Interesting storyline!
Cute and fun
Great potential!
It’s pretty obviously still in development but they need to work on:
-localization errors/wrong message issues
-making a way to earn the steller gems through chats. If you put locked content in the main game (ex pics) making a way to earn gems is a must. Otherwise players will be alienated. Don’t be like the ssum lol.
Anyway, thank you dev team! Looking forward to the other routes~
So Charming
과금유도..
Fun game but
Passion for the game shines through
Response from developer
Your words truly melted our hearts! 🥹 Thank you so much for deeply understanding our unique vision and the passion we pour into this game. It honestly means the world to us that you felt our "delicate care" and recognized the direction we want to take. We want to be transparent with you—we are a small team developing this game while working our day jobs. Because of this, our updates might be a bit slower than others. However, we promise that we will use that time to craft every scenario and detail with love and precision, ensuring the quality you deserve. We are currently working hard on Jiwon and Sooha’s endings, and we can't wait to share them with you! We are always so grateful to every "Finder" who is with us now, and to those who will join us in the future. We will always remember the love and support you have shown us. Please stay tuned! 💖
Great game!
Response from developer
Thank you so much! It makes us incredibly happy to hear that you’re enjoying the game! We’re a small indie team, so hearing that it feels addicting and underrated truly means the world to us. Thank you for supporting Moonlight Dialogue — we’ll keep working hard to make every moment you spend with us special! 🌙✨ If you ever have feedback or just want to share your favorite character, we’d love to hear from you anytime! 💬💕💕💕💕💕💕
A few days later… (read that like the spongebob narrator, I beg thee)
Okay here we go… I initially reviewed this game with a 5/5 on day 1 of playing it. But now that I’m ending day3/starting day 4 in game (not started, about to)… I have a lot to say. This is gonna be an essay, folks, so buckle up.
1. Most pictures (about 85% of them) are price locked. This is too many. They cost about 15-20 gems to unlock—some more… and 20 gems is 60 cents in the in-game store. When there’s 5 or more images locked per day, or almost one per conversation… that would be like 100 gems, which you could buy 120 gems for 5 bucks… you’d have to do that every day… nah.
2. All extra calls are price locked as well (you get 1-2 per day that are free AKA the characters called you rather than you called them). They’ll also have “missed” calls appear that you have to pay to unlock. The cost of all calls is 15 gems. Refer to pricing in #1 as to why that’s a bit annoying. There’s 6 characters total in the game so far. If you wanted to call each character just ONCE a day, you’d have to spend 90 gems.
3. They do give you a free way to earn gems! But, THERE IS A SERIOUS ISSUE with this. You earn hearts in text conversations by selecting the right dialogue options, and the system requires 200 hearts (“rapport cores” is their official name) per 1 gem (“stellar gem”). This is the only way to earn gems that I’ve found. But is the game generous with hearts? Well, how many hearts do I have after 4 IRL days of not missing a single story beat, aside from ones that were paywalled? 80 hearts… not even enough for one single gem. I’d have to replay four days almost 3 times to afford one gem (which would take 12 days total, for one gem earned through hearts, if I just made all the same choices). But, it gets worse. One gem isn’t enough to unlock ANYTHING. One phone call? 15 gems, right? I’d need 3,000 hearts. So I’d have to play the first four days 37.5 times… essentially, repeating all the same choices for 150 DAYS straight, JUST to get enough gems for a SINGLE call. Let me remind, that’s one call. There’s 6 characters to call. If I wanted to call all 6 of them ONCE, I’d need 90 gems. 18,000 hearts. 225 play throughs of days 1-4… that’s 900 real-life days of play time just for one call per character. Almost 2.5 years. And if you wanted to do that for every character, every day, JUST in the first four days of the game? That’s 24 calls, requiring 360 gems… you’d need 72,000 hearts just to accomplish that. If you only make an average of 80 hearts in 4 days (which I’m sure isn’t the maximum, but that’s how much I made with genuine effort)… You’d have to play 900 rounds of days 1-4, repeating the first 4 days over and over for 3,600 days total. That’s almost a DECADE—9.8 YEARS. JUST TO MAKE 24 PHONE CALLS, FOR FREE. Or, buy the “season 1”(???) call pass for 454 gems… the nearest pricing to that is the 532 gems in the store for $19 USD. Or.. pay with 90,800 hearts… requiring about 1,135 playthroughs of days 1-4… 4,540 days total of gameplay… 12.4 YEARS of daily work… for a phone call pass JUST for season 1… I sincerely hope I just haven’t unlocked a way to grind for gems yet, because these totals are literally insane.
4. Ads. They give you a set number of tasks to do in a day, which are just timers, which is their version of making you wait to unlock story beats. However, there aren’t enough per day to unlock all daily story beats. You run out of tasks by evening and have to watch 3 ads. But it isn’t just 3 ads… it’s 9. Three ad segments, containing 3 ads total. That’s fine, I suppose, I’ve experienced far more on other games. But at the end of day 3, I’ve watched all the ads and finished all tasks but still can’t progress. I’m guessing I have to wait 24 hours, thus why I counted this as a fourth unofficial day in my earlier math.
5. THE TEXTS. MOVE. SO. SLOW. Like, I counted 7-10 seconds between texts on the fastest speed. Maybe I read too fast, but it’s just unbearably slow when the messages are often VERY short (a few words or a single sentence/phrase) and twenty-ish messages (sometimes more, sometimes less) are sent by characters before you can select your reply. Of course, some messages are a bit longer, but only 2 sentences or so, and those are infrequent. I honestly just have to set my phone down and walk away and do stuff between waiting for my choices.
6. On the topic of the texts… everyone’s messages kinda… flat? Boring? There’s some personality, but most of the characters have a sort of default style that removes a lot of individuality. And really, it doesn’t make the writing very compelling in the chats. I think the font/UI choices are largely to blame for the lack of uniqueness in the texts, due to the same font being used for all the characters…
7. If you want to skip ALL the fussing with speeding up in the text system, wait times, watching ads.. 1,134 gems is the suggested bundle. The nearest thing in the in-game store to afford that is 1806 gems, worth $60 USD. You can use the leftover gems to buy the 454 gem call pass, too. And you’ll have 218 gems left over. But… $60 is the price of a new, completely finished game on Steam. Arguably, you can pay that much to unlock all the content on Mystic Messenger too, but on that game, you really don’t have to. It’s completed, free to play WITHOUT ads (last I played). (Sorry to bring up MM, but these games are direct competitors and MM gives WAY more gem-equivalent, “hourglasses” for free as you play.)
I had 15 points written out, but these are my top 7.
Basically… This game needs more time in the oven. Idk if they mentioned it was unfinished somewhere online… but playing it feels like I’m playing a beta test that keeps asking me to pay for more features. The heart-gem system needs a serious overhaul if they want F2P players to enjoy the game. (I sincerely hope I just haven’t yet discovered the best method to grind for hearts/gems…)
Thanks for reading this far
Response from developer
Hello, and thank you so much for writing such an incredibly detailed review. We truly appreciate the time, care, and passion you put into analyzing your experience. We are listening, and we want to address your concerns with full transparency. 1. The "Hidden" Way to Play for Free (Calls & Gems) You mentioned that calls feel “pay-locked,” and the math for earning Gems feels impossible. We completely understand why this caused frustration. However, there is a misunderstanding due to our lack of explanation: Incoming Calls are FREE: You do not need Gems if you wait in the Talk List at the correct time. They can be answered for free in real-time. TP Activities: Hearts are not the only way. Using the TP station allows you to earn Gems much faster than the math you calculated. This lack of guidance is our mistake, and we are working on improved tutorials to make this clear. 2. Clarification on Progress & Ads (Why you got stuck) We noticed you felt stuck even after completing tasks. Here is a tip on how the system works to help you progress smoother: TP Activities: These reset every in-game day. If they are locked, it means you completed them for the current day. Ads Cooldown: Unlike TP, free Ad watches reset every 24 hours (real-time) After you consume 3 chances. Strategic Tip: Since Ads and StellarGems can skip a chat regardless of its TP cost, we recommend saving your Ad chances for the most expensive TP chats. We designed this flow to ensure everyone can eventually enjoy the ending for free, but we realize the current waiting period might feel too restrictive. We will look into adjusting this balance. 3. Who We Are & Why This Game Exists We want to be honest with you: We are a tiny indie team, working day jobs to pay for development at night and on weekends. Every call, every piece of art, every line of voice acting is a cost we personally carry to bring this story to life. "Moonlight Dialogue" is built on love for storytelling first, revenue second. If profit were our only goal, we would simply focus on our day jobs. We chose to make this game because we believe in this story. While we have to balance costs, we never intended to burden your enjoyment. We acknowledge where we fell short, and your feedback helps us fix that. While we have to balance costs, we never intended to burden your enjoyment. We acknowledge where we fell short, and your feedback helps us fix that. 4. Final Words: We’re not finished. Moonlight Dialogue is actively evolving — and you just influenced its future. Criticism like yours is not a setback — it’s momentum. Thank you for playing, for supporting an indie dream, and for helping make Moonlight Dialogue better.
Game has potential but everything is paid
Response from developer
Thank you so much for playing and for sharing your honest thoughts! We’re really glad the game gives you those Mystic Messenger vibes — that’s a huge compliment to us! We totally understand your concerns about paywalls. To clarify a few things that may not have been explained well in the game: Phone calls can be answered for FREE If you wait in the chat list at the scheduled call time, incoming calls can be received without spending any StellarGems. Ads allow you to progress without paying You can continue the story and unlock daily chats by using the ad missions — no purchases required to move forward! StellarGems are mainly for optional bonus content like additional calls and extra photos for those who want more interaction with their favorite characters. But we agree that the story should feel enjoyable on its own, too — and we are actively improving progression balance and reward flow so it feels much better. Thank you again for taking the time to let us know how you feel — we’re a small indie team still growing, and feedback like yours truly helps us make Moonlight Dialogue better for everyone.
Paid options
Response from developer
Hello! Thank you so much for playing the game! We’re happy to hear you’re already on Day 2! About your questions: 1. Slow unlocking on Day 2 Some chats unlock over time to keep the flow natural, but you can also use Ad missions to progress for free. No need to wait too long — just try the ad tasks and you can keep going with the story! And our game is not a real time game, so please use TP of AD of StellarGems to proceed the story! How to get StellarGems We understand the heart-to-gem conversion can feel slow. Hearts are only a bonus — not the main source of Gems. StellarGems are our premium currency, used mostly for optional bonus content like calls and extra images. But please feel free to progress using the free Ad features instead of spending Gems — you can enjoy the story without pressure! We’re continuously working to improve the balance so everything feels more comfortable as the game grows. Thank you again for playing, and we hope you’ll continue enjoying your time with Moonlight Dialogue!
10/10 would test the limits of the game again
Tried to convince the characters they were game characters for the lolz. Weird glitches appear. System error. Feels scripted. Got bumped to a white screen. Mystery man says he wants to ask me a question.
Game app actually crashes. Cliffhanger.
No question.
Is this a glitch?
Or intentional?
Reload. Entire chat conversation is reset?? Pick all the same options, watch the characters fall apart again. White screen. Man in green sweater.
Finally.
He asks me his rhetorical question. He playfully teases, advises, scolds me. Drops lore hints. Then, he makes the most insane comment about human nature, followed by haunting laughter. The game bumps me back to the start, warning me to “trust” the characters. Ending 0 unlocked.
Ah. I’m home. Mystic Messenger’s spiritual successor has arrived. If you like your otome cute and fun with a hint of always wondering “what horrors lie beneath”… this is for you.
(I guess. I mean, it literally just came out and the whole game isn’t released yet. I’m operating on an assumption created by the vibe of the first ending I unlocked. If the rest of the game is this good, we’re in for a ride, folks.)
Btw, I already love the mystery man in the green sweater. I call dibs. Gimme.
