I’m two for two on writing about games set on the moon today, but sometimes that’s just how it is! This time around it’s about a newly revealed game called Descent of Lunaris, a dungeon-crawling, turn-based RPG whose devs say it’s inspired by classics like Wizardry and Shin Megami Tensei. And, truth be told, it truly looks like a game for sickos, who I’d like to clarify here I am referring to with every sincere ounce of love in my heart.
Descent of Lunaris brings us to the faraway year of 2070. As all good stories start, a mysterious signal that’s coming from within the moon is picked up by a mining operation. Said signal messes with all of the automatons and electrics, resulting in most of the people in the mining base kicking the proverbial bucket. This of course brings about the rival of “highly specialized operatives from all over the world,” all trying to figure out what happened. That’s where you come in!
It’s up to you to decide who you put on your mystery-solving team. Different operatives have different abilities, there’s subclasses to unlock, gear to fiddle around with. Different characters can be made into allies or turned into foes as you progress through the game’s different dungeons too.
While it looks like you have a smidge of freedom to walk around, it is a dungeon crawler in the truest sense – all grids, all the time, you just also have the option to look around a bit more. Gameplay looks quite involved too, lots of skill points to divvy out amongst skills, you clearly have to be quite tactical.
I’ve honestly not experienced any dungeon crawlers before, just a blind spot for me, but, blimey, this one’s a looker. A real good mix of 2D character art, trippy looking enemy and environment designs, the kind of sci-fi that you might feel a little bit existential about. Can definitely see where it’s pulled from SMT’s school of weirdo vibes.
Right now there’s no release date, but it is expected to release sometime in 2026. You can wishlist it on Steam here.
