Part 5 (Jul 2026) · #4 of 9 in that tierWatch the moment (2:01:42)
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault
- Developed by
- Digital Sun
- Published by
- 11 bit studios
$29.99
Experience an action-RPG with roguelike elements where you live the double life of an adventurer and a merchant. Dive into vibrant dimensions to fight enemies, gather loot, and manage your backpack. Rebuild your shop and turn profits into gear for the next adventure!
Consensus
B73.3/100
Steam players81.4% positiveVery Positive4,093 reviews
Metacritic ↗80/100Users: 7.7/10
VG Insights estimate ↗≈172K copies · ≈$3.5M gross
What creators say
What players say
A 3D action-roguelite from Digital Sun (published by 11 bit studios) where you fight through procedurally generated island runs by night and price and sell the loot in your shop by day, with a Tetris-style backpack puzzle linking the two.
Generally favorable but more polarized among fans than among critics. Steam sits at about 81% positive overall (Very Positive; roughly 4,100 reviews), while a separate live Steam page fetch showed recent reviews dipping to about 70% positive. Metacritic PC is 80 from 8 critics, and Wikipedia cites OpenCritic at 83% of critics recommending from 46 reviews. Critics praise the deeper, interlocking run-and-shop loop and the 3D presentation. The loudest complaints come from Moonlighter 1 fans who see it as a Hades-style reinvention rather than a true sequel, plus grind, bugs and Steam Deck performance. It launched in Early Access on 19 Nov 2025 and reached 1.0 on 2 Sep 2026 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 2.
Players love
- Addictive 'one more run' loop: expeditions, shop pricing and progression all feed each other (The Big Lead called the two loops much deeper than in the first game).
- Backpack inventory puzzle is praised as improved. Players enjoy stockpiling item categories and building chain-reaction synergies that multiply item value.
- Combat is cleaner and more responsive than ML1, with four weapon classes and unlockable weapons that change playstyle noticeably.
- Cute, cohesive 3D art and cozy-yet-adventurous atmosphere; several reviewers defend the move away from pixel art.
- Risk/reward push-your-luck decisions inside runs (take one more level or risk losing part of the haul's value) plus plenty of meta progression.
- Relic/perk system with many relics and build variety, and traps/turrets that reward creative play.
- Developer responsiveness on performance: stuttering was reportedly fixed in Nov 2025 patches and some Steam Deck reviewers flipped to recommended.
Common complaints
- Not a true continuation of ML1 for many fans: dungeon crawling replaced by a node-based island map, reducing exploration and the layered crafting/loot gameplay.
- Loot comes mostly from chests rather than monster drops, and items do not stack, which makes gathering feel like a chore.
- Perk/boon interactions are shallow compared to Hades, so builds feel less varied and runs become samey.
- Boss and miniboss design criticized: long invulnerable phases on bosses, overly predictable miniboss patterns, and damage sponginess on high difficulty.
- Combat clarity issues: camera loses enemies behind objects, ranged enemies fire from offscreen without tells, charged shots cannot be interrupted, and input priority feels inconsistent.
- Stability and polish: crashes when continuing a run, soft-locks, infinite-fall animations, NPC dialogue getting stuck, audio distortion in tech areas.
- Weapon balance: many weapons (for example fists and gun variants) seen as weak, and upgraded weapons can carry negative traits, so players keep the starter gear.
- Some see the shop layer as simplified versus ML1 (armor, elemental weapon effects and crafting reduced) and the story as average.
Can feel tedious
- Late-game grind: upgrade and shop costs scale steeply, with one 150-hour reviewer describing repeated boss farming for upgrade resources.
- Non-stacking, chest-sourced loot makes collection feel like busywork.
- Dungeons and runs start feeling samey and repetitive over a long playtime.
- Too many competing money sinks (weapons, health, shop, town, relics) make progress feel slow.
- Bosses with long invulnerability windows make fights a waiting game.
- Quitting mid-run skips forward in the day cycle, punishing short play sessions.
What's unique
- Fuses a shopkeeper sim (price-setting, customer reactions) directly with an action-roguelite, in the tradition of Recettear but in 3D.
- Backpack-management puzzle whose item placement produces synergies and affects profit, blending Backpack Battles-style inventory play with roguelite relics.
- Push-your-luck extraction mechanic where the value of hauled loot is at stake when deciding whether to continue a run.
- Move from 2D pixel art to a stylized 3D look with Hades/Wind Waker-like influences, per Wikipedia's development section.
Players want
- Stagger or interrupt options for charging ranged enemies, telegraphs for projectiles, and better camera behavior.
- Rebalance weapons and the late-game economy so upgrade costs do not balloon and spending choices feel meaningful.
- More depth in perk synergies and more run variety, such as Hades-style optional difficulty modifiers.
- Shop customization: layout freedom and customer-flow mechanics, since the shop reads as static to some.
- Steam Deck/handheld optimization and shorter load times.
- Save system that lets players resume mid-day instead of having quitting skip ahead in the day/night cycle.
Summarised from Steam reviews and community discussion.
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Tier list Part 5 (2026)
Moonlighter 2 is the early-access sequel to Moonlighter, pairing a Hades-style room-by-room action run with a shopkeeping and inventory-fusion loop. He has played a lot of it and is really enjoying it, calling the amount of content and the out-and-back loop standout. Combat feels decent but clunky, and the boon system and run pacing need polish. He places it in a solid A tier for now and expects it to rise as the game is fleshed out.
Liked
Disliked