Moon Hunters was released on Xbox One today, becoming the first “co-op personality test” on the console. It’s actually a video-game, not a test, and it doesn’t seem to tell you anything about your own personality. In spite of itself though, Moon Hunters is a beautiful game that weaves a compelling story.
The game is a short adventure that has players hack and slash through a tale broken into five parts. Each ‘telling’ of the story, or play-through, adds to the game lore. Players work together to flesh out the mystery behind an ancient occult struggle featuring the Moon Goddess and the Sun Cult.
The game features a modest combat system, each character has three abilities that can be upgraded a few times. There are no experience points, nor do characters level up — but they do persist for use in other modes, if they live through the end of the game.
Moon Hunters doesn’t bring any new game-play mechanics to the table, yet the controls manage to do enough heavy-lifting to let players enjoy exploring together in-between story segments. That’s where the game shines: it tells a great story.
The art is wonderful too, the game has a retro hand-painted style that lends itself well to the story-telling atmosphere. The music is also incredibly complimentary, and you may find yourself leaving the ‘press start’ screen up for a few minutes just to listen. The voice-over work, though limited, is superb as well – you’ll want to watch the opening scene again with every play-through.
Moon Hunters is best played with at least one other person sitting next to you; it’s a different experience when you’re working with friends to get through each play-through and unlock the next piece of the tale.
If you’re into couch co-op gaming Moon Hunters should be next on your list. It’s available on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One right now.
