Children of Morta - Review
There’s always a great evil that needs defeating and a hero needed to defeat it. Whether it’s a lone hero or a group, it’s not often a family fighting together, protecting the lands. If you’ve longed for banding together with your parents and siblings as you hold back the darkness then The Children of Morta could be the game for you.
The lands around Morta have become corrupted, overtaken by a horrible growing darkness. Corrupted creatures infest everywhere they can get to. The Bergson family are guardians of the mountain of Morta. They need to work together to stop the evil creatures corrupting the land while also dealing with everything that comes with being a family. The story is narrated by a man telling the story of the Bergson family; their triumphs, struggles and moments shared between family members. Whether you progress to the next area or fail to finish, the story continues on. Making progress in the early hours of the game can be a bit slow so it was nice that the story wasn’t on hold until I beat an area. Being able to see more of the family’s interactions helped keep interest in the game when I spun my wheels initially. The story itself never goes much further than defeating the corruption, it’s the family that keeps you drawn in to see what happens. I’m of two minds on the story. I like the nice touch the narration puts on the story, it feels like you’re experiencing a story like you’re working through a book. But there is also the rub. Not letting the characters have their own voices, they feel distant like you’re just along for the ride and not part of the family.
Children of Morta is an ARPG in a similar space as Diablo 3. Included are some rogue elements such as procedurally generated dungeons and randomised items and encounters. Characters don’t permanently die, but if they fail a run then they lose any items and buffs they picked up in the area. With the currency you collect (called morv) you can upgrade the family’s passive stats. For starters, health, attack and movement can be upgraded, with more options to unlock. While the levels still remain as hard, the increase in stats and leveling up should mean you’re becoming more formidable to overcome those previous challenges.
As the story progresses you gain access to more of the family as they join the fight. This opens up more much needed variety in weapons and abilities. It’s worth switching around between the family members to keep their individual levels up to snuff, while also being able to unlock buffs. They even have unlocks that are extended across to all family members which makes it worth it too. Once you get further into the game you’ll have another incentive to keep rotating through the different Bergsons. It’s a nice touch to encourage you to broaden your horizons and spread some of the experience points around.
At the start of the game (past the intro), you only have access to two family members. Father John with his Sword and Shield, and Linda the daughter with a bow and arrow. As you navigate the initial areas both John and Linda make it so you can build up your skills with two pretty different weapons. I wanted to lean more into using the bow and arrow with Linda at first, but aiming for the arrows never gelled with me, not that it stopped me from trying.
With the earlier areas of the game it feels like there’s a steep learning curve. It will take a few runs at the first area to build up your stats and have some secondary abilities up your sleeve. While it could be seen as some tough love or training to get you in fighting shape, it feels unnecessary to have you butt your head against the earlier area until you have enough morv to boost your stats. Something that did provide a nice change from the usual ARPG was the loot. While you collect items on your run, you’re never left sorting through a heap of weapons and equipment every step of the way. No struggling to juggle your inventory around so you can pick up one item that might be useless anyways.
The Bergsons are not just a family, they’re a family made out of pixels. Children of Morta is entirely presented in a pixel art style, and while it can be a divisive style it works here. Each member of the Bergson clan seem lovingly animated, every one of them distinct through their looks and animations. At times it reminded me of old adventure games like Monkey Island, subtle animations that add character despite limited pixels. If you’re not a fan of pixel art then you’d be missing out a good ARPG, if you are a fan there there’s just more to like.
While the game runs well, I did find at least in the handheld mode that during busier fights there could be some slowdown. Though overall it plays well. In handheld I also found some of the smaller fast moving enemies difficult to see. It was manageable but if it bothers you it should be fine in docked. There is also a co op mode for anyone else who might be around to provide some help. They need to be around in person however as there is no online mode. Given the difficulty earlier on it definitely doesn’t hurt to have a team take on the corruption.
Children of Morta is a ARPG with style and heart. It also doesn’t have you micromanaging your loot every other minute. Initially the early hours can be rough with a big difficulty spike, making it feel like you’re spinning your wheels until you’re upgraded enough. It evens out over the course of the game as you improve your stats. If you’re looking for a good 15-20 hour adventure, you should consider saving the lands of Morta.
Review code provide by 11 Bit Studios
