Moons of Madness

An immersive re-imagining of H. P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness for the 21st century. I found it so gripping that I stayed up all night with my controller in hand to finish it!

The game's best moments are the slow-paced ones, in which you explore an evocative area, read notes, and learn about the backstory. There's also some good voice acting to add some meat on those bones. Indeed, most of the game is in this "walking simulator" mode, with some fetch quests as well as some simple but satisfying puzzles, which are mostly there to give you a reason to explore.

The game's worst moments are when it tries to add "action": a few chase scenes and even a quick-time event. These didn't give me much trouble, but they didn't give me much pleasure, either. The cheap jump scares are also not my cup of tea.

I've seen a few people complain about the story being cliché. Well, duh! All Lovecraftian stories have pretty much the same structure, tone, atmosphere, and pacing. It's pulp horror, and you either love it or you hate it. For fans, I strongly recommend Moons of Madness as an excellent specimen of the genre. It mixes personal narratives of madness with alien Mythos lore and serves it all in a beautifully designed milieu. Lovely.

That said, there is some excess. There are scenes in which the story reaches a bit too far and strays into "let's just throw this in" B-movie territory. The devs could have used a bit more self-editorial restraint. And yet I feel this is a petty complaint. As a whole everything gels together beautifully.

I thoroughly enjoyed and strongly recommend it!