Volume 7: Descent Of Lunaris preview!
We have a real treat this month, folks – I expected to mostly be checking out dungeon-crawlers that already exist for this column, what with the size of our new, baby website and the subject matter being what it is. But I was approached with the chance to check out something completely new ahead of its planned 2026 release, something that is heavily inspired by the likes of Wizardry, Shin Megami Tensei, and even stuff like Yume Nikki. That’s a heck of a mix of influences, and if the early build I got to play is any indication, Descent of Lunaris (the debut work of developer Unison Games) has the potential to be a heck of a DRPG.
Descent of Lunaris is a gnarly, spooky, and ominous science fiction DRPG on its face, and one look at it makes the Shin Megami Tensei comparison obvious. It has Strange Journey written all over it. But the scenario is totally different, hinting more at elements of corporate greed, cosmic horror, preventable consequences of human behavior, things of that nature. It all starts with a fantastic new energy source humanity has discovered, and a strange signal that causes the automation equipment in a lunar mining site to go into murder mode. You play as a team of investigators tasked with diving in to see what the heck happened. As the Steam page alludes to, the answer is more than anyone would expect.
Before we go further I have to take a moment to eat some crow, and admit this preview had an interview attached, a really great interview with Game Director Blaise Stella, which was going to go up ahead of the column. Something went screwy with my OBS recording, and all of Blaise’s audio was lost to the abyss. We had an interesting conversation about Lunaris’ themes, the team’s stance on difficulty, the absurd volume of effort going into the environment art, and some asides about DRPGs like Labyrinth of Refrain and Wizardry Variants Daphne, proving that Unison Games knows ball. Sadly this is one abyss I can’t explore, so I have to apologize to Blaise, his team, and the publisher for goofing that up.
Anyway, it’s also important to note this preview build I played was quite early, and there were things like incomplete or placeholder assets, missing sound effects, and things of that nature. It was largely a vibe check, not an in-depth preview in which I’ll be going over every small detail of what I saw. But what I did see was cool! Also, I should note the screenshots here are from Steam.
The mood is effectively dark and creepy, and the art that is in place for the enemies is seriously rad. Lots of creepy robots with strange, dangly parts hitting a sweet spot between “intuitively normal sci-fi mining tech” and “something is not right here.” There’s also a creepy AI companion (the spooky eyeball thing in the key art and screenshots) that has “this thing’s involvement will go poorly” written all over it, which I am totally here for.
Moving around is grid-based, but Lunaris riffs on something the aforementioned Variants Daphne plays with, as enemies will spookily roam the environment as you move around, rather than just having random encounters.
Speaking of grids, one of the most fascinating things Lunaris does is move between “normal” DRPG combat, and a style that’s more like a tactical strategy RPG. For the most part, combat is that first-person, Wizardry-inspired style. But certain encounters are super serious, and that’s where the tactics board comes in. The mechanics still operate similarly, but movement and positioning becomes a factor, and you have to adjust your thinking to how your moves reach, and how your team’s vulnerability changes now that you aren’t just concerned about front and back row placement. It’s an interesting approach, and while I’m not as much a fan of tactics games as I am the DRPGs (hence the column!), it’s an effective “shit is now real” button to press, adding a new dimension to boss-like encounters besides higher, scarier numbers.
Numbers are important too though, and when it comes to your numbers, Lunaris uses a progression system similar to Etrian Odyssey (the comparison begins and ends there, no map-drawing here!). When you level up you get to spend points on a skill tree that’s mapped out with different progress gates, and each skill can be powered up with more points. That includes passives! I like this system and it’s nice to see a derivative take on it show up elsewhere – it goes a long way to clearly carve out identities for each class option. Especially when you’re navigating a sci-fi setting like this where you have more complex, in-universe jargon instead of “warrior,” “mage,” and the like. It’s also helpful because, due to limitations of the build, I couldn’t browse my party or have an easy way to manage equipment outside of the dungeon.
For the most part, the build is about the basics. You can explore the dungeon, fight baddies, run back to the surface to refuel, then go back down for more. You get some early tastes of the story, the tactical combat shift, and perhaps most importantly, the difficulty. During the interview, we talked about how tough Unison Games wants its game to be. DRPGs like Wizardry can be extremely punishing, which can scare potential newcomers away before they start. There are plans to have difficulty settings and whatnot, but as far as the preview build was concerned, it felt perfectly reasonable. The biggest takeaway beyond that is about the vibes, which are currently immaculate.
Based on the interview which you’ll just have to believe existed, and the preview build I played, I’m already well on board for diving down into the terrifying and mysterious Big Spooky Moon Mining Hole in Descent of Lunaris. I can’t wait to see how all the stuff that wasn’t ready for the preview is filled in and how it impacts and fleshes out the final game. Unfortunately I won’t get to take the plunge until sometime in 2026, but I have a feeling my patience will pay off in the end. Check it out for yourself, and hit that wishlist button for the love of the game.
Until next time, dungeon-delvers.
