Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

Steam - World - Title card.

Developer Bombservice Publisher Playism Published 2016-03-04 Platforms Linux, Macintosh, PlayStation 4, Windows Genres Action adventure, Beat 'em up, Metroidvania, Platformer Themes Adventure, Fantasy Series Momodora Distribution Commercial

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is a Metroidvania beat 'em up video game developed by Bombservice and published by Playism on 2016-03-04 for Windows and then ported to several other platforms. It is the fourth game in Momodora series. It was developed in GameMaker Studio.

Personal

Own?	Yes. On Steam.
Won?	Yes. True ending.
Finished	2018‎-10-20.

I got this game as part of a Humble Bundle, and the screenshots looked cool enough for me to play it. Once I started playing I found it to be a pretty decent game.

Review

6	6	9	5	5

Best Version: Windows

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The game plays well. It is neither too hard nor too easy, the controls are good, and the menus are smooth.
• The background graphics and sprite animation are well-drawn, particularly the bosses.
• Ordinarily, I don't like insta-death (spikes, water, etc.) in a Metroidvania, but the map has so many save points, and the player has so little health, it's actually not that bad, and complements the difficulty.
• The game nicely takes advantage of game pad rumbling.

Bad

• Despite reading all the dialogue from the NPCs, I had only a slight idea what was going on in the story. Instead, I just explored new areas of the map, killed bosses, collected items, and so forth. It was still fun, but I wish the story played a bigger role.
• The background music is moody and ambient, which is fitting for the game, but I found it to be a bit dull.
• A leaf is a stupid weapon.
• Most of the items aren't very useful. Occasionally I'd find a use for one or two, but I mostly had the magnet stone and healing flower equipped at all times.
• You're only given two options for game pad configurations, and neither were what I wanted. I wish there was a fully customizeable setup.
• I almost always stumbled upon bosses, and they almost always killed me the first time because I wasn't ready for them. I wish the designers made it a bit more obvious when you were about to enter a boss room, like how in the Castlevania games there is a boss door.
• Too much of the map is walled off by locked doors. Better ways to preventing the player from entering sections should have been made.
• The ending is pretty dull.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Boxes

• 

  Steam title card. This art shows the main character and bosses in a style similar to the game's art.

• 

  The PlayStation 4 digital box. The art here has a more adult anime theme, but it doesn't fit the game.

Documentation

• 

  Manual.

Maps

• 

  Quick map.

• 

  Complete map.

Videos

Longplay.

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass	You play as Kaho Reinol, a priestess who grows more powerful as the game progresses.
Bechdel test?	Pass	Most of the characters who speak in the game are women.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Everyone appears to be white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Links