MoonQuest

MoonQuest seems to be fundamentally unsure of just what it is supposed to be: it's got destructible terrain and block placement, but tiny, arena-like screens. It has mining and crafting, but progression is defined by exploration and chest looting. Each run takes place in a procedurally generated world with permadeath, but the skill ceiling is very low and there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of variation in the quality of spawned loot or enemies. Basically, this is a linear adventure game wearing Terraria's skin like some kind of indie Buffalo Bill. I think it's a great effort for one person, and certainly better late than never, but it doesn't have an answer for the question "why bother?"

I'm disappointed. From the trailer, I assumed I would have an epic adventure of a game. Instead, I was given a slow, meandering plod that was absolutely no fun. I could post at length about the number of issues I had with every aspect of the gameplay in the short time I played, but the most important one for the success of this game is the combat. There is no interactivity. The combat is worse than launch Starbound. If they're an animal, they hurt you on contact. If they're a human, you can attempt to dodge or run through them but you move so slowly that they recover from swings fast enough to catch you twice. Unlike other games where different weapon types have swing speed/recovery differences, it seems like everything is the same. The terrain/cave generation is wack right now, so maneuvering is pointless. If there is anything you can do movement-wise, it's better to find a way to get whatever you're fighting stuck so that you can hit them and they can't hit you. For melee you have no other option than to sit still and trade blows with any enemy you come across. There's no knockback, and for some insane reason every swing of a weapon/tool moves you forward half a block. Attempting to keep out of range of the enemy becomes near-impossible, especially because you can only swing in the direction you're facing. Maybe ranged weaponry is better, but despite finding arrows and a merchant / upgraded crafting stations I was unable to discover how to make a bow. For 6 years I honestly expected better, especially due to the strides similar games have already made in updating their combat. Terraria, a game developed by one man over the course of 5 months, was better than this even without any of its updates. Maybe look into what other people are doing instead of trying to reinvent everything yourselves, poorly. I think this is the most pressing issue to resolve before this leaves Early Access. Unless that happens, I would avoid this game. 30 minutes of play was enough to completely turn me off.

[b] MoonQuest [/b] is my first digging roguelite, it is not my cup of tea but I bought it for the pixel art. I don't have to love the genre to see that developers put a lot of work and love into this project. I mean I play a lot of roguelites because it is hard to avoid them, although I never played one with so much reliance on crafting and collecting resources (I know there are plenty). Honestly, this isn't much of a review as I am still very confused about the whole thing, on that note, maybe it needs to explain the rules better, perhaps even a basic tutorial. The game is obviously very complex and requires a certain amount of patience that I do not have, that does not mean the game is bad though. So it is kind of like a roguelite because the environment, enemies, resources, and shops are randomly generated. Most of the scenery can be destroyed if you have the right tools that require crafting. It seems like you have to complete a certain quest, so it is not just a sandbox experience. As far as I can tell you will die permanently after like 5 deaths, which to be fair is more forgiving than your average roguelite. However, I think it would be cool to have a more casual mode where I don't have to worry about losing progress, just add some fancy achievements for those that want to play with limited lives. I like the gameplay and the difficulty, I just don't have as much time anymore for this type of game. There are several playable characters, it seems like they start with different weapons, not sure if they have any passive bonuses (if not, they really should). I don't think that game has a "visible stat system" despite having gear and different effects, that is something that I want to be more transparent. Show me my hp, damage and everything else. You can also use your materials to create platforms and buildings, a feature limited only by your imagination. The game does not hold your hand but that is usually how this genre goes. If we don't count a steep learning curve, I have not noticed any huge problems; it seems a lot better than most EA titles. I have to admit that I have not enjoyed the soundtrack so far, it is a bit too ambient and not very memorable. I think the aesthetic quality justifies that $12 price tag, I feel like I bought a worthwhile game. [h1] Pros: [/h1] + good pixel art, detailed environments + good visual variety, many types of enemies + complex crafting system, lots of items and resources + several playable characters + gear shows up on the body + plenty of things to do, or waste time [h1] Cons: [/h1] - mostly nitpicks, works well enough for me - not a fan of the soundtrack though [b] Early Access Thoughts: Good start, not that many obvious issues. (13/July/2018) [/b] Generally speaking, these games tend to get ridiculously popular, and I don't see why this one would be different. I have to emphasize that it's not my type of game and I still enjoy it, a testament to its dynamic gameplay and variety of content. If you like that type of crafting complexity with a lot of grinding, definitely give a shoot. It has more polish than just about any EA game that I bought recently. [code]Review By: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

This reminds me of early Starbound. There's a solid foundation here, haven't been far enough to see the quest progression other than find two moonstones. I'm playing with controller and it's well optimized for that. IT IS NOT TERRARIA (exactly) , so remember how bewildering Terraria was when you first started playing, if you can. Here's the really basic tutorial which isn't in the game yet: - Start with the human (easy mode) - Attack or dig by holding X - you don't need to keep clicking (thank gawd), and your guy will even helpfully move forward to dig more. - Jump with A - Pulsing crystals will teleport you to anywhere you've been before. Doors and signposts will take you to specific places. - Places aren't infinite - they're limited left and right, though as far as I can tell you could mine every single place to the ground if your pick is strong enough. Mine isn't strong enough for gold yet (yes, I know, gold is hard unless it's Starbound). - Eat anything in your inventory with LB at any time - this is great, you don't need to juggle. Just run away a little because you can't eat while attacking. - Inventory should be somewhat familiar. Use hatchet to chop lumber (or attack), mallet to break structures, pick to dig. They can all attack in a pinch. - Use left and right d-pad to select your inventory item from the toolbar up top. - Use select (the left meta-button on the controller which is not the start button) to manage your inventory and craft things. - Build a toolbox to craft more things which will let you... you should know how this works. - If you die, you just drop some things, get an injury, and respawn nearby. Haven't figured out how to get rid of injuries yet, but they're not terribly crippling, just remove about 5% of your health bar.

Bought this game years ago when it first went into EA because it looked like an interesting game similar to terraria and starbound. What the game ended up being was much more simple in a pretty disappointing way. It's essentially a randomly generated world with points scattered all over with everything feeling it was just chucked into the game just because it could be. It's a bummer because this game was in development for like 8 years and it sure as heck doesn't feel like it, especially since before the push into full release, the game developer went radio silent for nearly 2 years without an update. All in all, it feels like a cheap imitation of those two games I mentioned and I'd really only recommend it on sale because there's just no real substance to the game.

[h1]MoonQuest[/h1] A cosmic spelunker survival adventure full of addictive crafting and deep exploration into mysterious and eye-opening sci-fi worlds, MoonQuest takes the addictive crafting and survival of a popular sandbox formula and puts into adventurous roguelite stages of compelling exploration. Strange wizards of space are tasked with bringing back a radiant light to a dying moon, and only searching for the glowing MoonStones strewn about various alien landscapes will bring back the machine able to make it shine again. It's up to you as a chosen human, Moonman, or choice of other strange resident of space to locate these stones among cosmic landscapes and make this Moon illuminate brightly once again. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] MoonQuest is an ambitious new 2D sandbox experience, with the sandbox bits carefully contained into challenging roguelite stages as opposed to being strung seamlessly into one huge world. It's a Terraria-like at first glance but it's much more streamlined into short and sweet procedural experiences designated to their own otherworldly biomes, where in about just 2 hours time you can explore anything from a murky forest to a spider-infested Moon cave and plunder its deepest and hardest to find reaches for the important stones. The landscape in MoonQuest is always designed in odd and non-practical in ways where the terrain and other obstacles will never be easy to traverse. This is where you put the old digging and crafting skills to the test, constructing the necessary tools and burrowing or building your way through or around this unknown world to find your way to new points of interest. These points of interest will grant you new tools, new crafting possibilities, and generally will lead you to new destinations on your quest for MoonStones. Death is permanent (after a certain amount of deaths) but every run is totally unique, and overall MoonQuest has an much more adventurous tone to it than games in this genre. [h1]Visuals/Sound[/h1] MoonQuest resounds with a magnificent ambiance, the dripping of deep cosmic caverns and the strange alien hums that resonate from deep within droning on and transforming into some kind of melodic inter-dimensional chant. The atmosphere here is chilling and fittingly ominous, the tension of strange sounds seeming to build up as you explore into deeper and more dangerous territories. The visuals carry a similarly unique and mysterious pixel-art style, full of organic sci-fi strangeness that oddly manages to be sort of cute. The creatures you come across are all so creative and unique in their designs, with space-age takes on real world critters like wise old talking ammonites and mollusks. Biomes never fail to be utterly fascinating in their specific aesthetic, and kept me playing more and more until I had seen and devoured every strangely psychedelic setting there was to witness. [h1]Final Thought[/h1] MoonQuest is not something for those looking for a pure sandbox survival crafting experience. This is much more heavy on the challenging and unpredictable elements of procedural roguelites and randomized dungeon crawling with a side of interesting sci-fi crafting to fuel your exploration. And what addictive, rewarding exploration it is to find here. The environments here are rich with visual variety and a really cool extraterrestrial atmosphere, and that really sets MoonQuest apart from the usual sandbox survival pack. [i]This review made possible through the consideration and contribution of [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/24117656-IndiePromo/]IndiePromo[/url] and the developer/publisher. Email contact@dnbmedia.co for requests & game promotions [/i]

I had fun making this game.

Been playing MoonQuest since early access. It's lovely exploring the generated worlds with short play-throughs that don't get bogged down in the crafting/basebuilding of similar games, and it's by far the most beautiful in the genre

[h1]Follow our curator for similar games[/h1] https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35180752-3-point-play/ Action roguelite + treasure chests + 15+ characters = Adventure on randomly generated strange moons with 100+ items to discover and craft. Shovel swinging, crafting, doing weird gestures with objects?

[h1] his roguelite has you digging deep [/h1] If you have a copy of Crawl, go ahead and start it up and make your name MNM. You’ll unlock Moonman for your profile. This was how I got introduced to Moonquest, through Moonman the mysterious poster child for a game that was 7 years in the making. It was supposed to be a mix of crafting, exploring and roguelite action. But was it worth the wait? [h1]Call Me Moon Man [/h1] It’s not quite Terraria. That’s the best way to step into this game, because if you expect Terraria you will be disappointed. There are familiar bits, obviously the perspective and style, but even the resource gathering and combat are a bit different. With permadeath looming over you, the routine of gathering and building like Terraria wouldn’t make sense. There is not a tutorial to guide you, but the game is easy to pick up: in a procedurally generated world you need to find 3 moon stones that lie in different areas of the world, and then bring them back to the starting point. The resource and crafting portion of the game are quite light. It only takes a few whacks to mine most materials. Later harder substances will require better tools, which in turn requires you to find a town so you can obtain better gear. As the resources pile up you can use them to build different weapons, building blocks or even food. Most of the blocks you place will probably be used as platforms to reach higher areas rather than for making a permanent house. Because death means restarting, and the world is small and full of fast travel, there is no reason to set up a permanent shelter. [h1]Blood Moon [/h1] The combat aspect takes up a significant chunk of the game. The weapons have different stats and sometimes different hit boxes, but there are no combos or different attacks. Instead, a spear has more reach than a sword, and a giant sword will have a larger hit box than a smaller one. Ranged weapons feel pretty overpowered as only a small number of enemies can use ranged attacks. My personal favorite in my run was a high powered cross that shot explosive arrows, but the wands and staves were also nothing to scoff at with their range and damage. Encounters generally don’t feel that intense as even if the enemy has high health or damage, they tend to shyly approach the player like a blind date and will stutter at the slightest prod. There were very few times I even approached critical health, and even though health isn’t easily regained with crafting or found food, it always seemed to appear when I needed it. In the absolute worst scenario, many of the armor pieces I picked up boosted my jump so running away to fight another day was always an option. There’s a colorful cast of characters that each have their own stats and traits. They can greatly change how the game is played, such as being able to breathe underwater. Unlocking new characters is also a neat carrot on the stick. Unlocking new characters requires meeting specific criteria and is the game’s form of progression. Some require certain actions and others require you to finish the game with a specific character. The stand out for me was the outlaw who actually has a different goal for the game and comes equipped with armor and a gun. [h1]Questionable Quest [/h1] There is an item called a compass that helps highlight doors in a level. When you use a door you go to a different level of the world, and you need to do so in order to find all the moonstones. This is tedious. Every time I slayed a large enemy, found a strong weapon, crafted a tool, or explored an area, I kept asking myself, why I am not progressing? The 4 hours it took to complete my first run were filled with listlessness. Crafting things with no intention in mind and killing everything I could because I didn’t see anything else to do. I had plenty of things to craft like doors and walls, but there didn’t seem to be a point. Even crafting weapons does not feel like a good use of time because killing enemies is easy and great weapons are often looted from corpses and chests. To clarify, by first run I mean my actual first time playing the game was void of death. On the next run I played more recklessly and found that you can die a limited number of times, each lowering your max health, until after a handful you can no longer respawn. There was never any danger of getting killed in Moonquest, but I certainly feared losing interest. Wandering around the same levels hacking at every bit of breakable terrain then having to place blocks to climb up to places stopped being fun early on in the quest. It was certainly nice to see a new notification blip announcing a character unlock, but I wanted Moonquest to choose: am I meant to build a home base and endlessly adorn it as I got better materials, or am I supposed to find the Macguffins to end the game as quickly as possible? [h1]Verdict[/h1] Nothing about Moonquest is bad, it just has questionable aim. There is a nice sense of wonder and cute style. Sometimes it is fun to explore the world, and procedural generation will keep runs fresh. Even though there is the overall goal of collecting stones in place, some players might like roaming around and collecting different materials and loot. It’s certainly nice to look at and it plays smoothly. Moonquest can be enjoyable, but it will not be everyone’s cup of tea. 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