You are allowed to use any version of the game to speedrun it. The original release has some nice benefits:

• The Darkportal spell has a lower MP cost
• You have more i-frames after using Geocrash
• You can use the Photon Dash to skip the first mini-boss in Ashura's Fleet 1 (a flying ship that you usually get locked into fighting)

How to downpatch this game

To downpatch the game in Steam, you can do the following (adapted from this Make Use Of guide)

Gathering numbers you need (even though I did the work below)

You will need to use the Steam DB site to gather some information. I've compiled the information that worked for me in the Steam Console step below; however, it is wise to confirm the numbers are still the same! As of writing this, there is a very easy copy button once you reach the Manifest ID portion of the steps below, so you can use that or manually write the numbers down.

• In a browser, visit the Steam DB main page: https://steamdb.info/ -- be ready to write down the App ID, Depot ID, and Manifest ID numbers.
• Search for and select Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider
• Find the App ID at the top of the info box on the game page: App ID 942010
• On the left side of the screen, select "Depots"
• Select the largest Depot available -- as of this writing, this is Depot ID 1942011
• Select "Manifests" on the left side of the screen.
• Find the Manifest ID for the 12 January 2023 release -- Manifest ID 7368834187951042536

Using Steam Console to download the older game files

Now you have the following info from the steps above:

• App ID: 1942010
• Depot ID: 1942011
• Manifest ID: 7368834187951042536

You will need to enter this information into the Steam Console to download the older files. Follow these steps to do so:

• Ensure Steam is running
• Enable the Steam Console: press Win + R to open the Run program, then type this string:

steam://open/console

• Steam should open and show the Steam Console.
• You will need to use the following command format in the Steam Console to download the files:

download_depot <AppID> <Depot ID> <Manifest ID>

• For our numbers, use this command:

download_depot 1942010 1942011 7368834187951042536

• Steam should start downloading the depot, though it won't always say so
• You should get a download complete message when it is done; this will indicate where the files are. Open that location in your file explorer to do the next steps!

Replace the current game files with the older ones

Open the location where Steam downloaded the older depot. Then, open the current location of your Moonrider game files. Here's the easy way from the Steam Library:

1. Right-click the game on Steam.
   

2. Mouse over Manage.
   

3. Click Browse Local Files.
   

You will need to either move the current game files elsewhere or delete them. Then, paste the downpatch files into the games folder. I also recommend keeping a back-up copy of the downpatched version just in case Steam automatically updates again (I'll mention how to disable this later)

Did it work?

To check if this worked, the easiest way I've found is to go the Ashura's Fleet part 1 and try to use the Photon Dash to skip the flying enemy that normally locks you into combat. You can also use Darkportal and see if the MP use is very minimal -- it should match the MP use of the Stormshot.

How to stop updates

Since you went through all this trouble, you probably want to keep the old files in place! An easy way to do this is to set the game so that it only checks for updates when you start it, and doesn't update without your approval. You can do the following to achieve this:

1. Right-click on the game in Steam.
2. Head into Properties, then click on Updates.
3. Set the Automatic Updates option to Wait until I launch the game.

This should stop Steam from automatically updating the game and allow you to continue using the original release version.