The Moonlighter series is one of those things that are just interesting from the jump. Most roguelike games involve running the dungeon over and over again, picking up items that may carry over. It’s a self-contained experience. What you get in this experience is also a store management sim, where the dungeon doesn’t just give you money; it gives you a product that, through a secondary mechanic, lets you progress in a way most games bake into a single system. I might be a little biased because the two genres I tend to get lost in are roguelikes and management sims, so you can see the problem.
Will returns as the protagonist, with he and the rest of his town having become trapped in what appears to be a pocket dimension. This is a direct sequel, so there is ‘a part’ of the narrative that feels slightly lost if you don’t know or remember what had previously happened, which in my case was the latter. What the potential player really needs to know is that the entire town lost all their damn money. Now, out here living like Skee-Lo, Will needs to build back up his fortune, opening up the endless vault, a box that reacts to his profits to give upgrades and save his town… I assume. All that money can buy a lot of things.
That creates the satisfying loop of the game, which remains relatively unchanged from the first entry. Thankfully, getting into this, I already liked what the first game offered, so I was happy to fall into an all-too-familiar rhythm. Will runs his shop during the day, meaning that during the night you go into the randomly generated dungeons trying to grab items and sell them during that morning period. Both of these elements are equally important functions, and I am thrilled to say the divide between them is fairly evenly split.
Of course, time in the dungeons is fairly consuming. You get a few weapons to work with; I preferred the short sword for fast swings and strikes, and then you run through typically small, self-contained areas as you fight enemies to get treasure chests. Now, in comparison to other games, instead of some kind of dungeon currency, you get items that might have a few functions, but the biggest one is you can sell them. This makes inventory management a considerable part of it, and that is the part at least the earlier game falls short on. Most of my runs in the beginning ended due to inventory limitations, not the challenges of combat.
Inventory limitations are part of a bigger issue, considering that expanding anything has a high price. I understand the sentiment; Moonlighter 2 is a game about capitalism, after all, so it stands to reason that money will permeate all facets of the experience. That said, a single expansion slot in my backpack required several days of selling at the shop, with the next slot doubling that cost. There are a lot of shops offering expansions both for the dungeon and for Will and his toolset, all at about that same price point, so going further, you need to make hard decisions about simple upgrades. I appreciate the idea, but sometimes it feels like too steep a price even in that framework.
This makes Moonlighter 2 frustratingly slow as well. By the nature of the beast, a roguelike will be not just slow but subjective. There are a few games I can breeze through. Even with no experience of the game. Somebody else might not have the same ability to do so. It does feel like this game has many mechanics that will limit all players from rapidly progressing or unlocking at a pace that feels rewarding. Anything that makes the dungeon easier by nature requires money, so get ready to earn, I guess.
There is an interesting twist to inventory that makes for a fairly deep mechanic on its own front that also allows you to keep going when it looks like you will have too much gear. The earliest area gives you some relics that have flame attachments that burn neighboring items. You can put them on an edge to keep them from doing any harm or play into it. These abilities can have buffs, so you burn a low-ranking relic to build up the burning relic or a neighboring one. This effect MIGHT buff the relic you are burning. Then you factor in straight-up buffing abilities; you are playing this secondary game to build your stock for the store in between battles. The punishment for loss is also a debuff to relics, making it clear that even victory might not be as important as coming home with a good haul.
I would also compare the combat itself pretty favorably to something akin to Hades. Moonlighter 2 is fairly fast-paced. For the most part, you are flipping around the stage, dodging bullets and AOE attacks while getting in close for combos. You even get a move where Will swings his backpack—yes, the very same thing he has with all those items he needs to sell when he gets home—for an environmental pushback attack that works really well to get some space.
The more interesting mechanic, though, is his gun that works as a long-range attack. It charges by landing melee attacks, so you can’t just milk this however you want to, but it’s a powerful attack to have. Why it’s fun, though, is because it allows for some depth to combat, as you often face flying enemies you need to knock down from the air before they can unleash an attack on you. They aren’t difficult to avoid, but the further into the dungeon you go, the more damage you will be taking. It does get frustrating, as one or two of the more challenging enemies were able to kill me solely because I didn’t realize that having more than half my health wasn’t enough to survive the attack.
The dungeons have a great design to them, though; that doesn’t let you avoid these situations completely but minimizes them if it suits you, with a few match types you can choose from. They are long runs, though, with plenty of stages to go through and unlocks along the way, allowing Will to increase in ability or take a debuff in pursuit of a stronger buff along the way. You will also find some hidden challenges in there as well, which are worth the effort and incredibly fun diversions in their own right. You also, which is weird but welcome, get a button to exit the dungeon from anywhere, even the boss stages.
This brings us to the other portion of the game: shop ownership. You get a few tools, like a robot that offers storage to help, but there are a few things I would have loved that aren’t present. For starters, everything is manual from the jump, and I wish there were a faster restock feature since you spend half the time running around doing it. Similar to my earlier issues, it also takes some time to start building up the shop; at least for me it did, since I felt it was more prudent to invest in the number of relics I could take back first.
What I loved was the complete control over the stock that you got. You set the prices, with there being a few metrics that save so you know which prices work and don’t. The goal, and again, everything in Moonlighter 2 is already pushing you this way, is to ask you to be greedy and try to hit that sweet spot where customers will purchase your wares and still be happy with you. This is for upgrades in their own right (that also cost money).
The player dances between these two features, unlocking new areas that give you new items that have new buffs and get you new relic grades. It’s a simple but highly effective loop that you get lost in from the first moment you play the game. The entire thing is simple enough to get into, but both of these segments—the store and the dungeon—make for unique experiences that help to break each other up, keeping both from wearing thin in the process.
Verdict
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault is more of the same, on a base level, but that’s not a bad thing. The cycle of dungeons and sales, with minor reflection on capitalism, worked then and continues to work well. The improvements to this, as evidenced by the jump from the Pixelsprite of the first game to the 3D animation, also feel meaningful. A good early access campaign can mean all the difference for a roguelike as it grows with its audience, and clearly the time was not squandered. If you want a game all about making money, this is well worth your money.
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Reviewed on Steam, also available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch 2,
*A code for Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault was provided by 11 Bit Studio for the purposes of this review.
Developer: Digital Sun
Publisher: 11 Bit Studio
Release Date: September 2, 2026
Pros
+Blending of Management Sim and Roguelike remains engaging.
+dungeons have a great design.
+fast paced dodge and attack combat with gunplay mixed in.
+Relic combinations while in dungeon to upgrade is very cool.
Cons
-The game has slow forward progression.
-Inventory management can be annoying early on.
-Enemies can out pace you pretty fast.
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Moonlight 2: The Endless Vault
