SHOUT OUT - Moon Samurai looks like a perfect combination of grimy cyberpunk aesthetic and pacey combat
It’s all in the pixels, baby.
By Jonathan Garrett
23/04/24
NOTE: thatHITBOX Shout Out’s are not sponsored content. They’re games, developers, individuals, or issues that we want to highlight and share purely out of interest.
There’s something undeniably arresting about side scrollers that try to differentiate in small but meaningful ways. For example, take Replaced from Sad Cat Studios; a visually distinct world with an atmospheric presentation that turns heads for all the right reasons. Moon Samurai, with its pushed in perspective and smooth animation, has recently started a round of Kickstarter funding and it immediately caught our attention.
The pitch itself is extremely thorough (much like Eden’s Guardian), and offers an in depth look at the characters, structure, and concept art to give prospective supporters a crystal clear vision for the game. Unlike other, mid tier crowdfunding efforts, this one is clearly a passion project for the developers involved, and has largely avoided the pitfalls of project bloat by not promising the world.
If the introductory video is anything to go by, there’s an appreciated emphasis on narrative at play here which lends itself well to a game of this type. By presenting a variety of enemy archetypes, boss battles, and a selection of special moves, Moon Samurai has set itself up for success by offering a well rounded package. Here’s hoping the campaign plays out and developer Rogue Games get to make the game they intended.
TARPS?
At the bottom of some of our articles, you’ll see a series of absurd looking images (with equally stupid, in joke laden names). These are the TARP badges, which represent our ‘Totally Accurate Rating Platform’. They allow us to identify specific things, recognise positive or negative aspects of a games design, and generally indulge our consistent silliness with some visual tomfoolery.
