King’s Field-inspired Lunacid has released out of Early Access

While I wasn’t looking, the King’s Field-inspired RPG, Lunacid has exited Early Access and launched its full version. This happened yesterday, October 30, 2023.

Why doesn’t Steam tell me these things? The game is in my Steam library. Does Steam think I don’t want to know when an Early Access game I own updates to its full 1.0 version? An email would be nice.

Rude, uncommunicative storefront aside, Lunacid is a first-person RPG dungeon crawler inspired by FromSoftware’s 1994 PS1 title, King’s Field. King’s Field is considered the spiritual precursor to Demon’s Souls and its follow-ups. Since we haven’t seen even a hint of a re-release, the formula and aesthetic is getting picked up by indie developers, and Lunacid is an early example of it.

I’m not sure how to describe it. King’s Field is more of a vibe than anything. A gritty, gloomy,  claustrophobic dungeon crawler with a hint of unknowable horror. While Demon’s Souls borrowed that vibe, King’s Field (and, by extension, Lunacid) is not a soulslike game. They’re more focused on exploration than intricate combat.

Developed by Kira, it entered Early Access in March 2022, and was gradually built up from there. Lunacid is an excellent title in its own right. Don’t take my word for it. It currently has the coveted Overwhelmingly Positive review score on Steam. The developer seems like a cool, cool person. They have promised more bug fixes in the future and have teased that they are working on a prequel.

Lunacid is now available on PC.