Developer Little Chicken knows it isn’t launching the first farming life sim players have seen. Publisher XSEED understands this, too, having published a handful of games in this genre itself. The difference-maker, as I’ve written in the past about games like farming sims, is what you do to stand apart from the rest. I’m happy to say that Moonlight Peaks does a stellar job of making itself feel original, while still hitting beats that cozy gamers and farming sim fanatics will find enjoyable. Here’s our Nintendo Switch 2 review of Moonlight Peaks.

Moonlight Peaks begins with a simple setup. Your vampire character, whom you create using a decent character creator system, is running away from home. At odds with your father, you head back to where your mother is originally from, Moonlight Peaks. A quaint town of werewolves, witches, mermaids, and more, you move into a rundown cabin that your family owns and seek to build a better life out of the shadow of your father. It’s a quick onboarding for what turns out to be a really great little town.

The NPCs in Moonlight Peaks are my second-favorite part of the game as a whole. The characters you befriend and can potentially romance are really well crafted and play well into the messy diversity of a town full of eerie inhabitants. The seven families you meet, including parents and children, all have different quests, stories, and secrets. Uncovering these is a blast as you work to restore your cabin to its former glory. That includes everything from crafting, farming, fishing, mining, and all of the other greatest hits of a farming life sim.

I buried the lede a bit with my second-favorite part of the game being the NPCs. The most enjoyable aspect of this game is its spooky setting and atmosphere. From raising livestock that are magical to the ability to turn your cabin into a gothic dream, I couldn’t be more into the aesthetic of this game. I do not need another plaid-wearing, cowboy hat-donning character in my farm sims. I’m so much happier trading those in for a fanged protagonist who not only deals with her own family drama but also works through the issues that seem to haunt the families of Moonlight Peaks.

Arranging flowers, making potions, and even embroidering are such wonderful enhancements to the overall experience that fit seamlessly into the lifestyle you’re living. I think there are elements of the controls and little hiccups here and there that do point to a bit of fine-tuning. For example, I’ve had some item issues that are being patched as we speak, according to a notice from the dev team. Beyond these little things, there isn’t much I don’t love about the game. I think if there are any qualms here, it’s just the art and aesthetic take center stage over anything particularly additive to the sim life experience.

Moonlight Peaks falls short of becoming a quintessential farming life sim experience, but if you enjoy the chibi art style at first glance or the idea of a spooky coat of paint on your farm fantasy, you are in good hands with this game. I can’t wait to replay it again closer to Halloween, and I could see it becoming a seasonal tradition for me to hop in, make a new character, and spend more time with the wonderful cast of characters in this eerie town.

A Nintendo Switch 2 review copy of Moonlight Peaks was provided by XSEED Games for this review.

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Moonlight Peaks

39.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Incredible use of the spooky aesthetic to enhance the faming life sim experience
• Chibi characters look wonderful
• Memorable, and lovable, NPCs
• Good use of narrative in-between the tasks of running your farmstead

Cons

• Minor bugs that should be worked out
• Nothing groundbreaking in terms of a new level of the genre