Moonlight Peaks
Witchy farming sim where a vampire grows creepy crops in a supernatural town.
Moonlight Peaks
Be a vampire, move to a magical town, befriend supernatural beings, grow crops, learn spells, brew potions, adopt adorable animals and above all else, pet your cat. The perfect cosy farming sim.
Introduction
I have been looking forward to Moonlight Peaks for so long.
I played the demo when it first came out, and was overwhelming by how instantly perfect the atmosphere, mechanics and gameplay felt. I knew then that it would be a first day buy and almost 60 hours later, I have no regrets.
Storyline
The story starts unlike most farming sims with you not inheriting a farm from a dead grandmother or uncle, but instead running away from home to escape the wrath of your father - none other than the Dracula - to go live on the family farm in Moonlight Peaks.
Your family farm is… well, not in a good state, despite your uncle living there. He has a good reason not to farm, though - I won’t spoil it, see for yourself.
On top of all the normal “plant crops, sell harvest, upgrade tools” farming sim stuff, Moonlight Peaks offers a super immersive and honestly gorgeous world for you to explore, with various supernaturals to befriend and stories to unravel.
The game takes it slow, not dropping everything on you within the first couple of in-game weeks, which makes unlocking upgrades all the more rewarding.
For the record, I was sixty hours in when I started writing this review, and I’m at eighty hours when I’m finishing it up now.
I still don’t know everything about this town or its inhabitants.
Or myself, for that matter. I’m learning as I go, one cutscene at a time. All of these NPCs have such unique personalities and interesting backstories, which they reveal to you at a slower pace than you’re used to from this kind of game, which I am immensely grateful for.
… so I don’t know the story myself, yet. All I can say is that getting to know the villagers, their family histories and all the magical things they’ve been hiding, has been incredibly immersive, and I’m hooked.
Gameplay
In terms of gameplay, Moonlight Peaks does roughly the same as any other farming sim: the loop of getting seeds, planting them, watering them, harvesting them, cooking with them, selling the results for profit… you know the drill. On top of that, there are some magic spells to learn and some potions to brew, all in favour of being the most witchy vampire you can be.
Moonlight Peaks makes a couple of interesting choices, like doing away with the arbitrary “waiting for your tool to be upgraded for three days” (looking at you, Stardew Valley) or “you have limited storage, so no hoarding” (and you, Animal Crossing), but instead making these features more accessible from the start. Your house has an unlimited storage right away, and the waiting times for the construction of buildings are reasonable.
I already said above that the game takes a very slow pace, which I absolutely adore. There are so many things you discover and get curious about, that don’t get revealed for a long time. You’re just so giddy to find out, that by the time the cutscene comes along, you’re on the edge of your seat. There are various things you expect right from the start, like shortcuts through caves, that feel so rewarding once you finally get them. They’ve done an incredibly job on balancing these things, in my opinion.
There are, of course, a few things I wish they’d add or change, of which I’m keeping a more extensive list here, that are mostly some quality of life options, such as having hotkeys linked to tools or easier access to your house storage from your farmlands - but in general?
A pretty solid, nearly perfect game that I can only recommend!
Atmosphere
The atmosphere in Moonlight Peaks is perfect.
Especially if you are a fan of purple.
The entire vibe is witchy, creepycute, cosy and cheesily funny. The creativity that went into the design of animals, crops and spells is incredible, and with every step you take, you can just feel the love and passion that went into the making of this game.
There are also quite a few references to pop culture, which I am of course not going to spoil - go find them for yourself!
Character creation
The options are limited and the creator simple, though it gives enough possibilities to create something nice. I would like more hairstyles in an update or DLC, and if they REALLY want to captivate my heart, customisation for your Hellkitten!
There are options for vitiligo (one of the NPCs even has it), which is nice. :-)
Tutorial
There is no standalone tutorial in the beginning of the game.
Instead, the onboarding is integrated pretty nicely into the gameplay, which is only logical given that this isn’t a game where you unlock everything in the beginning. New things are unlocked throughout the months and years, at which point you get an explanation, though most things are just really straight-forward and intuitive enough to figure them out as you go.
Modding
No Steam Workshop integration. There are some mods on NexusMods, though I haven’t yet played with any. I’m trying the whole “vanilla first” thing.
TL;DR
Easily one of the best games I’ve played, addictive, immersive, creative and just gorgeous. I’ve not experienced any game-breaking bugs, the worst I can say about it is that the loading screens sometimes take a little bit longer. Wholeheartedly recommend Moonlight Peaks to anyone who loves the farming sim genre and/or has a thing for a good, cosy, witchy vibe.
