I spent enough time working in retail to not pine for those days again, but Moonlighter’s blend of shop management and dungeon-delving adventures already has me practising my rusty sword sales pitch. “Each nick and stain tells a story.” I’ll get to test my barter banter soon enough, too, as Moonlighter hurtles towards its release date of May 29.
Moonlighter’s set in a little town that became a commercial centre when various gates to loot-filled, supernatural dungeons appeared nearby. That’s the past, though. Now most of the adventurers have stopped coming, but not Will, a shopkeeper with heroic ambitions. Trying to make up for a life spent dutifully looking after the shop for his family, he now splits his life between fighting through dungeons and selling the loot.
In dungeons, Moonlighter becomes an action-RPG and roguelike, with shopkeeper-adventurers battering monsters and bosses, using all the lovely loot to beef themselves up, upgrade their shop and cater to their increasingly demanding customers. The shop’s a less dangerous place, but while tweaking prices and pandering to the demands of the villagers won’t kill you, thieves stealing all of your stuff will put you out of business. You’ve got to protect your stock, which is why I once spent at least 30 seconds chasing a kid for stealing some Pringles from a Blockbuster (RIP).
Austin took Moonlighter for a spin recently and, while he got battered and bruised by a golem, he returned with plenty of good things to say.