Legends are told of those who defied the odds; traveling through stunning vistas, meeting people of various cultures and fighting those who wrought disaster upon the world. The stories that are told are comprised of minoot details that draw the people into a world of wonder and most of the time, a world of calamity. Moon Hunters captures this importance of oral history and delivers a game that is complex but that is also incredibly fun.
Developed and published by Kitfox Games in 2016, Moon Hunters is a game that acts as a “personality test” but that is merely just a small part of the game at its heart. The player must investigate solve the mystery of where the moon Goddess has disappeared and why the moon will not rise any longer. The outcome of the game is dependent on the players choices throughout that specific play through, which is a perfect way to get players to role play. I found out early that Moon Hunters was most fun when I was making choices that were out of my realm of normal choices that I would make in reality. These choices lead me down paths that I did not think existed within the game. You could gain the ability to speak to animals, meet a savage man, a rare mythological animal or a group of souls by your side during the duration of the final fight. There are so many DIFFERENT god damn choices that, at first, was debilitating, but after playing more and more, I realized that I wanted to spend more time figuring out how many different choices that could be made.
Moon Hunters has a total of six characters that all play very differently. Each character has at least three abilities to choose from that usually align to a attack, a defensive ability and a dodge. It is incredibly important to understand that all of the characters are different and the player needs to play to the specific characters traits, for example: maintaining physical damage helps the physical character but diminishes the power level of the magic users. There are merchants that litter the world ready to upgrade your abilities, for a cost. The upgrades are so insanely powerful, which is in response to how short the play-throughs are. The play throughs usually last around an hour and with friends, a tad longer.
The pixel graphics make the game look really nice at times. The forest ALWAYS looks beautiful and the moment that the player experiences the swamp will understand just how beautiful the game can look at moments.
In the end, Moon Hunters is a hard game to talk about. It is a game that I have never experienced before and I am glad that I did. The actual depth of the game is insane. I was engrossed in the plot in every playthrough even when I was experiencing it for the 50th time. The music is actually a pleasant surprise. One character uses her music to slay enemies and it is a artfully brutal. Moon Hunters does what it does the best; provide a choice driven RPG that does not overbear on the player. I enjoyed my time with Moon Hunters even though I did not play much couch co-op, but I hope at some point I can have another person to experience this game with.
Grinds and Games 