I fell in love with Moonlighter’s moreish mixture of dungeon-crawling, shop-management, and delightful pixel graphics when it first launched back in 2018. You could pick it up and play it for hours, or simply opt for a quick dungeon run or two on your lunch break.
Needless to say, I was ecstatic when Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault was unveiled last year. But, as I watched the announcement trailer, I immediately noticed the beloved pixel graphics I adored had been replaced with a new 3D aesthetic. I wasn’t sure how to feel, but after recently going hands-on with the sequel, it’s grown on me.
Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way
“We started to think of a sequel right after ending Moonlighter’s DLC, but we wanted to give it time.” Communication manager Israel Mallén tells me. “We made The Mageseeker and Cataclismo, and we learned things from both. From The Mageseeker, we learned that we could make a deeper combat system, and that in a way, it could be applied to Moonlighter. And from Cataclismo, we learned to make 3D games and 3D worlds that look beautiful and engaging, and we thought that we could apply both things to Moonlighter [2].
As for why the development team opted to pursue a 3D art direction this time around, it was not just for looks, but also worked in tandem with how it hopes to expand on gameplay mechanics. “Giving Will the ability to perform combos and use his backpack, giving him a gun, and all the variety that perks add would really shine in 3D more than in 2D, and the same goes for the shop. Everything will pop up more.”
The team knew that Moonlighter “could evolve” but they “needed to grow as a studio, both in terms of numbers and in terms of knowledge”. Digital Sun is now using all the experience it’s learned since the first Moonlighter and channeling that into the sequel.
Despite this growth, there’s still plenty of the original Moonlighter pixel spark in the sequel. For example, the loading icon is the same pixelated dripping icon as the first game. And that’s not the only reference players can look forward to.
The little emoji reaction that customers have above their heads when shopping in your store is also a throwback to the original. Initially, the team only used these as they needed something in place for when they debuted the first trailer and didn’t have any other UI set up, but then they decided to keep it as another nod to the original.
From Binding Of Isaac To Hades
“[Moonlighter] was more The Binding of Isaac-inspired in terms of how you explore the dungeon and how you get abilities, but [with the sequel], you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen the demo, you’ve seen that the progression is clearly inspired by Hades in terms of choosing your path, choosing which upgrade you want. It’s a huge inspiration,” says Mallén.
The Hades inspiration on Moonlighter 2 is clear as day. Instead of choosing a random door from which to leave the dungeon room and progress to the next without much indication of where you’re going, you’re now able to see a sign that dictates where each path leads, such as a boss, more loot, or an item shop NPC.
Perks also play a big role now, much like the boons do in Hades throughout each run. At different intervals, you’ll have to choose which perks to progress with from unique NPCs, with your choices going on to make or break your progress.
“Instead of exploring an ever-shifting dungeon, you are now picking your route, picking your path, selecting if you are going to build this crazy build with all kinds of effects and powerful attacks, or go for more chests and more loot. We are giving the players more agency.”
Shop management gameplay has also evolved in the sequel. Instead of players having to guess the sweet spot for selling goods, the price is already set but can vary depending on how your last run went, such as collecting or burning certain relics will affect prices, or from the perks you choose while within the store.
“The shop is what makes Moonlighter different.” Mallén says. “It’s a shopkeeping roguelike after all. My friend Luis told me [it’s] a roguelike inside a roguelike. I don’t think people are expecting the shop to be almost a game of its own. This feeling of each time you open your shop, it’s a different run, that was impressive in the first game, and it’s the most important change in the sequel.”
By grabbing the roguelike genre with both hands this time around, Moonlighter 2 cements its identity like never before.. It’s strange how it can be both so familiar yet so different at the same time. I know protagonist Will, I know how the moment-to-moment gameplay works, but I didn’t anticipate just how much added depth there would be in the sequel.
“This is a game meant to be played for way longer and with way more variety than the first game,” Mallén emphasises. “We are going full roguelike with this.”
Moonstruck
Moonlighter was a “pivotal moment” for the team, and Mallén tells me the success “caught us off guard”. Though Mallén wasn’t with the company back then, he recalls being told that Digital Sun CEO Javier Gimenez was eating a salad when he saw the Steam numbers booming and promptly dropped his healthy lunch from sheer shock.
“We had some degree of hype, and we knew that some people were into the game, but we weren’t expecting the success on Steam, [or] the success on Switch, especially one year later.” Having such a hit success can make a sequel even more of a challenge, as expectations are higher. “It’s scary,” Mallén admits. “It’s also very exciting, because we took our time.”
When I ask if the sequel came about because of the success of Moonlighter, Mallén tells me it was more to create something more ambitious, given the original game was brought to life with “very limited resources.” The idea is that Moonlighter 2 will still appeal to returning players who loved the first, but will also be welcoming to new players, so while it is a sequel, Mallén explains it didn’t really need the 2 in the title as it’s more of a “compliment [to] the first game”.
When it comes to dungeon crawlers, that core gameplay loop is incredibly important. If players don’t find it satisfying, they won’t want to keep doing the same cycle over and over.
Moonlighter balanced the dungeon crawling and roguelike elements with shop management. It seemed like a perfect balance, with the audience response a testament to that. So, how do you iterate on something that was just right to begin with?
“We at Digital Sun don’t like ‘just right’,” Mallén laughs. “Moonlighter was [our] first game, very small team, very indie, and it was amazing, but we knew we could do better.”
With all these changes, you have to wonder if this makes Moonlighter 2 more accessible for newcomers, or whether it aims to be more of a challenge. Mallén explains it’s “a little bit of both” and that “ combat is a bit more complex and the enemy behaviour is a bit more rich, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the game is more difficult.”
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault is more of an evolution than fans might expect. I thought I wanted more of the same, but this is a classic case of not giving me what I wanted, but giving me what I (and the series) needed. The series has grown into something more defined, leaning into embracing a 3D world, more nuanced combat, and embracing the roguelike genre like never before.
