Apparently it isn’t enough for some indie developers to merely tackle combining two genres together into something new, they’re instead determined to sort of “kitchen sink” a ton of ideas and styles into one experience. Moons of Darsalon is one such title, and the result is a bit of a challenge to fully and fairly describe as its ultimate style of play is so eclectic. While you can see some obvious inspirations from the likes of the classic Lemmings or perhaps some of the OddWorld titles, there’s plenty here that’s simply different, and I’d imagine feelings will be mixed depending on the player.

At its base, your general goal in each stage will be to help liberate some of your comrades from captivity, hopefully rescuing at least most, if not all, of them successfully. How you’ll do that, and the obstacles and challenges you’ll need to face to do so, will vary pretty wildly, and that’s where most of the enjoyment (and possible frustration) in the game lies. Whether it’s having to carve through rock to create passages, pick off enemy aliens who are shooting at you, provide some vehicular support, and more, the greatest strength here is the sheer variety of problems you’ll face mixed with the surprising number of skills your protagonist hero possesses when needed.

What will likely be the dividing factor between loving and being less enthused with the gameplay for players, will be your fellow space adventurers and their many quirks. Whether the issue is them randomly getting stuck or falling down at times, getting scared in the dark, or simply feeling like they have a mind of their own, you’ll either find those moments weirdly endearing or absolutely infuriating. You do have the ability to try to give them your limited number of commands to help guide their actions, but how well they execute those commands is perpetually a good question. There are absolutely times where the responsibility is on you to improve the conditions they find themselves in, but they’re also very capable of screwing up all on their own. Thankfully, for the most part level completion doesn’t require everyone surviving the journey to freedom, but if you prefer to be a completionist this may break your resolve rather quickly.

Throw all of this together with a completely unique take on early computer graphics that’s quite technical under the hood, use of a voice synthesizer that really took me back a few decades, and some surprising variety and it’s absolutely in a class all its own. Whether or not it may be the sort of experience you’re looking for, and your patience can tolerate, may well be another matter. Regardless, I applaud another game on the eShop that is willing to chart its own course and brings together some classic flavor with new ideas to make something thoroughly different.