Children of Morta Impressions by Nodrim on June 30, 2019

It takes a great amount of willpower not to be mesmerized by Children of Morta the first time you lay your eyes upon its outstanding artistic design. I clearly do not possess this kind of willpower and having played the time limited demo on Steam, I’m not sure I want it either.

The demo was comprised of the game’s early moments, kicking off with a rather generic intrigue which unloads most of the narrative weight on the shoulders of exposition. Corruption is erupting from the heart of Mount Morta and our family of heroes and heroes to be, prepares for the worse. This is where Children of Morta sets itself apart from most of the games in its subgenre. The narrative unfolds in stages prompted by the gameplay in a synergetic manner which makes everything feel part of a whole. Each life and each death has meaning in the way they further the story. Special events urge for meaningful actions while each failure adds to the threads of the evolving narrative tapestry of the Bergson family. The story comes together through the solemn voice of a narrator which reminded me of Darkest Dungeon.

The prologue had me playing as John, son of the elders and father to the younger generation. He is a tough guy, using a sword and shield to highlight his role as head of the family and its protector. I had to fight my way through waves of corrupted entities before Linda, his daughter, came to my aid in a narrative action foretelling of the co-op experience. The two are the only playable characters out of the roster of six Bergsons. But this was more than enough to understand the impact the idea of family has on the gameplay.

Each character is equipped with a unique set of weapons, prompting a different play style relying on unique attack patterns and skills. They level up individually unlocking different skills that provide gameplay altering options. Each character also contributes to the well-being of the family. Passive skills are automatically unlocked every few levels providing family wide buffs symbolizing through gameplay their unity while creating an incentive to play multiple characters.

As a rogue-like, Children of Morta seems to be melding together all the right ideas. The action combat works wonders with mouse and keyboard relying heavily on a tactical management of resources that hints at Souls games for inspiration. Each attempt has you going through procedurally generated levels, collecting pieces of loot and abilities to enhance your combat capabilities. The limited slots available for active items have you pick and choose what works best with your character, adapting to the situation at hand. Death will reset the progress you made by taking you back to square one of the explored area while stripping you of all the loot. However, experience and resources are retained as part of a passive progression meant to gradually help you overcome the challenges.

The levels are small but punishing as all kind of creatures and traps are doing their best to chip away at your life which is lost much easier than is replenished. This ends up demanding a more methodical exploratory approach keeping an eye at all times on available dodges and stamina. Randomized events will break some of the monotony that can instate after multiple unsuccessful attempts while adding to the narrative and gameplay progression.

The demo culminated with a boss fight foreshadowing a challenging adventure that won’t be so easily seen through. There are still gameplay mechanics left at large making it difficult to predict if the gameplay loop has the necessary variety to avoid severe repetition. However, having a multilayered progression system benefiting a set of unique characters does make me hopeful for a solid rogue-like experience.

Ultimately, this demo reinforced the idea that Children of Morta is a labor of artistic love. The graphics are astonishing, setting in motion what I could only describe as the apex of pixel art. There wasn’t a level I’ve played where I didn’t stop to enjoy the view or the amount of details put into every animation. If I wouldn’t savor rogue-like games the way I do, I would definitely play Children of Morta just for the view. I couldn’t say the same about the audio as some of the sound effects didn’t match the quality of their visual counterpart. But there’s still time for some retouches now that the game has been delayed for the nth time.

Children of Morta does seem to tick all the right boxes to deliver a memorable experience for a subgenre that aims to take over the indie hall of fame. This demo has been like a green light for hype with the only attempt for a brake being the unavailability of online coop at launch.