Lunacid is an amazing game.
As it itself advertises, the game derives its main inspiration from FromSoftware stuff like King's Field, but it never feels like it's stuck to the mold of paying homage to it. The movement feels good and fluid, the combat, while somewhat simplistic, is satisfying enough, and it all functions in service to what I deem the most appealing virtue of the game: its amazing atmosphere and sense of wonder.

Lunacid is full of personality, but one thing it shares with those FromSoftware games is the intriguing world it crafted and the uneasy feeling you get that there is so much more lying beneath its surface. Anachronistic elements, vague mentions of powerful beings and environmental storytelling all came together to make this game fascinating. The fact that the wonderful music and the excellent audio design (as it was with the previous game from the developer, Lost in Vivo) managed to elevate the experience is also worth of note.

At its core, Lunacid is a game about exploration. The secret walls and passages, the engaging puzzles, the unique weapons and the interesting enemy designs. It has variety, and you will constantly get that feeling of "how did I get here" after going through environment after environment. The combat never felt unfair or frustratingly difficult, and I scarcely remember getting stuck except for trying to figure out a sidequest or how to get loot of some sort. The attributes you alocate leveling up also directly impact your movement, too, with "Speed" incresing my running speed and "Dexterity" your jumping height, and it was especially nice being able to focus on these two closer to the end of the game as I was running around the maps trying to get everything.

The performance was on point, the PSX-style graphics are pleasing to the eyes and the only time I ever encountered a bug worth of note was when I jumped in some rocks and my character got stuck in the environment, so I had to load the save.

All in all, Lunacid is engaging, interesting, mysterious and unique. It's probably my favorite indie game of the year and its themes will definitely stick with me.