If you love games like Elden Ring, Hollow Knight, and Dead Cells, then the gothic Moonscars will be right up your street. This gritty Metroidvania is coming to consoles and PC September 27. With a painterly art style and frenetic action, this looks like a game you shouldn't miss, especially as it's also coming to Game Pass.
The Steam page for Moonscars advertises it as "an unforgiving nonlinear 2D world" where you'll "push the limits of your combat skills." It seems the game will have you dying a lot, as the description also reads, "every death is a lesson learnt—and as you overcome each challenge, new truths will be revealed."
It seems like the truths that will be revealed are pretty horrifying, too. The trailer, spotted by Gematsu, is narrated by a strange, malevolent voice, simultaneously distant and close. It speaks directly to the protagonist, referring to him as "my child," and telling him he is born of "clay, bone," and some other word we can't quite figure out. Icorn? Igore? It sounds mysterious.
The voice also reveals that "the Moon's hunger mocks you," so the title isn't just there to sound imposing, the moon will likely play an important role in the game. After some gorgeous shots of the game's ever-so-slightly pixelated locales and characters, the trailer launches into an assault of gameplay.
We see the protagonist spin and throw swords, do devastating area-of-effect attacks, and we think shoot drops of their own blood. It looks metal as. We then get shots of heavy-impact combos that shake the screen, making the game look weighty and satisfying.
Moonscars is published by Humble Games and developed by Black Mermaid - a studio with no other games on Steam, so it seems like its coming out of the gate hot with this one.
Moonscars will be available on Xbox One, Series, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch. It'll also be coming to Game Pass if you want to try it out without paying any extra for it.