Moonscars is an action-RPG Soulslike developed by Black Mermaid and published by Humble Games. The game manages to be both gorgeous and challenging in equal measures, with its stunning world acting as a beautiful backdrop for a dark story about identity and learning one's true purpose in the world.
The world of Moonscars is filled with the clayborne, beings made of clay, bone, and ichor, all brought to life by a mysterious person known as The Sculptor. The player takes on the role of Grey Irma, a clayborne warrior who awakens with only scraps of memory. She seeks out The Sculptor, her creator, in search of answers. In order to find him, she must carve her way through hordes of mindless clayborne, as well as her old companions in arms, while following the mysterious hints of a talking cat that guides her along the way, and defeating her own identical doppelgangers that await her outside of mirrors.
By far the most striking aspect of Moonscars is its visuals. Moonscars succeeds where Bayblon's Fall failed in the past, as it feels as if the player is stepping into an oil painted world. The animations and lighting are also stunning, all of which are in service of bringing its gothic world to life. The beautiful visuals help elevate the action and push the player further into exploring its beautiful and terrifying world.
The gameplay in Moonscars merges elements of the Soulslike, Metroidvania, and even roguelite genres. Grey Irma fights with a sword and can use it to parry enemy attacks with a carefully timed button press, as well as dashing for a few frames of invincibility. In this way, it's more like a Bloodborne-inspired video game than a Soulslike, with more of an emphasis placed on evasion and timing. She can also gain Special Weapons, such as a lance or a pinwheel, and use Witchery, which are spells can be unlocked at the bonfire equivalent (mirrors).
Grey Irma has Ichor, which is a mana bar that heals when she hits foes. Ichor is used to power spells, but it can also be used for a healing in a similar manner to Hollow Knight. This means players need to think quickly in combat, as they have lots of options available at any one time, and enemies can require a varied approach. The fact that Ichor is restored upon striking foes means that the player needs to go on the offensive, which bumps up the tension, especially when facing groups of foes with different capabilities.
Moonscars uses familiar Soulslike gameplay elements, with the player losing their Bone Powder upon death, which can be retrived from the same spot as long as Gret doesn't die again. There are some twists to the familiar formula, such as the player earning Spite Levels outside of regular progression, granting passive buffs or a full heal with each one, but they're wiped if the player dies. Glands, which can be sacrificed at mirrors to change the world state, either provide buffs or make the game easier/harder, with equivalent rewards. Every time the player unlocks a fast travel mirror, they must face their own doppelganger the first time they return to that spot, and these gradually gets stronger over the course of the game. Essentially, there are a lot of changes happening at once, helping to make the gameplay feel fresh when compared to other Soulslike titles released in recent times.
Moonscars has a lot of interlocking systems, but not all of them are worth pursuing. The Spite Levels only offer a handful of bonus options and it's only the Immediate Recovery option (offering a free health refill) that is particularly exciting. The Special Weapons are also so slow that they're mostly unusable, with many of the enemies cutting Grey Irma to pieces while she's doing the lengthy start-up animation.
With that being said, the combat in Moonscars is fantastic. There are lots of different enemy types to face, and the game often shuts the player into arena-style rooms, where they have to kill all foes before they can proceed.The fast-paced battles reward skill and timing, especially when it comes to the parrying mechanic, which is suitably useful for those who want to risk leaving themselves open for a counter. The only downside is a recurring annoyance with the bosses. All of the boss battles look incredible, but there is a persistent issue where most of them have an extra element - either summonable minions or random hazards - which makes the screen far too busy and introduces an unwanted random element into the fight. These boss battles would have been amazing if they had been one-on-one fights between the boss and Grey Irma, but the little extra bullet hell element brings them down.
Moonscars is an amalgamation of different ideas merged into one 2D Soulslike package, and while a few feel undercooked, the rest manage to tie everything together into an excellent action-RPG experience. The gorgeous visuals are also worth experiencing, as it's rare to see a gameplay pull off an art style as well as Moonscars. The dark world of the clayborne is a fascinating and deadly one, and like its clay protagonist, the player only gets stronger as each death reshapes them.
Moonscars will be released for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on September 27, 2022, with a day one launch on Game Pass. Screen Rant was provided with a digital code for the PC version of the game for the purposes of this review.