Lunarium Review – A Radiant Connection

Cultivating an introspective atmosphere within a game is easier said than done. While adorning the world with a fitting graphical style and soundtrack can do a fair share of the legwork, the pacing and gameplay structure need to reinforce the thoughtful tone as well. As a result, many works aiming to compel introspection from the player tend to be walking simulators, visual novels, or narrative adventures, where the gameplay is minimal, and the writing and world design take center stage. It’s all the more impressive then, when a title with a heavy emphasis on action can manage to seamlessly immerse me within its world. As I fought my way through the solemn, wistful environments of Lunarium, I couldn’t help but feel emotionally compelled, even despite some slight stumbles along the way.

Show Me the Champions of Light

Lunarium places you in control of Ave, a light-armored knight who has been tasked with dispatching an influx of monsters that have appeared outside of her small village. After successfully taking down the largest of these threats, a shadowy force surrounds the creature, bringing it back to life in a more sinister form. As Ave fights to finish them off, she falls in battle. Awakening shortly after, she finds herself in the care of a mysterious, flaxen-haired girl named Lune.

Possessing celestial magic, Lune is a Starfarer, a being who has protected the surrounding valley for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. While she has seemingly lost much of her memory during a long slumber, she recalls that the shadowy force Ave encountered is known as the Nihilus. Appearing often throughout the centuries, the Nihilus seeks to possess and control all life within the world. While previously, this force was weak enough to be brushed aside by Starfarers, something darker seems to be taking place this time around.

To learn more about the encroaching threat, Lune suggests traveling to Cyanstone, a massive castle ruled by a fellow Starfarer named Lilia. Ave naturally agrees to help protect her homeland, offering her blade in service to Lune. With their first destination decided, the duo’s perilous adventure begins as the two traverse worlds and dreams alike to put an end to the shadowy threat. I can’t say that I found this light vs darkness narrative especially interesting, as I feel it’s been done about a million times; nevertheless, it serves as a quick and efficient kickstart to the journey.

The real heart of Lunarium comes from the dynamic between Ave and Lune as the pair fights tooth and nail through various realms and overcomes increasingly threatening opponents. With Ave’s bravery and willpower serving as the sword and Lune’s insight and dedication as the shield the two form a connection that, quite literally, transcends space and time. Conversations between the two feel earnest and natural, with each having their own distinct sense of charm and playfulness. There is a notable level of intimacy present, but any hints of romance never move past being implied. I wish they would have leaned into this direction a bit further, as the two feel like a perfect pairing. I suppose we can leave that to the fan artists.

Exhilarating Souls-like Inspired Combat

Gameplay-wise, Lunarium is an isometric action-RPG that takes numerous cues from the souls-like genre, with rewarding boss battles, limited heals, and a modest variety of build options. Combat revolves around timely parrying and evading attacks, with each enemy possessing a poise meter. Once enough parries and poise-breaking moves have been landed, enemies will become staggered, leaving them vulnerable for several seconds. I found the enemies’ attack patterns to be consistently well-telegraphed and a blast to react to with the timing required to parry each attack, nearly always feeling perfect in its implementation.

Compared to a game like Sekiro where you can feather the parry button rapidly to reasonable success, the parry in Lunarium has a long enough cooldown that you need to be precise in deciding when to use it. Alternatively, dashes can be used fairly freely and are generally a much safer option, but successfully evading enemy attacks does nothing to increase their poise meter, so you aren’t especially rewarded for preventing damage in this fashion. Considering this thoughtful balance during encounters is vital to overcome many of the challenging bosses within the game, which naturally serve as the most significant tests of skill.

When combat is firing on all cylinders, I found it exhilarating. Learning and memorizing the rhythm to each enemy’s attacks so I could deftly weave past or deflect them at just the right moment never ceased to be satisfying. Pairing this thrill with the surprising variety of enemies ensured I was always adapting my playstyle to handle different situations properly. As you may expect, the boss battles were often the highlight of the experience, with them ramping up in complexity as the game progressed. That being said, many of the bosses, especially within the second area, Cyanstone, did tend to blend together a bit more than I would have liked. It could be argued that having several bosses with similar aesthetics is fitting given the setting. However, I still would have preferred a bit more variance to make each pivotal encounter more memorable.

Customization Through Fashion

In terms of customization options, there are a few systems in place that allow you to augment Ave’s abilities and moveset. The simplest of these is a limited skill tree which offers some meaningful decisions during the early game. Still, you’ll most likely have everything unlocked fairly quickly, so those decisions eventually become inconsequential. You do, however, unlock four different active skills through this tree, with only one being equippable at a time. These skills vary drastically in their applications, so experimenting with each and choosing which one best suits your playstyle can be quite fun. I stuck with the first active skill, which spawns a rotating ring of swords around Ave, for most of my playthrough as I found them indispensable when dealing with groups of enemies in addition to being a nice way to chip in some damage while on the defensive.

The other two avenues for customization, cloaks and embroideries, work in tandem and are significantly more interesting. The cloaks each alter a different aspect of Ave’s moveset or stats while additionally varying in appearance. The starting cloak proves to be consistently useful as it improves your attack and health based on the amount of embroideries equipped. In contrast, cloaks obtained later alter gameplay more significantly through the introduction of unique mechanics and stances. I ended up preferring one of the more straightforward options, which increased the damage and range of Ave’s base attacks while also transforming her heavy attack into a full 360-degree spin.

Each cloak additionally possesses several embroidery slots, with the number differing based on the strength of the cloak’s base ability, with weaker cloaks getting more slots and stronger getting fewer. These embroideries are crafted via recipes found throughout the game, each adding a passive augment to Ave’s repertoire. With over two dozen available, there is no shortage of options, and choosing your preferred combination of cloak and embroideries is what will ultimately dictate your unique build.

Lavish Environments Rippling with Melancholy

Outside of combat, Lunarium also places a heavy emphasis on exploration. Featuring a tight selection of lavish environments with secrets seemingly tucked within every nook and cranny, I consistently felt the desire to search each corner for potential goodies. Cyanstone in particular felt vast and meticulously structured, with optional bosses, items, and NPCs scattered throughout. This portion of the game was so well-paced and rewarding to explore that I found it to overshadow the following area, which comparably ended up feeling a bit bloated in size and lacking in enticing rewards.

What truly made these locales memorable, however, was the solemn yet dreamlike atmosphere that permeated from each. Lunarium self-describes as an atmospheric action-RPG and absolutely lives up to that promise. Each area of the game, despite being gorgeous visually, is a shell of its former glory. Thanks to a wistful, downtempo soundtrack that ripples melancholy alongside Ave and Lune throughout the adventure, the tone remains introspective and thoughtful even during the most intense of encounters.

Verdict: A Radiant and Accessible Adventure

Lunarium is a tightly crafted and approachable action-RPG permeating with a pensive atmosphere. Carried forward by a delightful pair of protagonists who reliably outshine the rather forgettable narrative, the focus remains on the rewarding skill-based combat and densely packed environments. While the boss battles never quite reach the peaks that some of its genre contemporaries do, encounters remain exciting and enthralling throughout. Anyone looking for an entry-level foray into souls-likes can expect an experience that embraces the best aspects of the genre while forgoing much of what can make them frustrating, making Ave and Lune’s adventure an easy recommendation.