This is the two hundredth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundredth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has put up a bounty, attracting fortune seekers from all across the land. It’s Moonstone Deep, by criacuervos, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Explore, make hard choices, fight!

That definitely sounds like a video game!

Reader, I must make a confession. The virtual dice did not actually roll Moonstone Deep. They rolled Benjamin of Blackstone Edge, which is the sequel to Moonstone Deep. This isn’t the first time in Scratching That Itch that I’ve rolled a sequel to another game that’s also in the bundle: it happened with Zenodyne R, Bleed 2, and my personal favorite pick from year one, Space Hole 2018. In those cases, I happily embraced the randomness and played the sequels even though I hadn’t played their predecessors. But those games weren’t story-heavy affairs, whereas Moonstone Deep and Benjamin of Blackstone Edge are: both are Japanese-style role-playing games, following the adventures of thief Ryan Manolesta and his friends. It seemed a waste to jump right into the sequel in this case, when I could play the games in order and experience the story as it was meant to be. So, I decided to play Moonstone Deep now, and Benjamin of Blackstone Edge as the next entry. Yes, that means that this entry is technically not random, but ultimately I felt it made sense to tackle these two games as a pair.

Both games are made with RPG Maker VX Ace. The RPG Maker series of game-making software has something of a reputation. It’s focused on making Japanese-style role-playing games that emulate those of the 16-bit era of consoles, and as such has limited ability to accommodate designs that break from that genre mold. It includes a suite of pre-made art assets (with many more available from various creators), as well as a ready-to-go menu system and combat system. That means it’s easy to use for those making their very first game, since they don’t have to worry about making their own art or doing too much coding of systems.

Hence the reputation: RPG Maker games are oft derided for being amateurish, all featuring the same recognizable tilesets and monster images, and made by people who don’t know what they’re doing. And, yes, there are a lot of pretty bad RPG Maker games out there. But there are also some gems. And I admit I have a soft spot for RPG Maker games, as I sampled quite a few of them in the late 2000s during graduate school, when the indie games boom hadn’t quite happened yet and I was looking for free games to play on a not-very-powerful laptop. They’re often rough, sure, but many of them display surprising imagination, and try things that break genre norms in ambitious ways.

Moonstone Deep recalls such games. It runs in a small 4:3 aspect ratio window by default, as so many RPG Maker games do, and even the semi-secret ALT+ENTER keyboard shortcut for fullscreen leaves some black bars around all sides on my high-resolution monitor. It’s got those signature RPG Maker menus, and uses a lot of stock RPG Maker art. Townsfolk are often shown in chibi style, but major characters instead use much larger sprites taken from 3D models (from another asset pack), resulting in a weird clash. Enemies are based on 3D models too, but the battle system is clearly the RPG Maker default, with its first-person viewpoint (a la the Dragon Quest series) and set of attack effect animations. The writing can be inconsistent and confusing, and there are some buggy bits (more on those later). But Moonstone Deep does a lot of things I appreciate.

For one, there’s the matter-of-fact story. Where so many Japanese-style role-playing games lean into tropes about chosen ones and prophecies and world-ending threats, Moonstone Deep deals with more mundane motivations. As it opens, protagonist Ryan Manolesta is a bit short on cash, but he’s heard the town of Moonstone Deep has been been having some problems, and there might be some “opportunities” there. Upon arrival, he learns that their mine is closed due to a monster infestation, and they’re offering a reward for whoever can clear it out. Ryan’s not the only interested party: there are other mercenaries scattered about, and chatting with them is refreshingly workmanlike. Are you here for the bounty? What weapons do you fight with? I’m forming a crew to head into the mine, want to join? The story does get far more involved than an infested mine, but it never loses this sense of pragmatism, nor the focus on one town rather than the whole world.

I also like the location design. Instead of sprawling dungeons full of twisting corridors separated by a black void (taken up, presumably, by solid rock), Moonstone Deep’s locations are small, laid out in a practical way, and dense with things to find. Buildings actually use up all of their interior space, with different rooms that have (or had) clear purposes. Even the mines are believable, featuring areas where the miners slept and ate, as well as a logical arrangement of tunnels with mine carts. Players have a limited choice of which mercenaries to bring along at each point in the story, and they’ll chatter away as they explore, remarking on different rooms or other notable things. There are also lots of chests filled with useful equipment and items, so players are able to upgrade frequently.

Equipment is useful for battles, naturally, but these aren’t as frequent as in many Japanese-style role-playing games. I believe that most of them are not random, occurring instead at specific spots. The combat system doesn’t have anything I haven’t seen before in other games, but it makes for nice tactical decisions. A few characters can cast magic using a standard pool of magic points, but most special abilities are instead powered by “TP” which must be built up during the battle. Dishing out and taking damage grants a character TP, and once they have enough they can unleash powerful attacks or other useful moves. This is satisfying design: the most impressive abilities need a bunch of TP, so in simple battles players might opt for less flashy moves. But if someone takes a huge hit, they’ll also earn a bunch of TP so they can strike back with their own powerful attacks. Characters also gain levels quickly, so there are always new abilities to try out. At one point, my entire party gained several levels just for reaching the next part of the story. Moonstone Deep feels generous, instead of locking progress behind grind like so many of its genre-mates do.

But the most impressive thing about Moonstone Deep are the choices that can branch the story. Most Japanese-style role-playing games feature intricate but linear storylines for players to follow, ultimately leaving little room for player choice. Here, however, there are many moments when characters find their goals at odds with one another, and players must decide what to do, and who to side with. These choices can lead to different locations and events, so two players might experience entirely different things at certain points in the game. Almost like a miniature version of the famous second act split in The Witcher 2. The itch.io page for Moonstone Deep advertises a “good” and “bad” ending, but there are many smaller permutations of each, based on which characters one befriends or opposes. Some can even become outright enemies.

I loved that there are so many possibilities, but unfortunately this ambitious design leads to a bunch of problems. I ran into a lot of continuity bugs as I played, where (for example) entering a building at a certain point in the story would reset the town to an earlier point, so I had to either repeat stuff I’d already done or load an earlier save. This happened often enough that I started to think other things were bugs, like when I needed to speak to the church organist so I went to the church, only to be barred from entry with a message telling me to speak with the organist first. Yeah, that’s what I was trying to do! Turns out the organist is inexplicably in another part of town at that point. At other times I found myself stuck because I’d exited a room before doing something there, and it was (bizarrely) impossible to enter again. Players are well advised to save early and often.

The thing that bothered me the most, however, was actually related to the writing. At one point in the story I ran into a situation that asked me to choose between leaving a character behind in captivity, or fighting a losing battle. This situation came out of nowhere, as did some hints at romance with the character in question (although, to be fair, I hadn’t picked that character in the earlier parts of the game, so maybe there were some hints at romance that I missed). Well, I wasn’t about to leave a colleague behind, unconvincing romance or not, but I quickly lost the battle. Again and again. This annoyed me enough that I loaded an earlier save and did some grinding — having found one area where random battles can occur — making smart use of my team’s special abilities to stay alive and healthy almost indefinitely. I gained a lot of levels and unlocked new abilities, and then returned to try the battle again. It was epic and hard-fought, but I emerged victorious! Only to find my adversary still there afterwards. As if nothing had happened. I simply faced the exact same dialogue about leaving the character behind again.

It turns out this “choice” is not a choice at all: there’s no option but to leave this character behind. And if it had just been written into the story, without any choice offered, I would have found it easier to accept. Instead, I felt tricked into “choosing” it, even though there’s really no other option. This also sets up an unconvincing branch point, in which some of the team want to mount a rescue mission, and others want to abandon the character and proceed with the original plan. I chose the rescue mission, of course, which set me down a path that led to what I consider the best ending. But some of the more interesting events only happen on the other story path, and it was annoying to get forcibly derailed from that, with such a sudden and strange twist that I should have been able to prevent.

Other players may not be as bothered by this incident, but they’re still likely to encounter a sequence-breaking bug or two, which makes it hard to recommend Moonstone Deep. And yet, I still kind of liked it. I like how each of its characters have their own agenda. I like its fast pace, dishing out new abilities and equipment regularly. I like its locations, which are full of interesting things to discover and almost devoid of filler. And I love its ambition in offering a story that can go in so many directions. The writing has weak spots — and at one point rather bluntly describes some historical atrocities that should have come with trigger warnings — and there are far too many bugs, but I still had a good time overall. Playing Moonstone Deep felt like returning to my graduate school days, sifting through weird free RPG Maker games I saw mentioned in online forums. Like those games, it’s a bit rough, but full of heart.

If you also have a soft spot for Japanese-style role-playing games, and you aren’t put off by a little jankiness and some bugs, you might find you enjoy Moonstone Deep too. If you missed it in the bundle, it’s sold for a minimum price of $6.

That’s a cool 200 down, and only 1541 to go! And we already know that the next pick will be the sequel to Moonstone Deep, Benjamin of Blackstone Edge. Stay tuned!