Saga of the Moon Priestess | PS5

Role reversal is a thing these days, especially in the realm of entertainment. Sometimes it's all about a dude in distress instead of a damsel. As is the case of EastAsiaSoft's latest 'Legend of Zelda' inspired indie game, "Saga of the Moon Priestess".

The plot is simple, but the exploration grand in this isometric dungeon focused action adventure. You take on the role of a Goddess faithful moon priestess named Sarissa. The would be savior of the missing prince who in a moment of weakness gave into the whims of evil to save his kingdom. Armed with a spear, and the guidance of the Goddess herself Sarissa ventures forth talking to persons of interest as she solves puzzles and works her way through the maze laden map. Using additional key items obtained from won boss battles in region based dungeons to unlock the path forward.

If you've played the original "Legend of Zelda" game for the NES you'll have a good idea about how this game operates. Everything from the puzzle solving to combat, and maze traversal is similar. Your end goal being to travel from location to location on an overhead map conquering dungeon bosses while gaining abilities that will open up the rest of the world to you. Eventually pitting you against the main villain for prince rescue sake. 

In the game, as Sarissa, you are governed by a life bar that can be refilled with hearts, and upgraded by finding Goddess tears. You'll also find, along the way, red and blue orb currencies that can be spent in village shops for items to assist you on your journey. The dungeon encounters, and their bosses themselves harbor a familiar formula to the previously mentioned game with puzzle-like attack patterns and weaknesses. In regards to differences to the comparative inspiration the characters, story, and humor are unique to "Saga of the Moon Priestess". That and how you can only use one key item at a time through the OPTION menu's inventory. A convenient place were health restoration items and such are kept.

For what it is "Saga of the Moon Priestess" is a pixel perfect blend of the genre it imitates. Righting the wrongs of enemy respawns while adhering close to staple mechanics. All with larger sprites, and an in your face UI that sets it apart from what it aspires to be. In fact it seems to be a much bolder budget version of the dungeon crawling classics, but by design is lighter on the overall content. Nothing as involved. 

Even so it holds it's own, and dare I say it, but if this were released back in the day when "Legend of Zelda" was a thing it could have given said game a run for it's money. Although the contextual character conversations do seem a bit amateurish, and not so serious in nature by contrast. A sort of dry humor that is overly self-aware. Poking fun at it's own tropes, and likenesses. 

The Verdict ...

For a budget priced indie "Saga of the Moon Priestess" is still a worthy title for oldschool "Legend of Zelda" fans. While it obviously pales in comparison in some ways it is a game done well enough to warrant at least one playthrough. I do wish though that the developer had taken the game a little more seriously, and scripted a story that was more akin to fantasy adventures of old. Going the comedic route did hurt my impressions a bit.