The Visional Wheel: Once Human’s Strange Experiment With Reality
When Once Human launched the Visional Wheel, it sounded like one of the most ambitious systems the developers had attempted. A constantly turning mechanic that would reshape the world every few months, it promised fresh survival challenges, combat twists, and new scenarios for players to master. Each cycle would bring a new anomaly, bending the rules of the game in sometimes subtle, sometimes dramatic ways.
The first cycle was called the Lunar Oracle, and it bathed the wasteland in the eerie glow of a crimson moon. Under its light, sanity itself became fragile. Step outside your territory for too long and your mind would unravel, sanity draining steadily until you teetered on the edge of madness. Recovery was slower than normal, and only defeating enemies could restore a survivor’s grip on reality. At the same time, those who fought while injured found themselves strangely rewarded. Low health meant higher resource yields, greater rewards from supply crates, and even special “Lunar Whispers” that could be harvested from defeated enemies. The catch was brutal: those whispers faded with time, pushing players into an endless cycle of risk and reward.
For many, the Lunar Oracle hit the right balance. It was simple to understand, eerie in its design, and the rewards felt worthwhile. For others, it was the start of a pattern; fun in concept, but a grind in practice.
The Wheel turned again, and the Starfall Inversion cycle began. Gravity itself broke. Players found themselves in zones of low gravity, leaping into the air with an almost dreamlike weightlessness. It was freedom for some and frustration for others. Combat in mid-air was clumsy, base building became a headache, and precision was replaced with awkward floating. New mods tied to the anomaly only added to the division. Bonuses that activated when airborne or using height advantage sounded exciting, but in practice they were situational and often useless.
Veterans of the game voiced their frustration. On Reddit and in Discords, the verdict was split. Some loved the spectacle of breaking physics, but many felt that the cycle added little for end-game players who already had strong gear. Others complained that the grind for new crystals and formulas was long and unrewarding. Compared to the Lunar Oracle, the gravity cycle felt flashy but less meaningful.
Now the Wheel turns again, and this time the crimson moon is back. Lunar Revelry begins on September 24th (PT), bringing with it an upgraded Blood Moon and a dangerous new foe: the Lord of Moonlight. Unlike the Lunar Oracle, the Blood Moon will now last thirty minutes of real time each night, doubling its duration, and Deviants will grow stronger as survivors lose Sanity to Lunacy.
The Lord of Moonlight is more than just a reskinned boss. It takes on your appearance, summons clones, and in some cases can even morph into a more powerful form with greater rewards. If it defeats you, it levels up, steals your Lunar Whispers, and becomes harder for the next player to take down. Beat it, and you claim all the whispers it has collected.
Beyond the boss fight, there’s a new large-scale Omen of Affliction event where players in different sectors compete in seven rounds of 1v1 trials. Sectors earn points by collecting and submitting Lunar Essence, and players can vote on “Lunar Omens” that actively make the fight harder for rival sectors. It’s part PvE, part PvP by proxy, and it pushes cooperation in a way Once Human hasn’t really done before.
On top of that, there’s a Lunatic Medley event focused on farming Lunar Whispers for rewards. You can redeem them for new skins and collectibles, or even exchange them for items from past Visional Wheel cycles.
Oracle Crates also return in force. Explore strongholds and defeat Lunarspawn to open crates that may contain returning Blood Moon Morphed Deviations such as Lonewolf’s Whisper, Festering Gel, Snowsprite, By-the-Wind, Zeno-Purifier, and Pyro Dino. If you want the new stuff, take part in the Lord of Moonlight game mode. Those crates can drop three brand-new Blood Moon Deviations: Electric Eel, Atomic Snail, and ZapCam.
And of course, the arsenal grows. Two new weapons headline the update:
- SKS Pathfinder: which can trigger frost effects, generate Deviant particles, and charge into an ice spike attack.
- P90 Holographic Resonance: with a chance to trigger Bull’s Eye and unleash AoE damage after sustained fire.
A new Crescent mod suffix joins the lineup, Lunar mods from the original cycle are back, and even the Cradle system is seeing adjustments to fit the season.
The question now is whether this new version of the crimson moon delivers. Does it feel like a proper expansion of the Lunar Oracle, or is it just recycled content dressed up with a new boss and longer timers? The Visional Wheel was always going to walk a fine line. Is it a clever way to keep things fresh while the developers build deeper updates, or is it a cheapened system that risks replacing real scenarios with gimmicks?
Personally, I’m glad to see gravity go and the Blood Moon return. The Lord of Moonlight and the sector trials sound promising, but the real test will be whether it feels rewarding after the first few runs. If the developers can keep refining the Wheel, make the mods useful, and ensure these events challenge both new and end-game players, the system could still become the heartbeat of Once Human. If not, it risks being remembered as one more ambitious experiment that spun too fast for its own good.