A New Take on Moonlighter’s Shopkeeping Adventure
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault arrives seven years after the original game with a clearer vision and a more refined core loop. You once again play as Will, a shopkeeper who doubles as a dungeon delver, heading into dangerous randomized areas to gather loot and then selling it in his store for profit.
The basic idea has not changed. You dive into dungeons, fight monsters, fill your backpack with relics and treasures, return to town, and turn that haul into gold. Then you spend that gold upgrading your gear, expanding your shop, and unlocking new options before venturing back out. It is a classic roguelite loop built around risk and reward, but wrapped in a cozy shop sim presentation.
What has changed is the landscape of similar games and the influences Moonlighter 2 wears on its sleeve. Where the first game shared shelf space with titles like Enter the Gungeon and The Binding of Isaac, the sequel clearly draws inspiration from modern hits like Hades. Combat is now isometric, the town of Tresna acts as a social hub, and you slowly get to know its residents between runs.
Tresna has that familiar home base feeling that many modern action roguelites chase. You return here after every expedition to upgrade, chat and plan your next move. It feels like a respectable stand in for the House of Hades or similar hubs, with its own cast of merchants and townsfolk to get to know.
Combat, Inventory and the New Dungeon Loop
One of the biggest improvements in Moonlighter 2 is how it handles inventory and crafting resources. In the first game, juggling all your loot could be stressful, since every item chewed up valuable backpack space. In The Endless Vault, most crafting materials no longer live in your visible inventory at all. They go straight into an invisible storage pool, leaving your backpack focused almost entirely on the valuable relics you plan to sell.
This small change has a big effect. It makes dungeon runs feel less like a constant game of inventory Tetris and more like a focused hunt for the best relics. You still need to be smart about what you pick up and how you manage your space, but you are not punished as heavily for collecting the materials needed for upgrades. That push toward a less stressful loop is where Moonlighter 2 edges into cozy territory.
Combat itself is more dynamic than before. The isometric perspective gives it a closer feel to Hades, with a focus on movement, timing, and learning enemy patterns. As you progress you will earn upgrades that improve Will’s combat abilities and open new options for dealing with the dungeon’s monsters. These choices matter because fighting well is the only way to secure the relics you need to grow your shop and your bank account.
The constant tension in Moonlighter 2 comes from how many directions the game pulls you once you return from a successful run. There are many ways to spend your hard earned gold, including:
- Upgrading weapons and armor for better dungeon performance
- Expanding your shop so you can sell more items at once
- Buying decorations to make your store more appealing
- Unlocking extra inventory slots and backpack patches
- Investing in character upgrades and other improvements
With so many money sinks, it is easy to feel pulled in every direction. Do you become a better fighter, a bigger merchant, or just make your store more stylish? That balancing act can trigger analysis paralysis, especially if you are the type of player who wants to make every gold coin count.
Shopkeeping, Coziness and Early Access Potential
The shop side of Moonlighter 2 should feel familiar to fans of the first game. You place items on display, set your prices, then watch customers react and adjust accordingly. Over time you learn the sweet spot for each relic, aiming to squeeze out maximum profit without scaring buyers away.
Interestingly, some systems from an earlier demo build of Moonlighter 2 did not make it into the current early access version. That earlier version featured bartering with customers and collectible boosts and charms that could tweak your profits. In the early access release, these have been swapped out for a perk system that lines up more closely with the dungeon gameplay.
This change is likely to divide opinions. Players who enjoyed the more hands on haggling system might miss it, but the simpler pricing and perk approach keeps the shopkeeping relaxed. You do not need to bargain with every customer, and that can make the game feel cozier and less exhausting across long play sessions.
That word cozy carries a lot of baggage in 2025. Steam is flooded with games tagged as cozy, from farm sims to relaxed life management titles. Moonlighter 2 has plenty of cozy flavors: decorating your shop, chatting with Tresna’s residents, gently tuning your prices. But at its heart this is still a story about a merchant driven by profit. Gold is king and progress is locked behind how much of it you can feed into the Endless Vault.
Because everything good in Moonlighter 2 comes from making and then spending money, the game can create a low level anxiety that clashes with its softer surface. You are always aware of what you still need to buy and which upgrades you have to chase next. Some players will love that constant sense of goals and progression. Others may feel that it clashes with the calm experience they expect from a cozy tagged title.
Moonlighter 2 is still in early access, which means the developers at Digital Sun have room to tune the balance, deepen systems, and respond to player feedback. Right now the game’s biggest challenge is standing out in a crowded field of roguelites and shop sims that have already nailed their formulas. The loop of exploring, looting, and selling is satisfying and the town of Tresna has charm, but the game also risks feeling like a blend of other hits rather than its own fully confident identity.
Even so, for players who enjoyed the original or who like the idea of a hybrid between fast dungeon runs and relaxed shop management, Moonlighter 2 is already tempting. The foundation is solid, the structure is familiar yet improved, and there is a clear vision waiting to be fully realized. If Digital Sun can use the early access period to sharpen its individual systems and better connect its cozy shopkeeping with its profit driven progression, Moonlighter 2 could grow into a standout entry in the roguelite and management space.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/moonlighter-2-made-me-reckon-with-how-cozy-a-shopkeeping-roguelite-with-a-heavy-helping-of-hades-can-get/
