Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight

First of, I am reviewing the game that exists on GOG. If you can, get the Amiga version, it's 1000% times better. Sound and music is much better on Amiga. If you do get this version, be aware that the dosbox setup for this is incredibly broken, be prepared to edit config files just to get controllers working. And I still don't know how to slow it down enough so that I can actual move the cursor at a speed that lets me select things. But, that out of the way, the game is amazing. Nothing else hase been created since. The closest thing I can think of is Hand of Fate, in that it merges a boardgamey feel with a fighting game. But Moonstone has a competitive element that really makes it shine, and it in turn makes it so replayable. It is passed time for a Spirtual Successor!

This game is great! If you experience problems with controllers, try this: edit the dosbox_moonstone.conf file in the main game directory (usually called "Moonstone") and change timed=true to timed=false. After launching the game the controls should be OK.

I played this game for some time when I was a kid, even though I was terrible at it, but I was amazed with how good this game was :) Also, since in those dark times in my country it was near impossible to buy games (if you managed to even afford and purchase a PC), of course I had an only one way of obtaining it (and in that time I didn't know what exactly piracy was). I didn't blink before buying this, somehow repaying the original author (and gog for bringing this back) for the good time I had then. Since I'm a parent now, and have a very time consuming job, I probably won't have time to play this game, but I want to at least compensate the autor now years later for the fun times I had as a kid. It is sad that my gog collection now is mostly my childhood revisited (and less playing in the present), but I'm happy to be able to support the gaming development gods now that I am able to. I hope you manage to develop and publish your sequel, cheers! One day my kid grows up, now I'll be able to give him this game to play :)

A few tips not covered in the manual: - to exit the game: press "q" on campaign map - to change moving speed of knights and the DRAGON on campaign map to "Amiga values" (much slower thus making easier to avoid the dragon): open "dosbox_moonstone.conf" file, located in main game folder, using a text editor (notepad, n++), find the line "cycles=fixed 9000" and change the value to 2000 or 1000 (or whatever suits you) - the lower, the slower - you can also change this speed in game: ctrl+F11 decreases the cycles of virtual CPU and ctrl+F12 increases the value by 1000 (the increment/decrement values can also be changed in config file) This is a VERY enjoyable game, even today (2022), especially when played with friends or kids (up to 4 players). Unfortunately the GOG version of the game is a PC DOS port. I used to play this game on Amiga and Amiga emulator on Windows. The main difference is the MUSIC - nonexistant or made of terrible sounds on GOG version, while very atmospheric on Amiga. The alternative to GOG version is Amiga emulator - you get the music (full beauty of game intro!), a lot more customization with the emulator (controls!) and possibility to make a game save (through emulator menu) BUT at the cost of time (loading times, frequent switching of virtual floppy disks etc.) and general comfort of playing - that's what GOG version is better at. When it comes to graphics, I don't think there is any noticable difference.

I played this as a kid, not entirely understanding what was going on, only marvelling at the pixelated gore, the sound effects, the monster design, and it having some sort of local coop (more like versus, as it turned out). Never was I able to end it. When I revisited it via emulators as an adult, now able to read English, to get that it was indeed a hybrid of table-top/RPG/action game, where the final objective is to ascend to the heavens as the chosen knight of the druids, by completing a ritual that demanded reuniting the fragments of the "Moonstone", by traveling far and wide the lands represented in the gorgeous pixel-art of the game. But beware, becase rarely (if never) are those fragments unguarded, and most certainly, you're not the only knight in the same quest. TL:DR: Played dice in the tavern, earned enough coin to buy a bad ass sword, got chewed alive and swallowd by a fire-breathing dragon the next day. 10/10 Would recommend to everyone.