After five hours, Moonlighter 2 already has me hooked thanks to these five features

Moonlighter 2 has finally released in early access, which is great as I really loved the original and have been hotly anticipating returning to this unique roguelike dungeoneering and selling loop for some time. What you get in an early access launch can vary, but so far, Moonlighter 2 has an awful lot of content to fight through (and items to sell). In our Moonlighter 2 review, we're anticipating some tweaks to the way each system feeds back into one another, but are happy with how stacked the adventure is otherwise at the moment.

The roguelike has been one of the upcoming indie games we'd been looking forward to for quite some time, but developer Digital Sun has been staying busy. Working on other projects in between has even helped coalesce fresh ideas for this sequel at the same time, with co-director Victor Ribera saying that: "As a company, we think that it's actually quite safe to make a lot of things and keep bringing players different experiences." I think that's really worked to the game's advantage, as there's an awful lot to love. Across my own five hours with the game so far, here's the five features I'm already loving that make this sequel well worth jumping into , even during early access.

5. Dungeon delving from a new perspective

Given how gorgeous the original Moonlighter still is, the shift from pixel art to 3D was what made me the most hesitant about Moonlighter 2. Thankfully, I needn't have worried. Not only is the new art style absolutely gorgeous, but the design of each procedurally generated set of levels leans into the 3D style. While some directions you choose to progress can lead to small combat arenas (dungeon progression is like a flow chart of different possibilities), there's also plenty of weaving paths to break up the pace, which differ between each biome to feel quite dynamic. Is Will only exploring Zephyr for the zipline? Who can say, but it looks hella fun.

4. Slice and dice

All too often, great combat can be taken for granted, but I really want to give Moonlighter 2 its flowers when it comes to scuffling across each biome's dungeons. It's a simple loop, using melee weapons to land hits while also dodge-rolling away from danger, peppering blasts of your gun, which charges with each close-quarters strike. But it works really well, feeling super responsive to bob and weave, and maintaining clarity even in the beautiful 3D maps. It's great to see this evolve from the top-down original, feeling like an evolution while bringing plenty new to the table. I've yet to find every weapon, but each of those has their own special attacks to think about, from the classic sword circle slash, to laying down spikes with the spear that you can then call back to you, inflicting damage as they soar through the air. After all, the best roguelike games see you diving back in again and again, so they need to feel good to play moment to moment as well.

3. Selling stuff

There's a simple pleasure to selling the fruits of your labor in Moonlighter 2 that continues to really set the series apart. After all, the game's primary progression – as you work to unlock each part of the titular endless vault – is based around earning more and more money from your cute little store. Learning the value of each item by slowly revealing how your suggested prices reflect on shoppers is compelling, helping to inform your collecting habits in the dungeon. And, there's a certain thrill to knowing when to go all out, jacking up a price just enough to slightly annoy someone but still compel a purchase, all while using buffs to exponentially increase the value, using cheaper deals to placate the overall mood to your store. Let's see Vinted match that.

2. Perk synergies

'Pick three' is popular in roguelikes for a reason, and while Moonlighter 2 could still use some early access tweaks to the full lineup, there have been some incredible synergies to discover and play around with so far. Whether that's applying Wound statuses to your special attack that make enemies briefly vulnerable to a follow-up flurry, stacking up Thunder buildup strikes to unleash screen-wide lightning, and increasing the efficiency with which it charges, or simply hoarding armor so you barely take real health damage in the area's final boss – the sense of momentum can be really rewarding.

1. Rocking the backpack

It's easy in a game where you grab loads of loot to make that action simple, something you stop thinking about. But in Moonlighter 2, you're always considering which artefacts you swipe, and even how you carry them. It wonderfully suits the idea that Will is exploring dungeons for items to actually sell in a shop. There's a curation going on. Each item's quality can be buffed as you explore, but there's also lots of synergies between them.

These can be good and bad, but even negative effects offer an avenue to earn rarer loot. Some may burn adjacent items, for example, but others can apply armor to negate that burn – all while others balloon in quality for each burn applied. A later zone involves absorbing items together into crystals, which can be boosted to then be absorbed into special doll pickups – but the crystals can't be carried back by themselves, so you have to see how far you're willing to push the boat out. Inventory management isn't just fun, it's a huge part of Moonlighter 2's entire identity.

"We know that the players are the ones actually enjoying the game": Moonlighter 2 owes its existence to its devs' astonishingly in-depth approach to player feedback