Fans of idyllic, cozy life simulators have long been fans of the farming simulation game Stardew Valley. Its retro art fashion, immersive world, and endless story are beloved by avid gamers of all ages, and a resurgence of the farming and life simulator genres can be partly attributed to its success. This resurgence means that fans of Stardew Valley often have new video games to be excited about that use similar types and formatting.
Players in Stardew Valley get to farm, fish, socialize, discover, and far more, and whereas there is a magical component in the game, it’s primarily centered around simulating farm life. Fans of more fantasy-oriented games like Pokemon or the Zelda franchise could additionally be in search of a comfy life simulator with extra magic. The upcoming sport Moonstone Island combines components of Pokemon, retro Zelda, and Stardew Valley to create an adorable, magical expertise.
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What is Moonstone Island?
moonstone island
Developed by Studio Supersoft and revealed by Raw Fury Games, the writer behind Call of the Sea and Backbone, Moonstone Island includes a retro, top-down artwork type harking again to old-school Legend of Zelda video games. It was unveiled throughout MIX Next in 2022 and features an cute white-haired protagonist sporting a blue pointed cap, not unlike Link’s iconic green hero outfit. Promotional artwork additionally invokes the imagery of Studio Ghibli with lovely surroundings, quaint towns, and interesting flying machines.
Moonstone Island is described as an open-world deck builder RPG. Unlike Stardew Valley which keeps players mostly inside the principle space of Pelican Town with the exception of a few external areas, Moonstone Island will have greater than 120 islands that players can explore. These islands will serve to supply sources and benefits to the primary hub world of Moonstone Island, which is struggling, and gamers will venture out to aim to deliver prosperity back to their homes.
In the adventures gamers embark on in Moonstone Island, they’re going to have the flexibility to tame nature spirits. These nature spirits could be seen in promotional photographs and trailers and resemble every little thing from newts to espresso mugs to lamps. Not solely do these adorable spirit creatures follow gamers round, but they also participate in battles in opposition to enemy spirits, just like Pokemon. The combination of the retro, pixelated art style and these creature battles will doubtless scratch a nostalgic itch for followers of Game Boy Pokemon games.
Unlike Pokemon games, Moonstone Island’s battles are card-based, which means that players will want to construct their decks up by accumulating playing cards on the planet as they journey. The deck-building and combat system is reminiscent of Slay the Spire, which combines roguelike and deck-builder parts in a fantasy setting. Beyond exploring, accumulating, and fascinating in combats, gamers may also be succesful of return to Moonstone Island and tend to a farm, socialize with NPCs in the community, and construct up the city round them.
With Stardew Valley being nearly a decade old, it’s not surprising that many followers of the game and style have turned to other farming simulator video games. Moonstone Island isn’t out but however is about to release in 2023, and it’ll not solely enchantment to followers of farming games, however RPG and deck builder fans as well. Gamers seeking to fulfill a craving for card battlers, retro Pokemon video games, or old-school RPGs like Legend of Zelda ought to undoubtedly regulate Moonstone Island and check it out upon launch.
Moonstone Island is set to launch in 2023.
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