Moonchild
- April 22, 2016
- Aldorlea Games
- 20h median play time
Get on Steam"Moonchild" is a single-player Role Playing game with a engaging plot and colorful characters. As Queen Calypso, players must rescue their abducted child through 20+ hours of gameplay, featuring 9 playable characters, visible encounters, and various difficulty modes. With a Party Switcher, summonable creatures, and countless items and spells to discover, players can unlock 23 achievements in this unique 16-bit RPG adventure.
Reviews
- The game features a whimsical story and pleasant art and music, making it a relaxing experience.
- It offers a good amount of gameplay hours with various side quests and exploration opportunities.
- The combat system is smooth and strategic, providing a fun challenge for RPG enthusiasts.
- The level design is often confusing and tedious, with long mazes and dead ends that can frustrate players.
- The writing and dialogue are poorly executed, with many grammatical errors and unengaging character interactions.
- The game suffers from pacing issues, with a significant amount of grinding required to progress, which can detract from the overall enjoyment.
- story40 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally seen as simple and somewhat cliché, revolving around a queen's quest to rescue her abducted daughter, which some players found enjoyable despite its predictability. While the narrative has moments of charm and whimsy, many reviewers noted a lack of character development and poor writing quality, leading to frustration with the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, the engaging gameplay and side quests provide enough incentive for players to explore the story further, especially for fans of classic RPG Maker titles.
“The story is about a queen whose daughter has been abducted and she goes a long way around the world to save her.”
“And albeit it's a simple story, I find it wholly enjoyable compared to super complicated ones.”
“Rich storyline and entertaining gameplay.”
“I wasn't grabbed by the story enough to make all the tedium worthwhile.”
“Basically, the plot in this one has a few clichés and overall the characters could have been developed a bit more.”
“Con: writing is poor, with grammar and spelling errors on top of just a horrible story.”
- grinding10 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players have mixed feelings about the grinding aspect of the game. While some enjoy the abundance of side quests and activities, others find the grinding tedious and the navigation through large, maze-like levels frustrating. The game features a significant amount of grinding, particularly for achievement hunters, but the experience can vary greatly depending on individual preferences and the balance of the leveling system.
“What specifically made me give up was how tedious the levels were to navigate, usually consisting of large mazes with dead ends.”
“Later, the usual JRPG grinding and massive dungeons come into play, and it becomes a test of endurance.”
“But as the game progressed, the massive grinding and the unbalanced leveling system made me drop it at some point.”
- gameplay8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by a rich storyline and engaging mechanics, offering around 20 hours of playtime. However, players note that the difficulty settings can undermine the experience, as easier modes allow for bypassing interesting mechanics. Additionally, the battles can feel either too easy or tedious, and the explanations of stats and mechanics are lacking, while the dialogue is often criticized.
“Rich storyline and entertaining gameplay.”
“[i]moonchild[/i] is a cute game that hails from Aldorlea Games - a really promising RPG Maker-based developer team - that will easily offer you 20 hours of gameplay.”
“The world isn't that big, neither that diverse, but the main story itself would present you a nearly 20-hour gameplay and it's engaging enough.”
“The stats and mechanics are poorly explained, battles seem to run the gamut of effortless or tedious, with nothing in-between, and the dialogue is relentlessly awful.”
“Doesn't get slaughtered in the first 10 minutes of gameplay.”
“A lot of 'bad reviews' seem to not understand that you don't play Aldorlea games in the afternoon as an adult addicted gamer - they are for nighttime for sane people (or for younger players).”
- music5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as pleasant and whimsical, providing a relaxing backdrop, but it lacks standout tracks and can become repetitive over time. While some players find it adequate for gameplay, others suggest muting it in favor of personal soundtracks. Overall, the soundtrack is considered average, with no particularly memorable pieces.
“Pleasant art and music, whimsical story.”
“Music is nothing special, but good enough to listen to during gameplay.”
“Music was just average; no tracks stuck with me, but nothing was horrible either.”
“The soundtrack is pretty, yet it becomes annoyingly repetitive after a while. I strongly recommend muting the game and playing your own soundtrack in any of these 16-bit games, with some exceptions like the ASM or Final Fantasy series, of course.”
“I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- humor4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely criticized for being forced and unoriginal, with poorly executed dialogue that fails to resonate with players. Many reviewers feel that the attempts at comedy are heavy-handed and detract from the overall experience, leaving them unimpressed and frustrated.
“I wonder if it also includes the developer laughing at the fact that you bought a 'deluxe' edition of this game.”
“The rest is fluffy, unfunny babble.”
“The jokes fall flat and feel forced.”
“I expected more clever humor, but it was mostly cringeworthy.”
- graphics3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The graphics are generally well-received, featuring beautifully designed environments and a fitting manga-style artwork that enhances the game's aesthetic without being overwhelming. While not groundbreaking, the visuals are considered nice and appropriate for the RPG Maker platform, contributing positively to the overall experience.
“I also liked the environment with richly decorated scenes, and the manga-style artwork fits the game nicely (thankfully it’s not overdone).”
“Graphics won't present you anything extraordinary, yet I found the environment design to be fitting and beautiful within the limitations of RPG Maker.”
“The graphics won't present anything extraordinary, yet I found the environment design to be fitting and beautiful within the limitations of RPG Maker.”
“The visuals feel outdated and lack the polish expected from modern games.”
“Character models are poorly designed and lack detail, making it hard to connect with the game.”
