Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault Early Access Impressions

Did you know that if you search “shop simulator” on Steam, you will see more than 1000 results? That’s 1000 more than I probably would play. I have a day job. My idea of relaxing is not running a store and dealing with obnoxious customers, or so I thought. Then I met Will in 2018. Will runs a shop that sells merchandise he finds while exploring dungeons. Oh yeah, the name of that shop is The Moonlighter. It has been seven (7!) years, and Will is back with a brand new adventure.

Developed by Digital Sun and published by 11 bit studios, Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault is not really one, but 2 games in a neat little package. On one hand, you have a roguelite ARPG where you collect everything not bolted down. All those times you NEEDED to loot everything in Skyrim will finally pay off. On the other hand, you have a shop simulator where you sell all that crap you found in the dungeons while haggling with customers over the right prices.

Note: Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault is launching in Early Access for an undetermined amount of time. To quote the Steam page, “:…we’d rather take the time to get things right than rush the grand opening.” This impressions article highlights our time with the game so far.

THE STORY SO FAR

“Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Rynoka anymore.” In an attempt to avoid spoilers, here we go: after Will opened the 5th vault on Rynoka, things got weird. We are talking conspiracy theory weird; dark web weird. That was 7 years ago (well, in real-time). In the present day, Molloch the Collector is “collecting” dimensions in search of the fabled The Endless Vault. Due to Rynoka’s relocation, Will finds himself in Tresna with a cast of colorful characters, including some familiar faces. Will’s reputation precedes him, and a Ms. Scratch wants him to reopen his store and make her very rich, very quickly. The Endless Vault finds Will and offers him what he truly desires as long as he does what he does best: clear dungeons and sell the goods. For every threshold set by The Endless Vault that Will surpasses, the town is upgraded, which ultimately helps Will and his shop.

GAMEPLAY

Will begins the game with his shopkeeper’s broom and his backpack. Andrei the blacksmith can craft one of four weapons to start your journey (there is no “wrong” choice, as all the weapons will become available shortly thereafter). The weapon choices are as follows: Merchant’s Sword, Merchant’s Longsword, Merchant’s Spear, and Merchant’s Gauntlets. Each weapon has its own unique playstyle and special ability. The sword makes quick slashes, and its special attack can hit all enemies with a sweeping motion. The long sword is a bit slower but hits significantly harder. Its special is a weak strike that increases the sharpness of the blade, allowing for regular strikes to do more damage, the higher the sharpness level. The spear has the longest range and can pierce groups of enemies. Each attack spawns spearheads at the point of impact, and triggering the special attack returns all of them to Will, damaging any enemy they pass through. Last but not least are the gauntlets. This weapon puts Will up close and personal. They strike faster than any of the other weapons, and Will can trigger berserk, which increases their speed and impact, BUT you need to have your head on a swivel as you have less time to react to enemy attacks due to your proximity. As the story progresses and/or Will finds recipes, new weapons can be crafted, each of which falls in one of those four categories (the broom is classified as a spear but has no special abilities). New weapons operate similarly but usually have a unique ability that makes it a bit more appealing to use. For example, one spear has spearheads that will target enemies instead of trying to line them up as they return. One of the longswords flips the script and has the regular attacks increase sharpness, and the special attack does increasing damage based on how full the sharpness meter is.

Melee weapons are not the only thing in Will’s arsenal. One of the merchants, Babyl, has provided Will with a Blob Gun, which offers a ranged option. It has limited ammo that is refilled as Will attacks with his melee weapon. This provides a nice balance of melee and ranged attacks, depending on whether Will needs to keep his distance to avoid attacks. Recipes can also be found to craft other ranged weapons. You know that big backpack Will carries that holds all the relics he plans to sell? One would imagine it weighs a ton, and Will can now swing it about. Some enemies will enter a Rupture state at 50% health, which briefly stuns them. If Will swings his bag at them, he can send them flying, even ejecting some off of the floating platforms that comprise the levels. On the defensive side of things, Will has an evasive roll that can be used almost endlessly to get out of the way of attacks or avoid AoE damage.

Each level contains combat perks that differ between regions. In the first area, Kalina, Will will come across Ignite and Foam perks. Ignite sets things on fire while Foam causes delayed explosions. Other regions introduce Thunder and Ice. The perks can vary from flat damage increases to changing how weapons behave, such as more damage to targets afflicted by one of the status effects or healing Will when ejecting enemies with the backpack. There is some RNG involved, but you are provided three choices each time, so it is easy to build some pretty lethal combos. Each world also includes hazards that will hurt Will, but can also be used against the enemies.

If you played the first game, you may recall that the dungeons were a series of interconnected rooms. Until you cleared all enemies, the doors would not open. After that, you could choose the direction to move. In Moonlighter 2, each area ends with your reward, and you select the next area via a map, a la Curse of the Dead Gods or Slay the Spire. There are several branching paths as you make your way to the final boss.

Choices here include chests containing relics (sometimes it is a pair of chests), chests guarded by elite enemies, the aforementioned combat perks, the blacksmith (he provides a temporary upgrade to your weapon), or a challenge (there are two types - one provides a loot bonus while the other tasks you with something combat related and if completed, you enjoy a passive buff the rest of your run). The minboss and boss fights are required; the path to them varies from run to run. Both boss fights end with two chests containing relics.

The Blacksmith really wants you to succeed

Speaking of relics, they work slightly differently from the first game. Yes, you want the most expensive ones, but it is not just grabbing everything you can fit and getting out (you can exit a run at any time with no penalty by using your amulet). For newcomers, relics you have picked up previously will show the price they were sold for so subsequent runs become quicker because you can quickly sort through more valuable relics. Relics have three properties to look for in Moonlighter 2: rarity (common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary), quality (indicated by stars - a relic will not appear as common and epic; the stars are what determine their value, so do not think you should just toss out all your lesser ones), and active properties. Inventory management is a new feature here. Depending on the zone you are in, relics contain active properties. For example, in Kalina, some relics will burn other relics depending on the location in your bag. Burning the relic removes that relic from your bag, but it can boost the quality level of the relic that did the burning. Other relics can benefit from this as well. It may seem confusing, but there are clear indicators on each relic card. Pointed arrows are self-explanatory, while “Corner” indicates the placement, as does “Top-Bottom.” If arrows face nothing (pointed outside of the grid area) and directional relics are not in the spot to trigger, nothing happens. Will can access upgrades in town that will upgrade his chances of finding better relics or just having relics spawn as better quality. Note: if you do die during a run, relics are not lost, but they lose half their quality. Be at the ready with your amulet if you think you may not survive. Upgrade materials found by defeating enemies and that are needed for all your upgrades and recipes located are not lost upon defeat.

So, what do you do with these relics? Welcome to Shopkeeper 101. At the bare minimum, you can put up your relics for sale, do a little haggling, and go about your day. There is an entire system of the game dedicated to this so you might as well make full use. Plus, even if the dungeon crawling is your preference, the better your shop does, the more upgrades for dungeon crawling can be afforded. The first sale of each relic is a bit of a guessing game. Relic sales fall into four (4) tiers: cheap, perfect, slightly overpriced, and expensive. Cheap sales can garner extra tips, perfect sales are just right, slightly overpriced will be purchased, but the customer is not thrilled, and expensive is just that and will not sell (there are instances, but it is not common). As a sale occurs, your codex is updated, making repeat sales easier to figure out. It does not end there.

If you check the in-game calendar, certain days are designated for certain items. One day may feature common items as the most popular, while another day may highlight relics from a certain region. K33per, located in your shop, can actually bank items that you want to hold on to and not sell right away. K33per also provides several upgrades, including the perk system. Perks are a selection of power-ups that can be picked after you sell a certain amount of relics (this is temporary and only exists for the current “run” of selling). Perks include an increase in tips generated per sale or a blanket bonus gold amount per sale. Will can also upgrade the shop with different furniture items that will boost sales of certain relics (one case increases legendary sales by 50% and another increases the sales of deluxe items by 30%). Progress through the main game provides an opportunity to expand the shop’s size, allowing for more sales at once (you start with only 4 pedestals). There is also furniture strictly for decorations, so you can make the shop feel unique.

Money earned is money spent. As the town upgrades, the different vendors provide Will with ways to better prepare himself for dungeon crawling. The blacksmith can craft weapons and armor as well as upgrade the existing pieces. You can improve the quality of loot found during a run, purchase passive abilities like health restoration and increased ammo for your gun, or upgrade how you heal during the run. NPCs will also offer quests per zone that result in new recipes being unlocked. In the early goings, it may seem a bit grindy, but each successful run will see more successful sales and increased profit.

ACCESSIBILITY

System preferences include 10 different languages, vibration toggle (for controller), difficulty (this can be changed at any time and just provides a challenge), and screen shake intensity. Sound sliders exist for Master Volume, Music Volume, and Sounds Volume (sound effects).

Graphics contain your standard resolution, display mode, and V-sync toggles. Quality options further breakdown into Texture Detail, Shadow Distance, Shadow Detail, and Shader Quality.

Both keyboard and mouse, and controller can be fully remapped.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Moonlighter was a surprise hit for many, including myself, in 2018. In every way imaginable, the sequel is an improvement by leaps and bounds. I know Early Access can seem like a dirty word, but you are looking at around 15-20 hours to roll “credits.” I hit almost 25 hours, and my game completion was only around 36%. To understand how insane that is, I completed both zones for each of the three areas, found all but 1 recipe, crafted all the weapons, and unlocked all bag slots. The final game is going to have nearly triple that to complete. To say I am excited would be an understatement. Early Access does come with its issues, and the developers have been fully transparent that the game needs some work. Interestingly enough, I ran into several bugs AFTER the “credits” rolled (I say credits because when you advance far enough into the main quest, you reach a “Thank you for playing” screen). If you are a fan of the first game, I would definitely recommend picking this up now and coming along for the ride. If you are new to the series, you have time to experience the first game before grabbing this. Moonlighter still holds up to this day, but Moonlighter 2 may spoil you.