Review
Moonlighter: Between Dimensions DLC Review: Trick Weapons and a New Dungeon
Digital Sun's shopkeeper roguelike already had one of the most addictive loops of its era. Between Dimensions adds new weapons, new risks and a brutal nine-floor dungeon for the endgame.
Released May 29, 2020Reviewed on Nintendo SwitchAlso on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PCDeveloper Digital SunPublisher 11 bit studiosPrice (DLC) $6.99 USD
Moonlighter, the first original game from Digital Sun, is a little of everything: a roguelike dungeon crawler, an adventure and a shop simulator. It arrived near the end of the wave of procedurally generated “roguelike” games, when many studios offered their own spin on random dungeons. Its twist is that the hero, a shopkeeper named Will, dives into dungeons less to upgrade his gear than to haul loot home and sell it at a profit.
Moonlighter: Between Dimensions, the largest DLC so far, is a good reason to start, or return.
The loop that made Moonlighter
Plenty of games from that era tried to do too much and fell over. Moonlighter does several things and lands every one. Dungeon runs and shopkeeping feed each other: scour the ruins for loot, then work out the best price for each item in the shop, also called Moonlighter. It is addictive even for players who do not usually enjoy roguelikes.
Shop profits pay for upgrades, from bigger tips from customers to damage resistance in the dungeons. Craftspeople and traders can be invited to the town of Rynoka to forge weapons and armour and enchant them. Between Dimensions adds a whole new tier of equipment and a new trader who lets Will haggle for key crafting materials.
What the Moonlighter: Between Dimensions DLC adds
Moonlighter: Between Dimensions is set months after Rynoka has become a thriving hub thanks to Will clearing the five Ruins. An inter-dimensional portal opens, offering Rynoka a place in an inter-dimensional trading group, the ICT. The catch: the Watchers will only let Rynoka join once Will closes the portal.
Most of the content waits until the base game is finished, which takes a newcomer roughly 25 hours. Some additions appear earlier, and observant players will spot them, along with a few hidden surprises in the old dungeons.
Gates and Trick Weapons
The most visible change is pulsing green patches in dungeon rooms. They mark dimensional gates, which appear at random on any floor of the original five Ruins. Each leads to a short gauntlet of enemies and a mini-boss guarding one of the new Trick Weapons.
These ten weapons are the heart of the DLC. Each has a special ability that costs health to use, and each is cursed to break the moment Will leaves the dungeon, so it only lasts for the current run. Whether a clever shopkeeper can find a way around that curse is part of the discovery. The new gates make dives more tactical, because the most valuable loot now comes with more decisions.
Players who spent the base game upgrading one trusted set of weapons will find the Trick Weapons worth switching to: they open completely different ways to tackle a dungeon.
New gear and the Wanderer Dungeon
Besides the ten Trick Weapons, there are new base weapon sets for sword and shield, big sword, bow, gloves and spear, plus a new armour set. They start far stronger than the base game’s gear and are essential for the endgame. Even fully upgraded and enchanted original equipment struggles from the second floor of the new dungeon onwards.
The Wanderer Dungeon has nine floors instead of three and ends with the Enraged Wanderer, the hardest fight in the game. Most players will need several attempts and plenty of escapes with the Merchant Emblem. A new merchant sells a return trip to the start of a floor, for hundreds of thousands of coins.
Its enemies mix familiar ones from the five Ruins with many new types and new attacks to learn. That also means a new range of materials to craft with, upgrade gear and sell for the best possible price.
The verdict
Moonlighter: Between Dimensions improves the base game and adds a substantial endgame on top. It does not change the core systems, but the higher difficulty and the new weapons, enemies and upgrades keep the loop going for a long time. The appeal is the same as ever: deciding whether one more floor is worth the risk of losing everything, selling a rare find for a fat profit, and watching Rynoka and the shop grow with each night’s haul. Fans of the genre and sceptics alike will find plenty to enjoy, and at $6.99 the expansion is easy to recommend.
Questions readers ask
When can you play the Moonlighter: Between Dimensions content?
Most of it, including the Wanderer Dungeon, unlocks only after the five original Ruins are cleared. The dimensional gates with Trick Weapons appear earlier, inside the original dungeons.
What are Trick Weapons in Moonlighter?
Ten powerful weapons found behind dimensional gates. Their special abilities cost health, and they are cursed to break when Will leaves the dungeon, unless a way is found to keep them.
How hard is the Wanderer Dungeon?
It has nine floors instead of the usual three and ends with the Enraged Wanderer, the hardest boss in the game. Most players need several runs and the new Between Dimensions gear to finish it.