Noctilucent Moth is a horror-themed bullet hell released appropriately close to Halloween on October 25, 2004. It features six levels, full controller support, and two unique characters to play as. There is no story to speak of, to the point of even the characters lacking names. This is not a downside, considering the genre isn’t exactly one you’d go to for a deep narrative. What I found intriguing was how all the in-game text is in English. It only notes the Japanese language on the store page. You’ll have no trouble navigating any menus due to this, nor are there any technical hiccups playing on Windows 11.
Your choice of character affects what type of projectile patterns you fire. The girl shoots a wide shot that is perfect for dealing with crowds. On the other hand, playing as the male character requires accurate positioning to fully utilize the narrow projectile stream. Both are equally viable, so choose whoever fits your playstyle better. With our character chosen and one of three difficulties selected, we’re off! Off to where? Beats me, but with the flesh-covered caverns and human eyes poking out of them, I imagine nowhere pleasant. This game goes hard with the visual imagery right from stage 1.
As I’m sifting through the pics I took while playing this game, I still haven’t the slightest what the enemies are. Whatever they are, their threat is very real. We start our adventure nearly dead. Only through collecting the heart icons our foes drop when slain can we fill up our HP meter. The other items enemies can drop are a Green Crystal to increase your firepower and Coins for a greater highscore. An interesting thing in Noctilucent Moth is the lack of item magnetization. In other words, any pickups will not drift toward you as is expected in the genre. You need to manually reach them while under enemy fire before they go off-screen. It is impossible to gather everything, leading to compelling decisions on whether you want to try refilling your HP or getting more firepower.
There are no lives. Once you are dead, you can either reset the game or begin on the same stage where you met your demise. The health in your meter and the damage you dish out depends on how you started that level. If you were already on death’s door when you entered, that’s how you’ll continue it. Sometimes, simply starting over will lead to a far easier time than stubbornly clinging to a previous run. Using a continue also means we won’t get the password to unlock the hentai CGs. We get to glance at a one for a second and a half after completing a level. That is far too small of a time frame to take anything in and is in 480p. It’s closer to a sneak peek at your ultimate reward. In total, there are fourteen 2000x1500p JPGs to unlock. Seven for each character.
Noctilucent Moth is in a weird spot in terms of difficulty. The enemy’s projectile patterns on Easy may be too great of a challenge for those new to the genre. It is forgiving in terms of the total damage a character can take, and we can refill our health consistently. Both these features make it a breeze for experienced players until we choose Hard. It may not be enough for the newcomers to counteract the often tricky projectile patterns thrown their way. Don’t purchase this for the H content alone if you don’t like the genre, or are new at it and unwilling to struggle a bit. This title is around twenty minutes. It won’t take long to recognize and adapt to any enemies you may struggle with to finally achieve that 1CC.
Something else that makes this title on the easier side of this genre is the Grazing System. We need to get as close as possible to enemy projectiles, and in return for the risk, it fills up our BOMB meter. Our character can store up to ten and can activate them at will. You will become briefly invulnerable while dealing massive damage to anything in your path. That is an easy way to decimate even the bosses. While on the topic of bosses, I love how they become progressively more disfigured as you damage them. The creatures were terrifying on their own, but as the fight reaches its peak, one feels both pity and increased fear as they get further injured before dying.
The damage system applies to several regular foes as well. Noctilucent Moth has excellent art design from its enemies to the backgrounds. I have no idea where we are, or what we’re fighting, yet it all feels connected somehow. Barring the anime girl who serves as the boss of stage 4. There are plenty of memorable foes, each containing their own attack patterns. Ironically, it makes the last boss feel underwhelming, as it doesn’t look too special and isn’t that grave of a challenge. The total enemy count gets elevated on higher difficulties. Mowing them all down with your ever-increasing firepower is a thrill. Having read the Japanese manual via the developer’s website, there is no limit to how much you can upgrade your attack, if Google Translate is to be trusted. That makes the green crystals always worthwhile.
When we destroy an enemy, we also remove nearby projectiles and gain a substantial amount of points. Those small foes that take minor damage to slay can become incredibly helpful if used properly. Alongside the benefits of bullet grazing, it is rarely the best idea to go on a killing spree right off the bat if a high score is your concern. For the rest of us, shoot away. It is all too easy to become swarmed and then overwhelmed if we become too cocky. Another great way to increase your score is by being at full health. This causes enemies to drop massive gold coins instead of more hearts. Noctilucent Moth always finds a way to feel rewarding, be it from collecting the multitude of things foes drop or the satisfying impact of slaying them in the first place.
The high drop rate of items can be considered a flaw. It can obfuscate things, and with some enemy bullets being green, like the crystal item, that can be an issue until you get accustomed to it. Many colors fly around at any one time, with the blue or green enemy projectiles not obviously contrasting against everything else. When it comes to the music, it is oddly unfitting. Some tracks feel like RPG battle music, while others conjure the image of exploring a mystical forest. They are decent but need more thematic cohesion with the visuals. My final criticism of this title stems from the lack of a pause feature. Pressing the escape key will shut down the entire game, which is typical for Adult-centered experiences. The hentai here makes up so little of what you’ll be doing that an emergency button isn’t needed. Pausing would be a far more meaningful benefit. Or better yet, have both.
Overall, I find that Noctilucent Moth has aged like fine wine. If someone claimed this was a new retro-inspired game, I wouldn’t bat an eye. Well, perhaps a little when I see the 640x360p images. Rare is the dev that would go that far in the name of authenticity. My ramblings aside, I had a blast playing this title. It was a no-nonsense Bullet Hell that thrusts you right into the action and had plenty of creative mechanics to build out its own identity. The fact that several enemies had visually different states of damage is one of the many details that show how much care was put into the macabre world of Noctilucent Moth. It’s little wonder it grew into a franchise, with its ninth entry currently being created as of this review. At a total price of 1320 Yen ($8.78), this is more than worth its cost of admission and well worth experiencing. Surreal body horror, fun gameplay, and anime waifus? What’s not to love?
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