the women had a flaw that made her unpleasant to me; the rest are mostly do-gooders who put up with the flawed men. Ironically, this made dating some of the female characters dull, while the male characters were more interesting to watch develop. [spoiler]Final House Upgrade - This felt like it should have been a bug. The last upgrade specifically adds "two towers", but only one addition is actually made inside. Would have made more sense if the earlier upgrade did not have the side room, so that the last upgrade actually adds two rooms and doesn't feel underwhelming.[/spoiler]

This has all the things I like from Stardew Valley with different progression tracks and ability upgrades. It feels fresh and fun. Very satisfied.

I know I voted Yes, I would recommend it, but honestly, if I had to sum up how I feel about this game right now, it would be: meh. If I had to use two words to describe Moonlight Peaks, they would be tedious and inconvenient. Collecting resources, building relationships, farming, crafting, travelling around, and generally just trying to get things done all feel far more tedious than they need to be. None of these systems are particularly difficult to understand, and that’s actually part of the problem. The game itself is easy enough to figure out, but actually doing things is such a massive pain in the ass that it constantly gets in the way of enjoying the game. I’ve played a ton of farming/life-sim games, so I’m very familiar with the genre and the usual amount of grinding that comes with it. I’m completely fine with games asking me to gather resources, grow crops, complete errands, build friendships, or slowly upgrade my farm. That’s part of the appeal. There should be some amount of repetition and progression. But Moonlight Peaks manages to make almost every one of those activities feel like a chore. It feels like there’s an extra step involved in practically everything. Want to collect something? Tedious. Want to farm? Tedious. Want to build a relationship with a character? Tedious. Want to craft or accomplish something that should be relatively simple? Somehow, also tedious. It’s not that any individual system is necessarily terrible on its own. It’s the cumulative effect of all these little inconveniences that makes the game frustrating. You spend so much time dealing with the process of getting something done that the actual reward often doesn’t feel worth the effort. And that’s especially disappointing because there is a good game underneath all of this. The aesthetic is charming, the overall concept is appealing, and there are plenty of things here that I genuinely want to enjoy. I can see why someone would love this game, and I can absolutely see the potential. But the constant friction makes it difficult for me to get invested. A farming/life sim should make me think, “Okay, what do I want to work on today?” Instead, I frequently find myself thinking, “Ugh, what do I have to do just to accomplish this one thing?” There have been plenty of moments where I wanted to enjoy the game, only to get frustrated by some unnecessarily tedious process. And when those moments happen repeatedly, they really start to overshadow the parts of the game that are actually fun. I also don’t think the issue is that the game is too complicated. It’s not complicated. It’s inconvenient. There’s a big difference. I understand what I’m supposed to do most of the time; I just don’t particularly enjoy the amount of effort required to actually do it. For a game built around relaxing, routine activities and gradually building up your character and surroundings, there is surprisingly little that feels smooth or convenient. Instead of the gameplay loop being satisfying, it can often feel like I’m fighting the game’s systems just to get through my daily tasks. That being said, I don’t think Moonlight Peaks is an outright bad game. There are enough good ideas here that I wouldn’t tell people to stay away from it entirely. If you really like farming sims, life sims, supernatural aesthetics, or games where you can slowly build up a world and relationships, there’s probably enough here for you to enjoy. But personally, I think the game needs to do a much better job of respecting the player’s time. Not every task needs to be streamlined to the point of removing all progression, but there needs to be a better balance between making things take time and making things feel unnecessarily tedious. Also I would just like to point out and this is a big thing HAVE A ICON SHOWING WHAT ITEMS ARE ACTUALLY USABLE! (I spent ages saving to get a fridge only to find out it doesn’t hold anything!) So despite voting Yes, I would recommend it, my actual recommendation comes with a pretty big “if you can tolerate the tedium.” There is a good game here. I just wish getting to that good game wasn’t such a massive pain in the ass.

I truly love it, keep up the great work Dev's...

Super Spiel! Wer Stardew Valley, Story of seasons/Harvest Moon oder Animal Crossing mag und zufällig auch Magie, Cozy und ein bisschen übernatürliches feiert wird bei dem Kauf dieses Spieles nichts bereuen! Ich liebe es! Habe erst die Demo gespielt und war direkt schockverliebt 🥰