Recent reviews by Helix Adept Hamus

I don't typically write reviews for games, but I feel like this is a red letter day.

I won't go into much detail considering everyone basically shares the same feelings. But what I will say is this:

- This game plays well - it challenges you during boss fights and having to learn timings and abilities which is great fun.

- The ambiance is incredible, the soundtrack is powerful and moving and the art design is on point. The world around you feels right.

- The story is a narrative masterpiece that pulls at strings you didn't know we're connected to your heart and other heavily evocative feelings.

Each step of the way feels meaningful, and it is very easy to connect with these characters. Plus it's an added bonus that you get to clear out your tear glands regularly throughout the story.

How do we typically rate games? I know a lot of people give ratings based off of very specific metrics. I have to say, this game looks great, plays great, sounds great and it makes you feel a wide range of emotions.

10/10.

This review was tough to write having spent such little time in game, but I feel it was important to make my voice heard even though it means little in the ocean of the internet. Regardless,

Moon Mystery has ambition and potential, but it struggles to immediately hook the player due to an underwhelming opening sequence and a lack of clear context. While there are several strengths worth noting, the pacing and design of the introductory section may deter players before they get to the heart of the experience.

Pros:

Impressive Visuals: For a small studio, the graphics are polished and visually appealing, offering a glimpse of the developers' ambition and creativity.

Smooth Controls: The movement and character interactions feel fluid, making gameplay mechanics easy to grasp.

Intriguing Premise: The story hinted at in the trailer is genuinely captivating and brimming with potential. The mystery surrounding the setting and events promises a compelling narrative for those who stick with it.

Cons:

Lack of Context: The opening fails to establish why the player is in this situation or what their objective is. A brief cutscene or text introduction could help ground the player.

Overdone Tutorial: The tutorial section feels unnecessarily drawn out, introducing simple controls (WASD, crouch, jump, shoot) that most players are already familiar with. This repetition detracts from the immersion and momentum.
Awkward Level Design: Running through long, empty corridors and performing basic tasks like sliding under pipes or shooting aimless robots feels disconnected from the story and setting.

Engagement Issues: The combination of minimal context and monotonous opening gameplay makes it difficult to stay invested.

So here we are:

The ambition behind Moon Mystery is clear, and I appreciate the effort put into creating an intriguing narrative and a visually appealing world. However, I found it hard to stay engaged, especially during the opening sequence. The lack of context about the character, their purpose, and the world around them left me feeling untethered.

The first words the player character utters are “The black hole is getting closer” which is a hint at a larger, high-stakes story. Yet, there’s no additional explanation or backstory to provide clarity. I'm sure this is expanded on later in the story, but initially this left me asking the wrong kinds of questions. Rather than asking "What is going on here", I'm left asking "Who am I, Where am I, What's happening, Who are these robots, Why is there a Black Hole having an issue", and most importantly, "Why should I care about any of this?". There is nothing investing the player into the character they assume control of instantly out of the menu. While I understand that mystery can be a powerful tool to draw players in, leaving the player completely adrift without a basic foundation of understanding can make the experience feel aimless.

The tutorial area exacerbates this issue. Instead of immersing the player in the story, it focuses on introducing rudimentary mechanics that are standard in most games. Long corridors, arbitrary crouching and sliding sections, and robots to shoot “just because” don’t contribute meaningfully to the experience. A more integrated tutorial, perhaps woven into the first area’s narrative, would make the introduction far more compelling. "Black hole bad, who are these robots? Expand on that. Is there lore anywhere to find, maybe on a datapad? Or perhaps more character dialog explaining why we are here? Etc"

That said, there’s a lot of promise here. The visuals are impressive for an indie title, the controls feel smooth and responsive, and the story teased in the trailer has great potential. I genuinely want to uncover the mysteries the developers have crafted, and I may revisit the game to explore its narrative further.

Suggestions for Improvement:

Add Context: A short cut-scene, dialogue, or text introduction to set up the stakes and explain why the player is where they are would add much-needed clarity.

Streamline the Tutorial: Reduce the time spent on basic mechanics or integrate them naturally into the game-play.

Enhance Early Engagement: Introduce a compelling story hook or meaningful game-play elements within the first few minutes to keep players interested.

My final thoughts..

Moon Mystery has the foundation of a great indie game, but it stumbles in its execution of the opening sequence. With a few adjustments to pacing and storytelling, it could offer a truly captivating experience. For now, I’m cautiously optimistic about its potential and hope to see improvements that allow the story and game-play to shine.

Classic. If I want a guilty pleasure and a creature comfort rolled into one - this is what I turn to. It's a bit antiquated but that's part of the beauty. There are no additional costs or any hidden expenses - its not paid to win, you buy it you get it. The story is incredible, the voice actors might be recycled a few times but you have an all-star lead, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Lena Headey, etc.

It's a fun fantasy tale, with multiple options to chose through your play-through so you can come back from another style or story angle.

10/10 would recommend.

"Go on then, a beer, someone to punch, life doesn't get much better."

Played STO from launch and as you can see I've sunk a lot of time into it.

TL:DR:

If you enjoy Star Trek and want to control a ship and crew (to a certain degree) and enjoy exploring /some/ space and worlds then this may be for you. If you don't like out of date engines, clunky controls, inflated markets by bots, and a lack of creative initiative from the "new" publisher then it may be a struggle.


Point:

Originally this game was developed by Cryptic Studios which had nothing but pure enthusiasm, creative ingenuity, and an overwhelmingly supportive userbase.

Cryptic Studios created STO in was published by Atari in 2008 with a launch in 2010. Everything was great.

STO broke ground with a new take on the Star Trek universe, although, releasing some years after MMOs became niche there were some shortfalls. Namely the UI, controls, and engine limitations. Even with these issues players managed to thoroughly enjoy the game universe for many, many months. Unfortunately Atari decided they no longer wished to pursue MMO gaming and then STO went through some major challenges.

The game was sold, ableit a short time following launch, in 2011 to Perfect World. Perfect World had good intentions with taking on this project, however, the lack of creative drive led to this game suffering for many years. Slow fixes to lasting game issues, lack of support for Lifetime subscribers, a complete change for in-game markets and monetary programs, etc. On a lighter side STO received many "quality of life" updates, new expansions, and a continually growing user base. But core issues still persisted, and some felt like they were expanded on. Ground style game play was still clunky and felt less than intuitive and the change to ship and crew systems left much to be desired. Though.. It was still Star Trek and thus the love for this game was hard to supress.

With all these struggles (from my point of view) the game still managed to scratch an itch that was left following TNG, DS9 and VOY TV Shows that the new universe never really sated.


Summary:

As a new player I feel that you'll either love or hate this game. If they allowed space exploration and engagement on its own rather than forcing a ground element that in my opinion just isn't that great then I'd come back for sure. Getting to pilot your own ship and visit nostalgic systems and stations is very rewarding. And the story arcs do have some fascinating plots. I may be biased toward how the game shifted from the original style (pre F2P), limited loot boxes, low immense screen clutter to bring overly slammed with all of the above to the point of nearly erasing the magic of Star Trek completely. Again, for new players this will just seem like buiness as usual so probably not a huge issue.. I guess.

But what am I saying, you can visit Quarks Bar on DS9. That's enough for anyone to play this game.

Who's the most sus?

Are you a sweet talker? A go getter? A sneaker? This game brings the best or worst out of people in the confines of quick and enjoyable games!