I adored Moonlighter when I first played it on Switch, but as I browsed the list of new features that the Between Dimensions DLC promised whilst it downloaded, admittedly, I wasn’t feeling overly enthused. The concept of a new story set after the events of the main game didn’t have me sold, since the original plot had left me feeling underwhelmed, and otherwise, one new dungeon, some new enemies and weapons didn’t really strike me as a game-changer. Oh how wrong I was.
What the features list didn’t mention was that this wasn’t just any dungeon. This was a ten floor long dungeon. The first time I used my pendant to escape, preserving the precious new artefacts I’d found (and thinking I was doing quite well having already conquered half of the second floor), I gawked as the summary page revealed to me quite how far I had left to go.
I suppose I should have expected a bit of a twist from it being called an ‘interdimensional’ dungeon, but a dungeon over three times the usual length wasn’t what I had in mind. However, I am not complaining in the slightest.
The sheer length of the dungeon isn’t the only twist that the DLC has to offer, either. There are a number of new things that have been included to really make your experience on this colossal new adventure much more manageable and enjoyable.
At the end of every floor you’ll encounter a mysterious hooded figure, the Slime Alchemist, who will sell you potions and other services in exchange for money and ‘slime chunks’, a new currency dropped by enemies in the interdimensional dungeon.
On every second floor you’ll be able to pay him to unlock a shortcut, meaning you can warp straight to that floor when you re-enter the dungeon. This might sound like a small thing, but it does so much to make this colossal dungeon feel far more manageable and less overwhelming.
You can also find weapon blueprints for brand new ‘Trick Weapons’, dropped by the mini-bosses that lurk on the even numbered floors. Take these back to the Slime Alchemist, and you can use your slime chunks to unlock them in his shop, to buy from him anytime you want in the future. These weapons disappear as soon as you leave the dungeon, but have some really interesting quirks, from shooting poison to increasing item drops, for you to utilise while they last. After unlocking them, you might also occasionally find them dropped by the mini-bosses, which will save you your slime chunks.
The implementation of these new features honestly made the interdimensional dungeon feel more like a whole new mode to me, rather than just another dungeon tacked onto the end of the base game. Getting the random weapon drops when I’d not upgraded my new ones yet gave me that extra boost to keep pushing forward, and encouraged me to try and nab more of the rarer artefacts. The thrill of being able to venture floor after floor without having to leave because I was running out of potions was exhilarating, and it felt like a true adventure rather than one that was constantly interrupted, as the base game occasionally did to me.
Of course, all these new additions rely on collecting slime chunks, which, by the way, disappear when you leave the dungeon, so you have to start collecting them again from scratch when you go back in. I personally really loved this though, as each enemy might only drop five chunks, and the better potions might cost you up to 100; it really gives a strong incentive to take out as many enemies as possible instead of just dodge rolling past them when there isn’t a locked door.
It could be argued this is more grind heavy, and at times I did find my time in the dungeon to be dragging on, especially as I took out every last enemy in order to unlock the last shortcut. At the end of the day though, all these bonuses are optional, and if you’d prefer to just breeze through the best you can without relying on them, that’s completely up to you (which is something else I really loved about the way these features were implemented).
Outside of the dungeon, you’ll also be able to unlock a new NPC in town; the ICT Trader. His shop is home to numerous rare artefacts that you can’t find in the dungeons, but will inevitably need for your later weapon and armour upgrades. Instead of simply buying his wares though, you have to haggle for them with your other artefacts. Customers can also approach you in your own shop to offer you artefacts that you have to haggle for.
Personally, I wasn’t that sold on haggling; it added something a bit different, but there didn’t really seem to be much technique to it. The artefacts the hagglers want in return are completely random, and the extent to which you can push for a better deal (in some cases, completely ripping someone off) fluctuates massively too. This meant that there was no real way to plan ahead for getting your hands on those sweet upgrades, and it was left up to chance instead. It felt a bit like it just served as a roadblock for getting them too fast, which would be fine if, as I said, acquiring them didn’t feel quite so random. It didn’t deter from the experience for me, though.
Let’s talk lore. Despite all its charm and mystery, the story in the base game of Moonlighter honestly didn’t have me hooked. I was satisfied to reach the end of the game, but felt rather perplexed at the events that unfolded, and felt as if I’d missed something important earlier on, as it all just felt rather…Sudden.
While Between Dimensions’ story still isn’t a masterpiece, I personally found it far more enthralling. Without going into spoilers, the way the lore was built up throughout the dungeon and concluded at the end was lovely, and was more how I expected the base game to have handled its story. If you felt yourself craving something more in the plot department after finishing the main game, I definitely recommend playing the DLC even if only to scratch that itch.
So, to answer the question, is it worth it? I feel like it’s quite obvious at this point that my response to that is a loud, enthusiastic “yes!!!” In terms of length alone, it took me around 10 hours to get through all the floors, having unlocked all the shortcuts and, I believe, having collected all the weapon blueprints. Admittedly rogue-likes aren’t my forte, so veterans to the genre may find themselves flying through much faster. However, I hadn’t unlocked all the new weapons and armour, far from it in fact, so completionists will be looking at a far longer runtime.
If you enjoyed Moonlighter, but were left wanting a more satisfying story, more cool stuff to collect, but most importantly, more of the game (with a fun new twist to boot), I couldn’t recommend Between Dimensions enough. The content you get for the price tag is phenomenal; I can confidently say I enjoyed my experience with this more than I did the main game, and that’s saying something, because I loved that too.
On one last note though, please can a confirmation box be added for when you accidentally slip your Merchant Mirror over one of your equipped weapons or pieces of armour? Yes, something happened in the making of this article. No, I don’t want to talk about it.
5/5 stars.
