Moon: Remix RPG Adventure - It's bringing Love, don't let it get away!

[John]

So, moon: Remix RPG Adventure (now just moon) was just ported to Switch, and in English for the first time. I had only watched the trailer, and heard vague talk about this being an "Anti-RPG", so I bought it this morning. It's... interesting. The art style's pretty in a kinda gross way, like if Super Mario RPG mixed with Legend of Mana. It intentionally gets better after the intro, both to play and to look at. I'm only an hour into it, and like where it's going. This game's got a charming localization where it feels like each dialog is intentionally missing information.

I think it works better if you go into it cold, so mechanics spoilers:

It took me a few deaths to learn that the game has a timer, and you reset by sleeping. Wish it would tell you when it was saving, though.
I found that by eating food, you add a heart to the action meter, but that doesn't seem to push back the timer? Warrants more investigation.
I've only gotten a couple Love, and want more.

Everyone with a Switch should check out this game. It's a weird, proto-arty game, feels like it would've inspired a ton more indie games a lot earlier if it had been localized in its day. It was hard to find in the eShop, even after directly searching for "moon" I had to scroll down a page.

 

[MetManMas]

I've been playing this a bit; already died from exhaustion a couple of times.

I'm enjoying this a bunch.

 

[John]

I think I figured that out.
In the top circle, the red line is the current energy/life meter, and when it gets to the red triangle, it's game over. I haven't seen the line go back up when you eat food, but maybe it just stops progressing for a bit?

I'm pretty sure the sun icon corresponds to whatever day it is.

 

[MetManMas]

Actually I think I got it.

Spoiler

Your Action limit is your life bar. It gradually dwindles down as you explore the game world; at one heart was when my li'l guy was slumping. It's kinda like Chibi-Robo! in that respect, which is pretty fitting 'cuz some of Love de Lic would later found Skip ltd.

Of course, Chibi-Robo! didn't have to reload on death.

Also like Chibi-Robo!...

I recognized Tao pretty much immediately when I saw him in the game proper.

 

[MetManMas]

Okay, so here's a thing that happened while I was playing.

Spoiler: Spoilers for potential sidequest

If you visit Yoshida at night, he will offer to take you on a trip.

Presumably the only way you'll get to go on this trip is if you wait in front of Yoshida's cage, burning through your Action limit bar all the while. It's quite a walk from Grammy's house.

Two days, huh? Well, I can sleep in the cage, right?

Well, the Action limit bar won't decrease during the trip, right?

Game Over.

I'm not even mad, I find it highly amusing that there's a secret area you could technically try to go to at any time but you have to be able to actually survive the trip to ever see it.

I'll try again when I have a bigger LOVE level.

 

[Sprite]

Um...
How do I save?

 

[MetManMas]

Sleep in a bed.

 

[TheSL]

Started up Moon, so far it seems really cute. But then I bought a loaf of bread and keeled over dead and I have no clue why.

 

[Sprite]

Check your status screen, the hearts there are the stamina you have left before you die. You get more hearts by collecting Love.

 

[John]

I'm still running into Survival Game issues, where I stay out too long and can't make it back to Gramby's house, even after I've saved up a ton of Cookies to stay up late. I just talked to the King at night, got the Letter to the Doctor, and am at Level 4 Love so I've got some direction on where to go. I'm not to the point of "show every item to every NPC" yet, but I can see it happening. I find it's a good time to stop a play session when I spend 10-15 minutes doing stuff, only to collapse two steps outside of Gramby's.

 

[Sprite]

I’m at Love Level 10 and have barely talked to folks. Saving souls seems to be worth a lot more Love than solving problems.

 

[MetManMas]

I'm currently at Love level 18. I'm strong enough that I can go for a few days without sleep if I need to.

Anyway...

Spoiler: moon spoiler talk

It's really neat how the game proper keeps having call-backs to the initial RPG segment. Each of the ludicrously off-model character portraits for the generic villagers looks vaguely like how they look when you explore the world, there's reasons for why the rock moves and the rainbow happens, and you can even save Peregon's life by remembering how that went down in the game.

Also...

Spoiler: Bigger spoiler probably

I am seriously dreading the moment the "Hero" fights the Penultimizer because I recognize many of these animal friends.

 

[keurig]

Make sure to read the manual!

Link here:

''moon'' Official website

The legendary anti-RPG ''moon'' is now available as a port under the complete supervision of the staff of the original version. RPGs without battles, NPCs with their own time-based behaviour patterns, and an MD system that lets you play your favorite music. And at the end of your adventure...

moon-rpg.com

I feel like it does a great job in introducing you to concepts.

Alternatively, talk to the bird in the town square with questions, feel free to present them with items early in for some hints and explanations.

 

[John]

I was enjoying just sussing out the concepts as I went along. Still, that manual's pretty great. Page 14's an actual Magic Eye stereogram, though I can't tell if there's an actual image hidden, or just a design.

The translation was done by Tim Rogers, and is great. The King is a big fan of Bad Guys.

 

[Sprite]

I’m a little grumpy that they didn’t add any accessibility features for the parts that require listening to audio.

 

[MetManMas]

That's certainly disappointing but I can't say I'm surprised the only accessibility feature seems to be "Has an English localization."

Overall this looks to be a pretty direct Switch port of a PSone game. Less like a remaster, more like something being played on an emulator.

 

[Ludendorkk]

On twitter Onion Games recommend you read the manual, which you can find here.

 

[MetManMas]

Putting these behind a spoilerpop so anyone who just wants to wing it can ignore these, but...

Spoiler: A few helpful pointers (mild spoilers)

Sleeping in the bed at Gramby's house will always wake you up first thing the next morning; sleeping in the bed at your own house will always have you sleep half the day away. If you want to quickly get to a certain day or head to a place at a certain time this is good to know.

If you're in desperate need of cash, you can sell the cookies Gramby gives you to Curio for 37 Yenom. He will also pay you for any garbage you fish up; one boot or can is worth 75 Yenom (i.e. 7.5 pieces of bait).

 

[Shadax]

Thank you for everyone that clarified the sleep and save mechanics in this thread. I've had to do the monster-revival tutorial twice this morning and was ready to put this one on the backburner for a while.

 

[SilentSnake]

It’s amazing how much this game is basically the progenitor to Chulip of all things.

 

[MetManMas]

It’s amazing how much this game is basically the progenitor to Chulip of all things.

There's also a lot of common ground with Chibi-Robo!, too. It's a more collectathon-ish game than Moon was, but in both games you help a bunch of lovable weirdos with unique vocalizations with stuff to earn love/Happy Points to increase your Not Dying capabilities.

The defunct Love-De-Lic's former team members must've really loved Moon to make spiritual successors at two different post-LDL companies.

 

[Shadax]

I am loving it so far but it is taking essentially a rewiring of my entire brain to remember to pause the game when I have to get up and do something. I’ve died three times today answering a text, letting the dog out, and letting Netflix know yes my son IS still watching Super Wings and will continue to do so until the service shuts down.

 

[SilentSnake]

This game is awesome, but I'm worried I'm going to reach a point where I'm going to be stuck on the last few love bits that I have no idea how to do. There really is a lot of obtuse adventure game logic happening here. I can understand why this never made it over here initially.

 

[MetManMas]

I try not to use it too much, but I am using a walkthrough for some of the more obtuse stuff.

 

[Ludendorkk]

This is just a stealth Chibi-Robo prequel huh

 

[keurig]

if I'm loving this game, I really should check out Chibi-Robo. Always thought it looked cool in games magazines as a kid, but had no idea it was conceptually similar to Moon. wow.

Chulip also sounds great, and has been re-released on PSN as a PS2 classic for PS3.

 

[Ludendorkk]

Chibi-Robo the first has exactly the same game loop: you have a limited amount of stamina that you extend to be able to access more of the game world, the world is on a daily timer, you solve tasks to earn empathy points, etc. Plays pretty different due to being a 3D platformer but the throughline between the two games is incredibly strong.

 

[keurig]

Chibi-Robo the first has exactly the same game loop: you have a limited amount of stamina that you extend to be able to access more of the game world, the world is on a daily timer, you solve tasks to earn empathy points, etc. Plays pretty different due to being a 3D platformer but the throughline between the two games is incredibly strong.

Wow, I'm definitely gonna find a way to play Chibi-Robo after I've wrapped up Moon then! Sounds 100% up my alley.

 

[John]

I'm at Love Level 10 or 11, after the game opened up a bit. I like that when you sleep at your house, it only lasts for about half a day, and takes into account when you fall asleep, not just always waking you up when the sun comes up. Once I get a bit more Levels I'll abuse that to try to go on the bird's travel reservation.

I still really like it, and I like that I can't power through it in one session. Small bits are the best.

 

[SilentSnake]

I'm tapping out at like Love Level 24. I don't know how to progress, and I get the feeling that I'll just need to walkthrough the rest at this point. It's a fun, wonderful game, but still too obtuse for its own good.