People are Mad This Game Is Free - Moonring Review
You can pick Moonring up here: store.steampowered.com/app/23...
Pick up some merch to support him here: robaroba.gg/collections/moonring
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0:00 Unpacking Childhood
0:08 Game Prices
0:32 Moonring: The Review Beginith
1:28 Menus for Nam
1:40 Playing the game
2:00 Skill Pancake
2:50 Zesty Flavour of Discovery
3:10 Dungeon Diving
4:15 Let Me Show you the World
4:54 Mucking around in the Outro
5:09 Snort captured live on mic
------ Script ------
Moonring is like my dad, mysterious, unexpectedly brutal and refuses to hold my hand.
There's been much ado recently about the price bump games are going through at the moment. I sold a homeless guys kidney to get Tekken 7, It was a sacrifice I was happy to make. But you know even the best triple AAA will be a dollar on Steam Eventually, or Epic will beg you to use their store by giving it to you for free. At the end of the day the price of video games is like grindr, a race to the bottom.
But why wait, Some of the best games ever made have been free, spelunky, cave story, dwarf fortress, conning old people with crypto. Now we might have a new game entering that canon, Moonring.
Developed by Dene carter, the co-creator of Fable, moonring is a deep turn-based rpg with a hand crafted open world and procedurally generated dungeons. It's influences stretch back to Ultima, a series that has so much of its dna in your favourite games that it's been court ordered to pay child support.
When asked why he made the game free Carter responded,
"Life is hard, Covid sucked, everyone’s poor and stressed, I don’t need the $300 this would make me: I’d rather take the goodwill."
The steam reviews are all positive and many demand the right buy the game. Personally I respect his choice and will be paying him in what every intern gets paid at a mid sized business, minimal exposure.
The main screen at first blush looks like a mess but it's really just to scare off the weak willed just like Elden ring's stat sheets. Reading these stats makes me feel like I'm auditing a wizard for tax evasion. There’s an entire desert between each of these stats.
The game efficiently onramps you and sets you on your way with a general quest that is quickly forgotten, as is customary. I’d show you but this game has no save scumming. You need to live with your decisions, which is my primary design gripe with real life.
Moonring eschews leveling and exp grinding in favour of milestone goals. You don't get experience from doing the same thing over and over again. You get experience from experiencing things. This makes the moments of choosing your build feel monumental and precious, rather than a small reward for putting in the hours.
Milestones are associated to the gods. Hitting one of their milestones immediately gives you stat buffs in their respective domain and points to spend in their specific skill pancake. Looks it's not a skill tree alright they're all right there.
Dialogue can be done by typing to NPCs, which gives even the mere act of interacting the hint of unknown possibilities. Don't go expecting robust dialogue though. If you go off the beaten track with the conversation they'll respond the same way my friends do when talking about games exactly like this one.
Dungeons are the primary roguelite aspect of the game, once you delve you are locked in the dungeon till you find the end goal key. Failing the dungeon by accidentally going to heaven sends you to the entrance to try again. Re-entering re-rolls the layout so you can't trial and error your way to a perfect run.
Combat starts simple but you eventually gather yourself a decent kit of utilities. Since this game is levelless a lot of survival comes down to being smart with your kit, knowing how each enemy acts, and always being willing to just run away.
The game rewards offensiveness with skill recharging. Attacking is done by bumping into people and taking evasive maneuvers when they break through your poise. poise is like temporary hit points which recharge after a couple turns of not getting smacked around. This makes the turn based combat an actual dance of giving ground and doing damage.
The writing has a good sense of humour which contrasts with how foreboding the world is. but the lore itself is as mechanically involved in your life as it is text on an item. It’s a world that you’ll want to learn every part of.
The questing relies on you being of sound body and mind to be able to complete, which makes it completely unplayable by the average American President. So sometimes you'll fall out of the groove of following the clues to the next place, but that's fine because at this point this is a world I live in, hunting wildlife and just exploring arcane ruins.
And having a world you can chill out in for free is the best kind.
Пікірлер: 512
I’m the developer. Thanks so much for such a nice, kind video. Really appreciate the cuntitude, too.
@Cryogenical
Ай бұрын
You should have a way for people to support you if they choose
@Alfenium
Ай бұрын
i love you!!!
@chattychatotchannel
Ай бұрын
Thank you for making the game free that is very kind of you. There are so many people struggling financially and having access to something to play is so nice. It has been hard for me to afford games on my disability pension. I am too unwell to work and study simultaneously. I am studying game design and they ask us to do case studies and it is hard when I cannot afford to play most games Would you consider a dlc so people who want to can support you? I wish you a lovely day and thank you for your generosity
@chattychatotchannel
Ай бұрын
I love the art style and colour palettes also they are very pretty
@KingNovek
Ай бұрын
Mate thank you for this beautiful gem that you provided to us older gamers for free. It really brings back happy memories❤
Should totally have a DLC which does nothing other than give your character a party hat, so people can pay if they want.
@grant9637
Ай бұрын
Hat based dlc is the best kind
@mastermage23
Ай бұрын
I swear, call it a P-Hat and the money will flow.
@RupertAndCheese
Ай бұрын
@@mastermage23 I don't get it but I want to get it.
@danielgrezda3339
Ай бұрын
No. Add horse armor.
@mastermage23
Ай бұрын
@@RupertAndCheese It's related to Old School Runescape, where "Party Hats" are an excessively expensive item, having been given out only on anniversary events long ago. The abbreviation for "Party Hat" was "P-Hat", something Jagex spoofed during an April Fools event when they promised "P-Hats" for everyone. Yes, "Pea-Hats", which were literally a single green pea with a string through it to "wear" on your head.
Subscribed when you said "reading these stats makes me feel like I'm auditing a wizard for tax evasion".
@alexmatos8899
Ай бұрын
Came here for this, soo funny
@CRAETION_
Ай бұрын
same here lol
@JJSquirtle
Ай бұрын
Reminded me of a webtoon called paranoid mage, where a guy basically refuses to pay the irs taxes and uses space magic to go on the run
@ignatirabo
Ай бұрын
I subbed exactly at the same time.
@justcaptain123
Ай бұрын
Same!
That mention of the God reminds me of POWDER, a Roguelike homebrew designed for Nintendo DS/GBA (other ports available) that I played a ton back in the day. In POWDER each God had a particular set of rules you had to follow if you wanted their favour, regarding such things as use of magic (including items), dress code, noise, healing, rushing into battle, etc. Disobedience would also come with particular flavours of punishment. You could only follow one God at a time and change religion at level ups, I think.
@bigrathole
Ай бұрын
Holy crud, that takes me back. Yeah there's a punishment system in moonring also. NDS homebrews
@M1ndstorms
Ай бұрын
The idea of being able to follow gods that impose restrictions and buffs in such a tangible way is such a cool conept to me. I wish there were more games and genres of games that have that as a mechanic
@NeostormXLMAX
Ай бұрын
Reminds me of caves of qud
@paolomandala02
Ай бұрын
@@M1ndstormsif you're interested in a TTRPG with that sort of mechanic, I'd highly recommend Runequest. Every character, both PC and NPC, is, in D&D terms, a cleric, and each of the different cults (in the Greco-Roman polytheism sense) has essentially unique magic and restrictions. King of Dragon Pass and Six Ages are both video games set in the same setting, if you'd rather get the vibes in video game form.
@juddakooda9520
Ай бұрын
Kinda sounds like covenants from darksouls
I didn’t see you mention the experimental build which has a bunch of new and exciting features like checkmarking completed dungeons, improved dungeon generation, a “hidden hud “ that you can toggle and allows for greater perception of the world, and many many many bug fixes and crash fixes.
@bigrathole
Ай бұрын
You're right I didn't. Hearting this to give it some exposure so people know to switch over.
@ridikelus4413
Ай бұрын
@@bigrathole or you may pin it just in case!!
Commenting for that sweet sweet youtube algorithmic interaction
@BishopCaid
Ай бұрын
Replying to a comment for that saucy algorithmic attention. Adding multiple punctuations to imply investment! Hurray for length.
@shablam0
Ай бұрын
For next time, I don't recommend saying that you're doing it for the algorithm. Ironically, the algorithm has learned to ignore comments that say they're for the algorithm (it sounds crazy, but it's a real thing). Instead, just say "I love all Big Rat Hole videos" or something like that... or you could comment about something relevant to the video but that might be asking too much XD.
@sebitomelu
5 күн бұрын
🥴👉👈
Moonring really feels like Ultima meets Breath of the Wild. Really cool how quickly the game takes off the leash and just lets you explore.
@bigrathole
Ай бұрын
That is one hot combo
@eluvianii
Ай бұрын
I don't think it even has a leash at any point. I accidentally skipped the tutorial
No points for guessing the joke that limited monetisation. RIP.
@myboatforacar
Ай бұрын
America, fuck yeah
@bigrathole
Ай бұрын
KZread: "actually it's "America, fudge yeah"."
@NeostormXLMAX
Ай бұрын
This game, reminds me alot of caves of qud
@NeostormXLMAX
Ай бұрын
@@bigratholethis is why a multipolar world is needed so a single country doesn’t get a monopoly on platforms etc, otherwise they have no need to do make things easy for its users
@bigrathole
Ай бұрын
Agreed. Live and drink, water-sib.
I absolutely love the voice in the background occasionally chiming in with a comment or some laughter.
Your person commenting and laughing in the background adds so much to your video
I am a devout follower of the God of Abraham and did indeed give up pre-marital sex. Can't say I have noticed any buffs in exchange just yet. Presumably come in the endgame.
@MaximeRoman
Ай бұрын
That was excellent, I enjoyed your comment a lot.
@redridingcape
Ай бұрын
I seem to be saving a lot of money despite tithing, I think I got far enough down the pancake to get a money buff.
@Mattchew2232
Ай бұрын
Fruit of the Spirit gives several buffs. Check your stats again.
@noelvalenzarro
Ай бұрын
Just watch you end up in New Game +
@DrZaius3141
24 күн бұрын
It's NG+ stuff. And while the devs claim that there is an NG+, there's no evidence or even hints at it.
I laughed so hard when you said "it makes me feel like I'm auditing a wizard for tax evasion" and immediately subbed.
As an irish person the "C" word doesnt horrify us. Its a term of endearment.
@Parasiteve
Ай бұрын
i feel like the only woman who likes that word lmao. its not like my fav word but i dont mind saying it or hearing it AT ALL.
@Mario1vsSonic1
Ай бұрын
The same applies to Australians
@JayEmCraft
Ай бұрын
From what I can tell It's really just the United States that hate that word, but I guess that is a large demographic.
@itsgonnabeanaurfromme
Ай бұрын
Well duh you're irish
@gabby222themoon
Ай бұрын
The girls and the gays over in Canada like that word too 😂
>clicks on random video in recommendations >Immediately hears the BA BGM Yep, this is a great watch already
Really enjoying the weird/niche/indie games you're spot lighting. keep up the gud werk
Hey, cool! That's my review on the thumbnail! :D ...oh god, I forgot what my Steam name was. D:
@bigrathole
Ай бұрын
Woah legit? Ha ha, Guaranteed everyone's going to crawl through the reviews to find out now. XD
1:33 ... Why do I want a game where I'm auditing a wizard for tax evasion now?
@jmw1500
Ай бұрын
filtered
@FelipeKana1
Ай бұрын
Why would I NOT want that?
@lh776
Ай бұрын
It sounds like a great game idea honestly
its great when she tried to match your energy at the end and you just hit her with a 'wut'
Adoring how much you're killing it Rat! Keep crushing it you GC 🍻
Still watching, but I appreciate you including the script in the description.
I just found your channel and its great! Keep it up man.
Came to learn about the game, subbed after hearing that sweet sweet kiwi accent. And a good video BTW..
That cute cut to “IRL” with the Grindr meme was so much more than I expected at 10k subs. You’re awesome Rat!
I randomly saw this game on steam and went into it confused. It was actually a blast to play
oh wow. Impressed by the quality of both the game and you! subed
this script is really clever and funny. thanks for the review, i can't wait to try the game
brother Moonring is the game that costs 30-50 dollars back in the PS2 days but it's free.
MOONRING MENTIONED YIPEEE I was really into Moonring last year until someone bought be BG3 and that hooked me in haha, but loved the time I had with it; will defo have to get back into it after I finally finish my BG run
Holy crap thank you for recommending this game, I love the concept and execution so much (though I am thankful for the epileptic mode even as someone without the condition lol)
Dude, your clever jokes single-handedly caused me to subscribe. Can’t wait to binge your stuff.
excellent vid. I liked. and subscribed. and this here is my comment. my quest is complete (until you release your next one, I guess)
I guess the term "roguelike" has become so watered down that people don't even recognize actual traditional roguelikes as roguelikes anymore.
@Dsadsasasad
Ай бұрын
EXACTLY!!! I had to pause the video the moment he said ultima, I was in awe that someone actually made a video on a traditional roguelike and didn't even realize it was
@bigrathole
Ай бұрын
I name dropped Ultima due to it being the primary cited influence by Dene Carter (alongside oldschool roguelikes). I keep a tight leash on my script wordcount so I wasn't gonna spend any time pondering ADOM, Nethack Etc.
@paultapping9510
Ай бұрын
I mean, if you want to be nitpicky, this isn't a roguelike at all. There is a save system and progression is strictly linear and narrative. The dungeons are rogue-like, but the game overall is far more similar to Ultima than it is Rogue.
@Dsadsasasad
Ай бұрын
@@paultapping9510 Having a save system doesn't mean something isn't roguelike (I don't understand what you are trying to say, having save files isn't roguelike or not having permadeath? Because this game has permadeath), nor is progression being linear and narrative. Tons of roguelikes do that, they have set stories and narratives that you follow throughout your gameplay and how you tackle it is all up to the player. Popular roguelikes like CoQ, ToME, and ADOM do this. Moonring takes a lot mechanically from roguelikes and it's a shame it isn't called a "rogue-like" in this video despite even considering itself a rogue-like and being labelled as a traditional rogue-like on steam.
@EhurtAfy
Ай бұрын
@@DsadsasasadA ton of roguelites are labelled incorrectly as roguelikes on Steam. Sometimes games are hard to define, but I follow a curator called "Not a roguelike" specifically for that purpose. I prefer roguelites myself because I'm casual with most games. When I die in roguelike, I feel like I've wasted time and that I'm a tremendous failure, but in a roguelite, even a bad run isn't wasted due to meta progression and persistence
I just found this channle and I am in love with the style.
This channel is such a gift
"a race to the bottom" *Instant subscribe*
Love the grinder joke
@sub7se7en
Ай бұрын
Why? How is it funny? I would like to enjoy the joke as well.
@Yesytsucks
Ай бұрын
@@sub7se7en cant be bothered to rewatch a video this early in the morning so I'll try to recall it: "The steam games nowadays are just like grinder: a race to a bottom" Grinder is a dating app for gays and bottoms are usually more "interesting" to people if i understand correctly. Im guessing jts the same situation like women vs men in other dating apps.
i love hearing that other person snicker at your bad jokes xD
how do you have less than 10k subs and you're making me laugh this much? amazing work let me be your friend brotha
Thank you, algorithm, for chucking this rat couple at my head. I rub the bump appreciatively. Or at least I hope you two are a couple, you're both cute together (but also regardless).
Brilliant Video. Love the humor. ❤
Loving your wife's laughs. Also the video was good
omg you guys are such cute little rats! also this game game looks neat, ty for making!
The humour in this one is 10/10
race to the bottom… i AM the bottome
Thanks for the video! Hope there is a donate option some where on dev site or something
Those lil jokes you keep sprinklin throughout the video make me chuckle. Gonna check out Moonring. You can never have too much brain rot.
The Algorithm randomly blessed me with this video and I'm so happy! Immediately downloaded it and I'm having a blast. Your style of video is so charming and cute and this game is super sick so far!! Thank you so much for covering it!
@bigrathole
16 күн бұрын
That's fantastic, best case scenario I can hope for from one of these vids ❤️
thanks mate, appreciate the freeness of this video as well as this game
I'm so happy this came up on my feed, I downloaded the game and lost 3 hours in a second. 10/10 free game. One of the funniest games I've played in a long while.
this is good riffing. subbed!
"auditing a wizard for tax evasion" is the most funny thing that has caught me offguard in a long time. i had to pause the video and forgot what i was watching cause how funny that is.
was watching this and on the recommended based on games you play, it popped up lol
"Auditing a wizard for tax evasion" is such an accurate statement
0:08 seconds in, you've got a subscription.
"My primary design gripe with real life" AMEN BRO! (subbed for that quip alone)
I'm note sure which I'm more happy to find, an in depth RPG, or a charming and witty mouse. Either way, I'm downloading this game and giving you a subscription.
Loving the content keep it up
The way you talk about this game makes me think of CDDA (Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead). You should look into that game at some point. It's also free and has insane depth and lets you do pretty much whatever you want. Wanna build a solar powered car? Sure. Wanna eat a wasp nest? Why not.
More youtubers should have a person live-reacting to the video like this
Watched this vid to learn about a cool free game, subbed because you're funny af
this is my first time seeing this channel and i've decided that i am deeply in love with you
@bigrathole
Ай бұрын
Imma need you to remove the /j so we can get this parasocial relationship cranked up to 11.
@Aburner1109
Ай бұрын
@@bigrathole *salute* Ok bb i'll do whatever you say!
@bigrathole
Ай бұрын
@@Aburner1109 Perfect. XD
I like your style, keep up the good work.
blue archive cafe BGM? SIgn me tf up... ehem I mean solid video
0:16 EXCUSE ME LMFAO
5:05 So that's why the dev wanted to become an astronaut.
Great video, thanks for exposing me to this great looking game.
"Auditing a Wizard for tax evasion is the best thing I heard all day"
The Grinder joke forced me to subscribe, at gunpoint! 😂
I subscribed purely for the second rat in the background hahaha (no but seriously, great chemistry don't ever giver her a proper mic please)
I love you so much. Time to eat sixteen cheese roll ups and start playing this game
I probably never saw this channel or the game bevor but I'll definitely try the game out looks interesting.
The grindr joke was an instant subscription
The Grindr joke made me subscribe
Just gave you a sub. Clear that this channel is going to take off. Maybe wifey/gf needs a mic too? :p
Can anyone help me? I don't know how to put the advanced cannon on my ship. It says its part of a quest but i don't know what quest it is. Any help would be really nice
Absolute shades of Ultima IV (and V and VII), damn. Phases of the moon? Moongates? Will have to try this out
Any day Big Rat Hole uploads is a good day
the grindr joke spoke to me
Instant sub, Moonring looks amazing and your duo dynamic is so cute and lovely
Maaaan, I wish I could pay for this, Thanks! I was in the middle of bashing my head against the wall with a GB Studio and Godot Prototype, and this is basically exactly what I wanted to test!
Love this
Skill chode is a great description
Good video mate
I respect your having your girlfriend nearby to laugh at your jokes -- total Chad move.
Gotta love a grindr joke in the first few seconds of the video :D
i heard "c@~t" and smashed subscribe, am Welsh so its one of my primary words in my vocabulary
Love the little mouse avatars
Loved this video
I never heard of this thing but i need it in my life terribly
Subbed, and just Downloaded Moonring.
Looks amazing
Good review
Subscribed immediately for that joke because it made me genuinely laugh.
This looks insane. Will try it out!!!
Nice review, do you think you'll do a review of skald ? thanks again
@bigrathole
Ай бұрын
thankyou!
Looks like caves of qud, and I love how caves of qud looks. Ill have to check it out!
"it makes me feel like I'm auditing a wizard for tax evasion" is such a rare insult
Beat this game a few months months ago. Absolutely fantastic tribute to Ultima. I wish there was a little more depth in the economy and weapons function but otherwise more than I could possibly as for a free game
@bigrathole
Ай бұрын
I haven't had a chance to do this myself but do you know how possible it is to turn a decent profit trade routing between Towns?
@alephnole7009
Ай бұрын
@@bigratholethe problem is that the towns don't really give different prices for specific goods, YET. It's probably something coming in future updates. Prices are currently almost entirely dependent on how much a town likes you so your God and quest completion greatly effects prices. I tried buying cheap wheat and steel and selling it to other towns but barley made a profit. Best way to make money if I remember was selling animal hides in bulk when sell prices are highest. You can effect this by killing wandering merchants but that decreased your fame for the town the merchant is from I believe. Helping them fight enemies usually gives greater profit.
@alephnole7009
Ай бұрын
Also the throwing axe and wolf summon might just be the strongest things in the game. That axe was a game changer.
@alephnole7009
Ай бұрын
I also tested the latest Experimental build recently and they added a full screen mode with a much cleaner UI. Personally I prefer the half and half classic UI.
Thank you sir 🍻
you're damn right you need to review animal well. i only got to phase three but it's gorgeous