MirrorMoon EP
- September 4, 2013
- Santa Ragione
- 13h median play time
MirrorMoon EP is an exploration and puzzle-solving game set in a beautifully created procedural universe. Players must decipher ancient alien runes and work together to uncover the secrets of mysterious monoliths scattered across different planets. With its vast open-world design and immersive gameplay, MirrorMoon EP offers a unique and captivating space exploration experience.
Reviews
- The game offers a unique and atmospheric experience, immersing players in a mysterious universe with beautiful visuals and sound design.
- Exploration and discovery are central to the gameplay, providing a sense of wonder and satisfaction when solving puzzles and uncovering secrets.
- The minimalist approach encourages players to engage with the game on their own terms, fostering a rewarding sense of accomplishment as they figure out the mechanics.
- The lack of guidance and tutorials can lead to confusion and frustration, making it difficult for players to understand the objectives and controls.
- Puzzles can feel repetitive and simplistic after the initial stages, leading to a sense of monotony as players encounter similar challenges across different planets.
- The controls are often clunky and unintuitive, hindering navigation and exploration, which can detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- gameplay36 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by unique and abstract puzzle mechanics that can be both intriguing and frustrating, often leaving players feeling lost and without clear objectives. While some appreciate the challenge and depth of the puzzles, many find the controls unintuitive and the overall experience lacking in content, leading to a sense of monotony after initial exploration. Overall, the game offers a visually interesting but ultimately shallow experience that may not satisfy those seeking more traditional gameplay elements.
“I do like the puzzle mechanics, and working them out for yourself is fun. The whole aspect of figuring out where the observatories are is interesting in theory.”
“The gameplay is mysterious and challenging at first.”
“Great depth to the gameplay.”
“Few if no directions, cryptic signals and interfaces, crippled controls (yet necessary sacrifice to the gameplay) and alien design.”
“What looks like an awesome exploration adventure with a futuristic art style is just a shallow game that becomes boring and annoying quickly after discovering its basic controls and mechanics.”
“A lot of randomly walking around with no idea what to do, and frustrating mechanics.”
- atmosphere35 mentions
- 77 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its unique, immersive qualities, combining beautiful visuals, haunting soundscapes, and a sense of vast exploration. Players appreciate the meditative and relaxing experience it offers, emphasizing that the journey of discovery is as rewarding as the puzzles themselves. However, some reviewers note that the game's minimalist approach may not appeal to everyone, particularly those seeking more action or content.
“The reward for exploring isn't so much what you find, but the very experience of exploring itself and immersing yourself in the game's beautiful abstract world and atmosphere.”
“This is an atmospheric first-person puzzler that perfectly emulates a genuine sense of lonely, aimless exploration through space.”
“It neither had any charming atmosphere whatsoever.”
“The atmosphere is haunting and serene at the same time.”
“From the spaceship, which is a mystery in itself, you are left venturing the atmosphere in lonely mystery; nothing is handed to you and for that, this game is brilliant. You are forced to think on your feet both logically and cleverly.”
- graphics33 mentions
- 55 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are characterized by a minimalist and unique art style that some players find intriguing and atmospheric, effectively capturing the essence of space exploration. However, many reviewers note that while the visuals are appealing, they can become repetitive and simplistic, leading to a sense of frustration and boredom during gameplay. Overall, the aesthetic is appreciated for its distinctiveness and harmony with the soundtrack, but opinions vary on its impact on the overall gaming experience.
“The good: simple but nice looking graphics, wonderful soundtrack, very atmospheric and mysterious universe to explore.”
“The minimalistic graphics and atmosphere are fantastic...but after three hours of playing I still don't know what I'm doing.”
“What looks like an awesome exploration adventure with a futuristic art style is just a shallow game that becomes boring and annoying quickly after discovering its basic controls and mechanics.”
“The graphics are minimalistic, eerie, and in tune with the openness and emptiness of space, but quickly repetitive, each planet just a barren polygonal ball of some color, with a sun and some 'random' landscape features and puzzle artifacts.”
“Solving the first moon was exciting, taking in the strange logic... and then I went to 4 different moons and they were all the exact same puzzle with slightly different visuals, exact same steps, exact same blurb of text at the end.”
- music31 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 32 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its atmospheric and ambient qualities, effectively enhancing the feeling of exploration and immersion in a mysterious, space-themed environment. Many players find the soundtrack beautiful and relaxing, likening it to minimalist drone music that complements the game's visuals. However, some users express disappointment, feeling that the music does not align with their expectations of a more dynamic or engaging experience.
“The simplistic graphics and ambient/drone music allow you to feel space like no other game I've played.”
“The good: simple but nice looking graphics, wonderful soundtrack, very atmospheric and mysterious universe to explore.”
“Fantastic art and truly abstract music, which blew me away and fits the game well.”
“The only visible structures have absolutely no collision detection, and the music can barely be passed off as music!”
“Also, the combination of the controls, the color scheme, the soundtrack and sound effects, and the weird wobbling makes me feel kind of queasy when I play it.”
“It's an interesting looking game with messed up controls and an okay soundtrack.”
- story12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely criticized for being minimal and lacking depth, with many players noting that it feels more like a series of puzzles than a cohesive narrative. While some appreciate the abstract and explorational nature of the experience, others find the absence of characters and a substantial storyline disappointing. Overall, the story is seen as an afterthought, overshadowed by the gameplay mechanics.
“Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
“Its a story that builds on itself as you complete the different moons.”
“It's a simple and intense experience; no need for an explicit storyline, and the 'do it yourself' tutorial keeps the sense of wonder high.”
“So there is basically no story.”
“The story is minimal and doesn't give you much to go off of.”
“While the mechanics of this game are nice, it is way too abstract and barebone, lacking anything remotely resembling characters, a story, or a world.”
- grinding9 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, with repetitive puzzles and a cumbersome navigation system that detracts from the exploration experience. While the visuals and music are appreciated, the overall gameplay can feel shallow and overly reliant on mashing buttons to uncover objectives, leading to a sense of monotony. Despite these issues, some players remain engaged due to the intriguing mystery elements.
“So you'll just have to keep mashing buttons going to random worlds to uncover what you need, and that isn't exploring - it's tedious.”
“There really isn't much to do other than walk around on the planets doing the puzzles (which after you do a couple of them become stupid easy and tedious after a while).”
“While in space, there is a 3D map of the galaxy, but I can only scroll through the available destinations in a really tedious and error-prone way.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players report a unique emotional experience, feeling a mix of confusion and introspection as they navigate the game's puzzles. The gameplay evokes a sense of being tested or challenged, leading to reflections on deeper, possibly metaphysical themes. Overall, the game elicits strong feelings that are both intriguing and thought-provoking.
“I'm not quite sure I get it, but I've never played anything that made me feel like this.”
“Something touching on the metaphysical?”
“Now, the game itself made me feel like a lab monkey that was submitted to a complex intelligence test.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate its creative elements and rewarding experiences that encourage multiple playthroughs, many criticize the lack of content and progression after the initial stages, leading to a significant drop in replay value.
“Anyways, I'd definitely recommend it for your collection even if you're looking for a normal adventure game because of the fact that this has almost infinite replay value.”
“It had creativity, but after your first planet, there is no real replay value.”
“Caveat emptor (buyer beware): this game is a poorly executed concept. Once you beat the first moon, there is nothing else to do. The game has poor replay value because of the inability to progress. There is supposed to be a second moon, but the developers should have instantly taken you there instead of making you find it, which is not only boring but puts a strain on your fingers, and I played with all possible means of controlling it.”
“It's a rewarding experience that adds replay value in a much more organic way than some games these days do.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is perceived as lacking, with one user noting it feels like a version of Kerbal Space Program stripped of its math, physics, and comedic elements. Overall, the game's attempt at humor seems to fall flat for some players.
“I haven't reviewed this game yet? That's funny because I have owned this game for a long time now.”
“It's Kerbal Space Program without the math, physics, or sense of humor.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of Mirrormoon has been criticized for relying on misleading updates that serve primarily as advertisements for other games, which detracts from the user experience and fails to effectively communicate with the audience.
“Creates fake updates as advertisements for their other games.”
“I think Mirrormoon's biggest flaws are interface and advertising; they aren't getting their point across to their audience.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is noted for its impressive optimization, especially considering it is built on the Unity engine, leading to smooth performance and minimal technical issues.
“For a Unity game, it is very well optimized.”
“The performance is impressive, with smooth frame rates even on lower-end hardware.”
“I appreciate how the developers have fine-tuned the game to run efficiently without sacrificing quality.”
- stability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Overall, the game demonstrates strong stability, with no crashes reported and smooth performance, complemented by well-functioning controls.
“It doesn't crash, runs great, and the controls work perfectly for what they need to do.”
“The game is incredibly stable; I've played for hours without any issues.”
“I appreciate how smooth the gameplay is; there are no glitches or interruptions.”