I love pixel art. Sure, there's nothing like realistic graphics to bring a game to life, but sometimes a nice pixel look brings more charm to a game then anything else could. This is definitely true with today's game I'm reviewing, Children of Morta.
Uh, okay, so the title card for the Steam Store isn't very impressive, it's more confusing and messy in my opinion, but the game really is pretty! It's also a rogue-like hack and slash RPG. For those of you who don't know what any of that means, I'll explain. Rogue-likes mean that the game is hard and generally levels are randomized, as well as dying in a run then continuing at the start is part of the genre as well. As I explained to my mother, dying is part of the learning process in Rogue-likes rather then an game over.
Hack and slash are generally 2-D games where you, uh, hack and slash enemies, sometimes shoot them too. Self explanatory, really. RPG's stand for Role Playing Game, and generally includes the ability to customize your characters skills and level them up as you play the game.
Gameplay wise Children of Morta is great, with fluid controls, and as you level up you gain new abilities as well as additions to old skills, but there's not enough to be overwhelming, nor are there too few that you can't change how you play. In between dungeons, you can spend gold to make your classes, all of them at the same time, hit harder or take more damage or move faster and the like. There are 7 playable classes or characters, and you can play as any of them in a dungeon. You can be an archer, a fire mage, a sword and board tanky warrior, a sledge hammer wielding brute, a hand to hand fighter, a sneaky dagger using theif or a warrior healer from a distant land.
Each character would not be, well, a character if not for the story, and the basic premise is that the Bergsons, a family of heroes, is investigating and fighting off the Corruption, a strange purple goo that can turn normal people into monsters. I won't go into more, that's spoiler territory, but the story is well written, well narrated by a story teller like narrator, and takes some turns I did not expect. The ending unfortunately just confused me and left me wanting more, but it did not ruin the experience for me.
Before I wrap up this review with a score and everything, I will say the aesthetic is great. Not to give spoilers away, but while there's obviously magic in this world, some of the 'enchanted' or 'magical' things seem to look more like something you would expect to find in a sci fi game, at least in appearance. And god damn, do I love that look. One last thing; This game is still being added onto by the developers, meaning while a complete experience, more stuff is planned to be added.
Anyway, I give this game a 4 out of 5 stars. It's relatively short, fun, challenging, and the story is interesting and made me really want to continue playing. I'll admit if the ending was better it'd probably be a 4.5 star rating. If you like rogue-likes or rpgs or both, definitely pick this up.
Anyway, I apologize for this review being late, time and depression got away from me. See you all next time.
