"i love the moon" - this game, probably

Summary
Crescent Prism (formerly known as Crescent Eve) is (planned to be) a 8-10 hour game centralizing on the moon in both it's story and gameplay. The game follows Lunita, the daughter of the Merryday Oracle, as she tries to accomplish... well, whatever it is she's trying to accomplish. We don't exactly get much information on what the game's really about in the demo that's been released.

Review Notes
Per usual with my reviews, I'll be grading the game (or, at least, the demo) on 4 categories, minus the Ending category since, well, the game isn't done yet. These categories are Story, Presentation, and Gameplay.

Story-wise, the game unfortunately doesn't give us much to go on (yet), but what we DO have seems very light on overall plot. As mentioned before, the game follows Lunita, a silent protagonist and also a young child. Her mother is Astrid, the oracle of Merryday Village. On the day before the Crescent Festival, the Summoner's Rod goes missing and Lunita is tasked with travelling into the local shopkeeper's basement to recover it from a putty pup named Maru. While in the basement, Lunita befriends Maru and finds a strange stone that a mysterious visitor with a television for a face wants. This strange person is actually Count Chroma, who seems to know of Astrid in some way. Shortly after this, the demo ends, leaving us on a pretty hefty cliffhanger. While I do wish we got more info on Count Chroma or the history of the Crescent Festival and just what it is, we sadly get very little of that. As such, I feel it too early to judge the story of the overall game, so the score for Story will be based off of what seems to be demo content. The characters are very colorful, though, and their designs and personalities are definitely the highlight of what we've seen so far. The demo is also somewhat paced pretty well, and there is a nice variety in both friends and foes.
Based on what we've seen so far, I'm going to give the Story of the demo a 7/10. What we've got is good but it still feels lacking in some regards.

Presentation
But, hey, there's still presentation! This game, to put it simply, is beautiful, from the graphics, to the music, to the map design, and right back around again. It's got that Torch60 flare we've all come to love with Soma Spirits and Brave Hero Yuusha EX, especially in the graphics department. The game is adorable as all hell, with each character sprite and enemy and tile being so defining it pops into your mind and nestles itself right in, making you feel very welcomed and cozy with this little game. Some of my favorite enemies are the Scorchpion, the Light Bulb enemies, and the secret Balancer boss. And, of course, the graphics aren't all that this game excels at in presentation. There's also the maps, which are just the right mix of big and small to make navigating them never that much of a chore. Side objectives like chests and secret bosses feel... worthwhile! There's a point to exploration, even if some of the maps are as linear as they are. And you can't forget the music, done by Agent Ape, which retains the styles used in Soma Spirits and Brave Hero Yuusha EX, but at the same time with it's own twist, giving each song it's own identity. My favorite song that we've got so far is Robot Rumble, but that isn't actually in the game and is only on the Bandcamp album. Oh, and there's also the song that plays during the fast-paced, tense opening, which is simply called "Chase" in the game's files. I really have no issues with presentation. It's a beautiful game. Presentation gets a 10/10.

Gameplay
Now, every RPG has gameplay, and Crescent Prism is no exception. Overworld-wise, it's your typical RPG Maker game. You can move in 4 directions on a tile-based map, being able to interact with objects on the map and open your menu, etc. Even in combat, it's very normal turn-based battles, although the game does introduce a twist in the Moon system, which is somewhat similar to other moon systems seen in games like Shin Megami Tensei. The moon cycles on it's own as you walk around, and the phase of the moon will affect how some battles play out. Enemies like the Light Bulb may change depending on the moon phase, and some equipment will have special effects if you have it equipped during a moon phase. The game (or at least the demo, so far) is pretty well-balanced in terms of stats and levels, though at times it does feel very easy, so if you're looking for a bit of a challenge, Crescent Prism probably won't offer that for you, at least not yet. Other than that, there's really nothing I'd say is wrong with the gameplay, so I'm giving it a 9/10.

Final Score
So, let's round up the scores.
Story - 7/10
Presentation - 10/10
Gameplay - 9/10
Final Score - 26/30 - 86% - 4.5/5

Conclusion
In conclusion, Crescent Prism is a beautiful game that I feel should definitely be played. And with Chapter 1 being released as a free standalone on the way, the future of this game does seem hopeful, despite it currently being on a hiatus.

- Starspire