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Moonray Is A Surrealist Soulslike That Looks Mind-Warping

We are not the same

Dying and coming back to life is inherently alien to us as, mostly, mortal beings. I’m only putting mostly there in case there are some gods or otherworldly beings casually reading this humble site and going “how dare you, I’m going to live forever”, and they’re actually correct. It’s one of the things that make the soulslike genre oddly meditative in its approach. You die and come back to life in most games, but it’s different when it’s meant to be part of the experience.

Moonray is a soulslike game, but it doesn’t look like one. It looks like a walking simulator; it’s set in a world defined by viscous liquids, abstract shapes, impossible geometry, and monochromatic people. It’s not one that screams terror, or pain, or disaster at you; it’s more subtle than that. There’s no inherent fear in the world, it’s beautiful, distractingly so, and that could make for one of the most interesting iterations on the soulslike formula yet.

The crux of any game is its gameplay, and while the trailer shows some off, specific mechanics and how it actually feels will remain a mystery until Moonray hits Early Access July 2nd. It is, however, definitely one worth keeping an eye on, even if the only reason to do so is to look for your next phone background. If there’s more to this than meets the eye, then this is going to be a transcendent experience, and I’m very excited to see if it manages it.