Metroidvanias are an awesome genre and many have made amazing games in the style, but then there are the games that are just…odd. Moonscars is a game that falls into the later category and tries to meld the Souls formula with that of the Metroidvanias but the result is not the best. The game is set in a dying world where you play as a creature brought to life from clay named Grey Irma who ventures forth to meet her creator.
What follows is a strange campaign that will have you traversing the usual gothic Metroidvania world while now trying to survive a brutal challenge. Parrying is key here like in Dark Souls, while you will also need to find the right inventory items, sub-weapons, and spells to survive. When you meet your demise in a run, you will be cursed with a Ravenous Moon and leave behind any collected Bone Powder that you have found.
The Ravenous Moon will have phases that inflict Moonhunger which increases the difficulty, but it can be removed by consuming a Gland. The issue though, is that Glands are very hard to come by and you will need them for upgrades so using one is a bit of a trade-off. There are other ways to become more powerful though, such as by raising your Spite level for stat boost or healing.
Where the game falls short is the world, however. A Metroidvania lives and dies by its world and design and Moonscars suffers from being painfully bland. There is so little variety in the world that you begin hoping for something, anything else that never comes. This is made worse by having gameplay that is incredibly counterintuitive and limits you more than is needed.
Moonscars will remove most of the variety Soulslikes and Metroidvanias have with regards to levelling up and making yourself more powerful, and as such the game feels unfair rather than challenging. What makes it more of an issue is how unbalanced the game is, to the point where you will not bother to explore what few options you have and instead just use a couple of tactics over and over again. As such, Moonscars feels limited and features an arsenal that is mostly useless in the grand scheme of things.
Moonscars had potential but just doesn’t live up to it. Pass on this one and find a better Metroidvania elsewhere.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided