Lunacid (2023)

Roll Credits?: Yes! (on Early Access - haven't played since full release)

Surprised/Let Down/As Expected: Let Down

Favorite Mechanic or Narrative Moment: First off - music goes crazy. As far as gameplay, exploring the different zones and trying to find your footing in this peculiar world is definitely the main draw here. The game is pretty obtuse in finding your direction, so making headway and finding a new path or zone can feel like a real triumph in a way that a lot of games today don't even acknowledge.

Least Favorite Thing: Lots of obtuse mechanics in general are cool, but not really what I was looking for. The combat doesn't have a lot going for it, and even leveling up doesn't clearly portray any improvements to your stats. It was hard for me to look at any given weapon and figure out if I was supposed to care about it or not. This coupled with the very open design gives off Symphony of the Night vibes as far as inventory bloat are concerned when you start picking up items that are probably just worthless compared to your current inventory.

Want to get back to it and check out the full release later this Winter. Curious to see how it ends and what is added since the early access ending was somewhat abrupt.

what i liked:

• a love letter to from games, souls-likes and of course, everyone's favorite - dungeon crawler. despite playing this in first person view, it kinda reminds me of another genre classic called "blade of darkness". both games got a similar vibe and atmosphere going.

• six maps already and the final game should have ten or more. the maps themselves are quite different, providing unique themes, designs and enemies. the level design is excellent as well, with a lot of connectivity.

• exploration is immersive and rewarding. having a blast delving into the dungeons, fighting enemies, finding all those secrets and more. tons of creative concepts like spraying blood with a spell on some carnivorous plants, acting as chests. the game may feel somewhat empty at first, but there are tons of secrets and details hidden everywhere. a little backtracking now and then is wellworth as well.

• the atmosphere just hits the right spot - dungeons are giving you the creeps, blood is pumping and you'll be nervously checking all the corners - incredible.

• interesting and well thought out lore. there are a lot of flavor texts and lore drops all over the game. i'm quite intrigued to learn more about these cursed lands and the fates of other damned.

• combat is fun and engaging. even though it isn't as clunky as one would imagine by the looks, aiming can get a little obnoxious at first. if you've played arthurian legends or similar games, you may feel at home, since the combat is very similar to such games.

• decent build variety with different weapons and spells. a couple of classes like in dark souls and six different stats in total. honestly i can't say much about the viability of the weapons and spells, since it's in early access and there are almost no resources out there. i'm playing whatever weapon i like and nothing felt terrible so far, but imo the longer the range the better the weapon, since u won't get hit as often. magic is even more fun than weapons, with different schools and some fancy utility spells.

• fantastic retro pixel artstyle and graphics. i've completely fell in love with the style this game has to offer. early 3d pc and psx era comes to mind, showcasing a well executed masterpiece.

• awesome soundtrack, mostly calm and atmospheric. just vibin' through the game. very well done and the sound effects are mostly on point as well.

• decent optimization at this point - constant 240 fps with no lags, crashes, glitches, whatsoever.

• controls are responsive and far from being cumbersome, which surprised me honestly. the game looks old and plays new! can't get any better than this, can it?

• haven't had a single bug in my playthrough so far. well, let's be real. there will be some bugs since it's an early access title, but at least there are no major game breaking issues.

what felt debatable to me:

~ power level balancing issues. at first everything was quite tough and scary, but after a couple of hours, i'm basically melting every enemy in seconds. it's still fun, but should be addressed for the 1.0 release or future updates.

~ the hub area could be bigger with a couple of more npcs. would love to see more different characters and even more so, some advanced dialogues for those already in the game, increasing their memorability. the story telling lore skeleton is probably my favorite so far. let the ride never end!

~ please introduce a setting to remap inputs.

~ i'm still not certain if there are boss enemies in the game or not and if not, will there be some? if not, why? would be interesting to hear the developers' thoughts about this topic.

~ the game needs a map so badly. i could see this was an intentional design decision and there will be no map at all. if so, i can respect that, but the devs have to improve the recognisability of some levels to sooth getting lost. catacombs were a pain up to some point, where i could see many people quit the game for no reason. i think there should be a "greyed out" simplified map to help you keep on track, to improve backtracking and without spoiling the exploration too badly.

what i disliked:

• enemy spells shooting through obstacles and walls. spells are darn hard hitting in this game and it's no joke, if they can and will hit you through basically everything.

• demon slayer achievement won't be triggered trigger correctly.

lunacid is already a 10/10 by heart. with the early access issues and missing content, let's play fair and give it an 8/10 in this state. definitely one of the most promising upcoming games for me!

i'll update this review after i finished my playthrough, obtained some new thoughts and of course if some big content updates happen.