Welcome to our review of Children of Morta, a rogue-lite game that is all about family!
It runs in the family! Children of Morta sets its story in a distant land but copes with themes closer to our daily lives that one would expect. It is a story of simple emotions we all know so well and value more than sometimes we dare to admit: love and hope, longing and uncertainty, ultimately loss and sacrifice we are willing to make to save the ones we care the most for.
Embark on the adventure of an extraordinary family of heroes. With the Corruption spreading through the land, guardians of the Mountain Morta have to stand up against the ancient evil. But… it’s not a story about saving the universe. It’s a story about a valiant family standing together while the world around them is being devoured by darkness.
Children of Morta is a bit of a weird game, you got a game with a very strong story and impressive narration on one side and kind of bland gameplay on the other. As the story progresses, you learn all about this God and what origins came to make the events happen. The narrator is a true professional and creates such a nice atmosphere that you almost consider yourself part of the Bergsons family.
At the game presents itself as a rogue-lite with RPG elements, I must say this part greatly disappointed me. The RPG side is significantly small considering how much could have been done. In between the battle sequences, you get the chance to really shine as a storyteller and make it so much more by adding interaction and all, but the majority of the time, it is mostly just the story that progresses. I should say here that added RPG elements could have greatly improved the game.
The fighting itself is a two-way street. It is clear how much care and time were invested in the action. The pixelated art style just looks flashy and just right for a game of this caliber. Sadly however there is little variety in the battles. In the other regions, with the exception of what appears to be region-specific monsters, the majority of enemies are the same.
Not that the action is bad, a lot of it is button-mashing though. I loved the entire testing out if others in the family were decent enough to fight with. The upgrades earnt in the game did cover the entire family so even the least favorite character will have all the goodies. This was a very nice touch. Sadly it could also go in the wrong way when your picked character is just the worst possible choice. I once had a 25-second run and I got killed already. The entire “don’t bring a knife to a gunfight” anecdote comes to mind here.
Children of Morta is a fun game despite all my bitching about details and all. It could benefit from a lot of improvements in the gaming mechanic section, but storywise, Children of Morta is what keeps this game from disappearing into obscurity and it does keep its spot in the spotlight for me. I am very interested to see if we will ever get a successor to this overall enjoyable game.
In conclusion, I complained a lot, but I did it out of love for the story. If we had the habit of giving the story a separate rating, I would hesitate between a 9 and maybe even higher. Sadly all those aforementioned issues do pull it down to a 7.5. The variety of enemies and the oft experienced button-mashing aspect, it did its damage to this game in a rogue-lite fashion nonetheless. Pardon the pun.
