Also known as just Momodora 4, this is a Metroidvania I decided to check out not only because it was on Game Pass, but also because it seemed we were looking for some kind of first-hand opinion on it recently. All I knew about it is that it was fairly difficult but also fairly short, and both of those proved to be true. It took me a little under 6 hours to do a 100% run on normal difficulty.
Momodora is a Metroidvania with very obvious inspirations from Fromsoft's Souls series. Especially thematically and aesthetically, the relatively few NPCs, the lethality of normal enemies, healing items that refresh at checkpoints, and even the "you're a savoir from a far-off land here to save this land from a corrupted monarch", this game's design shows its inspirations on its sleeve. That said, I wouldn't call that a bad thing. Momodora has a beautiful pixel-art design with very fluid 2D animations. Oddly enough, with what a nearly all-female cast with a somewhat anime art-style, the aesthetic came off to as a "Touhou meets Dark Souls 1" at times XD. There isn't a ton of enemy variety, but what is there has lots of corrupted, creepy designs, and the boss fights and designs are fun while never feeling unfair, as the game is quite generous with checkpoints. The combat handles consistently and nicely, and you can really start wrecking stuff once you get the hang of how the game plays.
The mechanical design feel a lot like Hollow Knight, but if Hollow Knight were a more conventionally designed Metroidvania. The scope is much smaller compared to Hollow Knight's massive and sprawling area maps, you have an auto-mapping system as you explore, and you only ever get a couple of new combat abilities to augment the otherwise unchanging power of your normal sword slash, ranged attack, and dodge roll. "Hollow Knight with a far narrower and conventional design" is my one-sentence summary for this game.
My only real complaint would be the game's difficulty curve. The game's mechanics are simple, but they have a fair deal of weight to them. Especially getting used to how long/far you can dodge and how much recovery time you need before you can start moving again once you finish your normal attack combo can both take some getting used to. However, once you get the hang of those and start finding health upgrades, the game gets a lot easier. There are a few activatable items other than your not-Estus Flask that you can find as well as some passives you can equip, but they don't really change the combat much other than sometimes buffing your attack power. The first couple bosses were way harder than the last few because I could tank SO much more damage. I didn't even die once on the final boss (who is admittedly, not that hard) because I had such a big health pool and so much ability to heal. Not a huge design flaw or a deal breaker outright, but I wish the game would've had a smoother difficulty curve than more of a downward slope.
Verdict: Recommended. If you want a Metroidvania that's short, sweet, and to the point, then you can do a lot worse than Momodora. It doesn't do anything super unique or unconventional, but it does what it does very competently and the challenge provided is engaging. If you bounced off Hollow Knight because of the great difficulty AND huge length, then Momodora's difficulty settings and much smaller scope may well be right up your alley~
Momodora is a Metroidvania with very obvious inspirations from Fromsoft's Souls series. Especially thematically and aesthetically, the relatively few NPCs, the lethality of normal enemies, healing items that refresh at checkpoints, and even the "you're a savoir from a far-off land here to save this land from a corrupted monarch", this game's design shows its inspirations on its sleeve. That said, I wouldn't call that a bad thing. Momodora has a beautiful pixel-art design with very fluid 2D animations. Oddly enough, with what a nearly all-female cast with a somewhat anime art-style, the aesthetic came off to as a "Touhou meets Dark Souls 1" at times XD. There isn't a ton of enemy variety, but what is there has lots of corrupted, creepy designs, and the boss fights and designs are fun while never feeling unfair, as the game is quite generous with checkpoints. The combat handles consistently and nicely, and you can really start wrecking stuff once you get the hang of how the game plays.
The mechanical design feel a lot like Hollow Knight, but if Hollow Knight were a more conventionally designed Metroidvania. The scope is much smaller compared to Hollow Knight's massive and sprawling area maps, you have an auto-mapping system as you explore, and you only ever get a couple of new combat abilities to augment the otherwise unchanging power of your normal sword slash, ranged attack, and dodge roll. "Hollow Knight with a far narrower and conventional design" is my one-sentence summary for this game.
My only real complaint would be the game's difficulty curve. The game's mechanics are simple, but they have a fair deal of weight to them. Especially getting used to how long/far you can dodge and how much recovery time you need before you can start moving again once you finish your normal attack combo can both take some getting used to. However, once you get the hang of those and start finding health upgrades, the game gets a lot easier. There are a few activatable items other than your not-Estus Flask that you can find as well as some passives you can equip, but they don't really change the combat much other than sometimes buffing your attack power. The first couple bosses were way harder than the last few because I could tank SO much more damage. I didn't even die once on the final boss (who is admittedly, not that hard) because I had such a big health pool and so much ability to heal. Not a huge design flaw or a deal breaker outright, but I wish the game would've had a smoother difficulty curve than more of a downward slope.
Verdict: Recommended. If you want a Metroidvania that's short, sweet, and to the point, then you can do a lot worse than Momodora. It doesn't do anything super unique or unconventional, but it does what it does very competently and the challenge provided is engaging. If you bounced off Hollow Knight because of the great difficulty AND huge length, then Momodora's difficulty settings and much smaller scope may well be right up your alley~