Call me a cynic, but I’ve had the opinion for quite some time that, if you’ve played one Stardew Valley clone, you’ve played them all. An opinion that has only been cemented by a cavalcade of underwhelming games jumping on the Eric Barone bandwagon.
The best you could hope for would be a game that scratches that itch without ever doing anything outlandish to tweak the formula. Something that, to my shame, I had all but assumed Moonlight Peaks was going to do. But, much to my surprise, this spooky little outing doesn’t just phone it in with a Halloween filter.
Moonlight Peaks is a game that leans into it’s goth girlie aesthetic and theme fully, to deliver an experience that is equal parts cozy, addictive, and player-led. There’s a lot to sink your fangs into, so let’s get down to it.
Supernatural Family Feuds
To usher you into the spooky, scary world of Moonlight Peaks, things begin in a familiar way. You leave an untenable living situation to a sleepy town where you happen to be the rightful owner of a huge plot of land. Land that you’ll need to clear up and turn into a profitable farmstead.
Nothing new there, but your destination, Moonlight Peaks, is far from your typical sleepy town. You’ll be sharing the space with fellow vampires, werewolves, witches and more. All of which aren’t too keen on your family lineage, as your father, Dracula, hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the people.
But, nonetheless, you’ll be able to become a pillar of this frightening community in no time. A community that is constantly at odds due to the various supernatural factions squabbling.
This is the crux of the narrative that you’ll enjoy throughout your time in Moonlight Peaks. A narrative that remains rather engaging throughout, mainly down to the strength of the characters on show. Rarely does a game of this nature serve up characters I want to get to know further, as they tend to all be walking, talking, very laboured stereotypes.
But credit where it’s due, Moonlight Peaks has a cast of oddballs that I really grew to love. Even the likes of Logan and Orlock, who are hard work to say the least.
The writing is enjoyably cheesy and fun, the spooky themes are implemented wonderfully without feeling like tired gimmicks, and the slow burn progression makes each day feel like a chance for a new discovery. Setting a strong foundation for the gameplay to steal the show.
If It Ain’t Broke
There’s a certain duality to the gameplay in Moonlight Peaks. One on hand, you have all the unique aspects that lean into magic, monsters and mischief. But, on the other, you have a familiar base that makes this vampiric affair feel accessible for veteran farming sim fans.
To give all you vampires interested in moving to Moonlight Peaks a point of reference, the core gameplay feels like a middle ground between Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley.
The farm automation, money-making and crafting aspects of the game are very Stardew Valley-coded. Whereas fishing, exploration, and the lack of any real fail states or stakes feels much more in line with Nintendo’s flagship cozy Sim.
I’ll concede, I appreciate a farming sim that allows you to fail and slip-up, as it makes for a more engaging day-to-day, and more rewarding outcomes. But, the trade-off here is a more ‘turn your brain off’ sort of feel where potential mistakes are very limited. It’ll please a few, and rumble some others, but it picks a lane and very much keeps to it.
Enchanting New Ideas
The Stardew Valley blueprint is very much at play here. But, you have to commend Moonlight Peaks for how it steps out of the shadow of its contemporaries to offer something a little more, dare I say, magical?
This game is at its best when it leans into it’s arcane themes, allowing players to grow magical crops, cast spells to automate jobs on the farm, or partake in mini-games that break up your usual day-to-day.
These get peppered into the action at a steady pace, allowing you to fully master one before another gets layered on, meaning you never feel overwhelmed by a stacked to-do list. But, even if you do, almost everything in the game is optional, allowing you to lean into the aspects that interest you most.
You might really take to flower arranging. You might only engage with farming to fund your addition to clothing and furniture. Or, you might get lost in the minutia of collecting critters or playing the game’s dedicated card game, Nokturna.
What I’m trying to hammer home here is that there is always oodles of things to do, and players can engage with all of it as much or as little as they please.
A Few Nails In The Coffin
So the game feels unique in a saturated field, as cozy as the trailers promised, and has lots of content to get through. What’s the downside, I hear you ask.
Well, simply put, there’s a distinct lack of depth in places that stops it from being a genre-defining title.
On a mechanical level, there are aspects of the game that serve to frustrate that could be easily remedied. Such as watering crops not being on a grid-based system, meaning you can’t truly tell if you’ve fully nourished a crop, leading to crops perhaps not reaching maturity when you need them to.
You have the issue of shops such as the carpenter that is so essential to progression constantly closed, and a lack of shop opening days listed, leading to guess work and days that feel like waiting for the next, and an opportunity to make progress. Robin would have never let that happen.
Plus, you have far too many quests that boil down to running off and speaking to certain people in town as a means to an end. But these are all micro-transgressions if I’m being fair. The main issue in terms of depth is the lack of true difficulty.
Within the space of one season in-game, I already had enough money to buy some premium mid-to-late game items. I had most of my tools upgraded at least once. I had unlocked secret areas, built various buildings, had heart statuses with various townsfolk, and built every machine I had available to craft in multiples. Something that, even with hundreds of hours played in Stardew Valley, is never guaranteed.
The game is all to willing to give you an easy ride. Money is easy to come by, there is no combat to speak of, there’s very little penalties to ending a day away from home, and you can even make days longer to avoid this entirely. Meaning that, unless you are someone that really enjoys the customizing and aesthetic aspects of Moonlight Peaks, which admittedly are extensive, you will likely blitz through the farming sim aspects in the blink of an eye.
It essentially places itself, whether by choice or not, in the ‘my first farming sim’ category, rather than offering an experience that will resonate with tenured lovers of the genre that seek challenge and excitement. Something that irked me somewhat, but may be exactly what someone else is looking for. Different strokes for different folks, and all that.
Moonlight Peaks is one of the few Stardew Valley-likes which truly feels like its own thing, daring to lean into new ideas, Themes and mechanics. While it doesn't re-invent the wheel entirely, the ability to shape shift, brew potions, cast spells and generally lean into the life of a supernatural monster is very welcome. This is a game well worth checking out for all cozy game obsessives.
Pros
- Eye-catching Goth Girlie aesthetic
- Interesting magic-based mechanics
- A great cast of characters
Cons
- Some underbaked mechanics
- Lacking in difficulty or stakes
