Without revealing more, Moonscars tells us a story where tormented characters, treachery, and epidemic are at the heart of the plot. In front of a rather interesting approach on what makes its main theme, namely immortality, we get a captivating story that manages to keep us in suspense until the end… if indeed we manage to follow it. Indeed, despite a writing that cannot be depreciated, the narration seems very disjointed and seems to want to lose us at each screenplay intersection. The characters often seem to generate random information, while many events can follow one another without really understanding the relevance – admittedly, sometimes quite intentionally.
This inevitably results a slight textual anarchy in our poor minds, already battered by the slightest bug crossing our path. Far from requiring a titanic effort of understanding to assimilate the ins and outs of history, Moonscars asks us to hold on a little bit. Fortunately, its sublime pixel art and its well-crafted gameplay make the task much less frustrating.
If it wasn’t clear until then, Moonscars is a game that appreciates sobriety. Besides the tone of the story, it is above all its gothic pixel painting which gives it this gracefully obscure identity. Spread the word, it would be criminal not to highlight the beauty of this pixel art; despite the overabundance of muted colors, the title delivers a sumptuous set of dull shades from which the few bright colors (blood, spells, decorative elements, etc.) come out brilliantly, accentuating their impact on our retinas . In short, it’s beautiful and we want more.
This singular style is found right down to the cutscenes which, although we stick to static successive shots, reinforce the artistic identity of the game.
But the generosity of Moonscars towards our retina does not stop there: Black Mermaid made a excellent work on the animations. With an incredible fluidity, it never falls into one-upmanship and affixes to the various attacks and movements this fierce stamp that lets us appreciate each of our actions. Whether it’s Irma’s frenzied sprints, her devastating sword strikes or her ichor spells, they give rise to superb visuals that make us feel every impact.