Moon Diver (ムーンダイバー), originally titled Necromachina for its English release[2], is a 2D side-scrolling game developed by feelplus and published by Square Enix for download on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was designed by Kouichi Yotsui as his third action platform title, with Moon Diver drawing heavily from both the original Strider and Cannon Dancer in gameplay and design[3]. Isuke has openly stated the game can be seen as "a sequel to the action games [he has] made in the past".[4]
In February 2017, Moon Diver was included in the list of backward compatible titles for the Xbox One.[1]
Playable either alone or with up to 4 players simultaneously, the player(s) can select one of five different "Moon Divers", each with their own stat specialities: Seyfert, Hitori, Tolby, Ourion and the DLC character Silence. Moon Diver consists of a total of 12 expansive stages, each made up of several sections crawling with enemies and hidden areas, as well as hidden spells to collect.
Story[]
The five Moon Divers
Moon Diver is set in the year 2081 (33 years after Strider's setting in 2048), in a world that's suffering from severe overpopulation. One day, a mysterious youth known as Faust appeared, owner of the miraculous power to grant life to inanimate objects. Seeing humanity as a disgusting species and reaching the conclusion the Earth's creator God has left and humanity has no divine or higher purpose other than perpetuating its species, Faust raises an army of creatures and starts a crusade to eliminate the human race entirety, so he can repopulate the planet with the superior race he has created.
All efforts by the Human Resistance Army to stop or kill Faust have failed, and the army has all but lost the battle. When all seems lost, however, four young warriors suddenly appear and start a counterattack against Faust. Descending from an ancient extinct race referred to as "Spirits" or "Faeries" which once made a pact of mutual protection with the human race, the Moon Divers Seyfert, Hitori, Ourion and Tolby fight Faust's armies to honor their ancestor's pact and prevent humanity's total extinction.
Gameplay[]
Seyfert's attack arc
Moon Diver is an action-centered 2D side-scrolling platformer, but unlike its predecessors, it features light RPG elements as well. All five playable characters perform roughly the same, and control very much like Hiryu and Kirin did: they can perform acrobatic jumps and move in any direction, stick to and climb any surface or obstacle they encounter and use either quick slash attacks or a charged slash reminiscent of Hiryu's old Cypher strike. The Moon Divers, however, have a few extra options for mid-air movement and offensive, including a double jump, the ability to perform an aerial slide kick and the ability to strike enemies while flipping on top of platforms.
Players can also perform "Chain Kills", a count that appears after a number of enemies are killed in quick succession. Every time this count reaches 50 the player's HP and MP is fully restored.
The player's HUD is located at the top of the screen, showing in order from top to bottom:
- EXP (experience), an orange gauge that increases with defeated enemies.
- HP (life), a blue gauge which determines the character's health. When depleted in single player, the game is over and the player is returned to the stage select screen. In multiplayer, the character is instead captured in cursed chains of light and remains floating around until rescued by the other players by striking at the chains until they break. They have only 10 seconds to break the captured player free, and a game over is only achieved if there's no living player available to break the others free.
- MP (magic), a green gauge used for the MoonSault Combination spells.
- Score, showing the player's score during the current play.
Leveling and Spells[]
Four characters performing a combined MC
The characters have an experience gauge and they receive experience points by defeating enemies. Every time the character levels up their stats rise, their number of combo attacks increases and they receive 1 CP (Customise Point). The CP can later be used in the Character Development screen to raise the limit of the characters' three stats (HP, MP and POW). Each character has specific stat growths: Seyfert develops HP and MP well, Hitori excels at MP, all of Tolby's stats develop evenly, Ourion excels at Power and Silence is high-performance but develops slower.
Finally, scattered across stages are magic spells known as MoonSault Combinations (MC for short). Once found, they can be equipped to any character and used during gameplay. Each character can equip up to four different spells. There are several different kinds of MC to find, providing skills ranging from offensive spells (such as the ability to shoot projectiles at all directions or kill every enemy on screen) to defensive spells (such as becoming invisible to enemies or freezing all enemies on screen).
MoonSault Combinations can be performed alone, but in multiplayer one can request to perform a combined MC by holding down the button. A prompt will appear over the other characters, and when the button is pressed all characters will perform the specific MC together, with those who answered the call wasting no MP on the casting.
There are a total of 60 MoonSault Combinations to be found.
Stages[]
Earth during Act 3
The game consists of a total of 12 stages, separated into three distinct acts. Act 1 is set on the ruins of the city of Barcelona, where the Moon Divers made their first move against Faust's army. The act ends with the activation of the Moon Driver, a massive laser cannon installed on the moon, in an attempt to kill Faust. The laser goes through Earth, leaving a smoking crater where America once stood, but Faust ends up unscathed. Act 2 follows the Moon Divers into the Atlantic Ocean as they search for the all-purpose battleship "Independence" in order to stop Faust's minions from using it to reach the Moon Driver and take it over. The final act takes place in the ruins of America and has the Moon Divers searching across the wasteland in order to find and put an end to Faust for good.
Each stage is comprised of several different areas, each denoted by an unique title. Certain stages have areas with a number of different exit points that lead to different places, so multiple playthroughs are required to fully explore them. There are also hidden areas in secret places, often behind blockades of debris or walls which must be destroyed to proceed.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hryb, Larry (February 23, 2017). "official tweet". Accessed August 24, 2017
- ↑ Priest, Simon (January 07, 2011). " 'Necromachina' renamed 'Moon Diver', Now coming Spring 2011" (English). gamewatcher.com. Accessed April 13, 2021
- ↑ Staff (September 2011). "Moon Diver Interview with Kouichi Yotsui". Realmofgaming.com. Retrieved from archive.org. Accessed May 22, 2018
- ↑ Riley, Adam (April 27, 2011). "Kouichi Yotsui on Nintendo 3DS?". Cubed3. Accessed June 30, 2016.