Children of Morta

 PC
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 288 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 220 out of 288
  2. Mixed: 39 out of 288
  3. Negative: 29 out of 288

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  1. Digitalkid
    Sep 16, 2019
    5
    Great story and animations, but the gameplay is dull and annoying. No loot, no weapons, only coins and some kind of magic potions. Hours of buttonmashing. And if you die, well they've chosen the worst penalty, buttonmash through the dungeon again right from the start for no reward.. Sry.
  2. Crescendo
    Oct 28, 2019
    6
    The narrative is decent, the graphic style subjectively wonderful and the gameplay solid. It's a little generic a tale for my tastes, and - just as with bastion - I find the narrator is a welcome addition, but it just cements the thoroughly underwhelming and generic story. Not a homerun, but not a trainwreck either. The gameplay itself is pretty... mediocre for a roguelite, but fitting.The narrative is decent, the graphic style subjectively wonderful and the gameplay solid. It's a little generic a tale for my tastes, and - just as with bastion - I find the narrator is a welcome addition, but it just cements the thoroughly underwhelming and generic story. Not a homerun, but not a trainwreck either. The gameplay itself is pretty... mediocre for a roguelite, but fitting. Enemy design could really use a bit more diversity, but alright. What really makes me rate this game only medium, however, is that it's fairly short and, unlike most roguelike/lites has little to no replayability. I also want to add that I found the first boss to be more of a challenge than anything else the game threw at me; meaning it is pretty easy as well - but that's alright.

    I don't want to use the word "overrated" here, but there are so so so many games with great narrative and well-written stories and it frustrates me that something like this gets lifted into the "BRILLIANT STORY" category without lifting a finger, just because it has a narrative forced upon you instead of giving players clues to read between the lines.    … Expand
  3. Donners
    Sep 12, 2020
    5
    This is a "story-driven roguelike".

    Unfortunately, the latter is not that strong. It comes with a variety of distinct characters, but funnels you into playing as them even if you don't want to through a combination of bonuses (you have to get each character to a certain level to earn their universal bonus) and cooldowns. While thematically appropriate, it becomes grindy and    This is a "story-driven roguelike".

    Unfortunately, the latter is not that strong. It comes with a variety of distinct characters, but funnels you into playing as them even if you don't want to through a combination of bonuses (you have to get each character to a certain level to earn their universal bonus) and cooldowns.

    While thematically appropriate, it becomes grindy and frustrating to play a character who is not enjoyable. The cooldowns in particular are irritating, especially against the final boss. Having to wait for a cooldown to play as your preferred character feels like something out of an FTP mobile game.

    Then there's the story. It's delivered with such melodramatic gravitas, such ponderous self-importance, that it would serve better as a parody.

    There's no nuance to it - as if the baddies being called the Corruption and being frightfully ugly was too subtle, they are also shown picking on animals, a pregnant woman and cute bots. It even spells out the (obvious) moral of the tale at the end.

    It's like a pre-teen cartoon, delivered as if it's a literary masterwork. Utterly cringeworthy.    … Expand
  4. RMDsilva
    Jan 4, 2021
    7
    Cute, fun mechanics but ultimately a simple game - and the divine graces (random items that give you random powers the longer you survive in a dungeon) just make it too easy.
  5. Keskin
    Jul 18, 2020
    7
    it is goodit is goodit is goodit is goodit is goodit is goodit is goodit is goodit is goodit is goodit is goodit is goodit is goodit is goodit is good
  6. drlowdon
    Mar 1, 2023
    7
    When a mysterious darkness covers the land, the Bergson family (custodians of Mount Morta) must find a way to fight back against the evil corruption.

    Children of Morta is an enjoyable enough rouge-lite dungeon crawler, especially when played co-op, but the lack of variety in terms of dungeons and enemies means it can’t live up to the best the genre has to offer.
  7. skohl
    Mar 24, 2020
    7
    +Six playable characters who play very differently from each other and are all fun in their own way.
    +Unabashedly wholesome setting & story.
    +Masterful pixel art, especially in the degree of detail and in the colors. +Very easy to play co-op with one person using the mouse/keyboard, and the other using a controller. +It's on the easier side, compared to Wizard of Legend which is the    +Six playable characters who play very differently from each other and are all fun in their own way.
    +Unabashedly wholesome setting & story.
    +Masterful pixel art, especially in the degree of detail and in the colors.
    +Very easy to play co-op with one person using the mouse/keyboard, and the other using a controller.
    +It's on the easier side, compared to Wizard of Legend which is the only game I can closely compare it to, so it's less frustrating while still being satisfying.
    +The archer character, Linda, can move with the left analog stick while shooting in an independent direction with the right analog. I'm not aware of any other action RPGs that have done this, and for me this is very fun.
    +They animated Linda's boobs, as well as those of the pregnant mom in one instance. Think about how much you'd have to love what you're making to animate boobs using pixels.
    -The game ends too early. Honestly, it feels like there is one entire world missing (there's 3, with a couple extra things). It ends before you get to see all the characters' skills.
    -The difficulty drops off too much in world 3. Up to that point it's a fun and challenging, but the bosses are increasingly easy and the final boss goes down like nothing - literally, the easiest boss in the game.
    -The level up system is backwards. You only gain a level when you use the skill point you earned from gaining the level. It's called "skill level." In practice, say you unlock new skills at level 14. Well instead of getting to choose them, when you get your 14th skill point you have to use it on your lower level skills. Then your skill level increases, and unlocks the L14 tier of skills you want. So you have to wait a whole other level to get them.
    -There's no way for a player to challenge themselves after beating the game, all you can do is play the final area. You will max out all your global upgrades (using gold) very fast, while the experience points come too slow to be rewarding. There absolutely should at least be some kind of optional challenge dungeon, or at least the ability to make earlier levels scale to you.
    -Some of the mechanics are not balanced, and seem to exist for no reason. Charms a separate item category from divine graces, when most of them do the same thing (give a permanent buff).
    -The game's biggest flaw: The player never gets close to the characters. You can't even control them while at home between dungeons! The story is told by an omniscient narrator, at no point do the characters speak with their own voices. It's all very impersonal and it undermines the intention of connecting strongly with them - not completely, but a great deal.
    -Because of that I suspect that many players will just press B to skip the story, which is told exclusively through narrated cutscenes that can't be sped up or skipped line-by-line.
    -Suffers generally from the repetitiveness inherent to roguelites.    … Expand
  8. cmfrip
    Mar 13, 2021
    6
    This is a prime example of 'Bastion' condition, a condition which the victim intends to look pretty and to constantly redirect you from the simple, paper thin gameplay. It also has a monotone and subjectively cool sounding narrator.

    Gameplay is zelda topdown. Combat is simple and requires different tactics for different enemies, except they hit you all at once, so unlike diablo that,    This is a prime example of 'Bastion' condition, a condition which the victim intends to look pretty and to constantly redirect you from the simple, paper thin gameplay. It also has a monotone and subjectively cool sounding narrator.

    Gameplay is zelda topdown. Combat is simple and requires different tactics for different enemies, except they hit you all at once, so unlike diablo that, not only weans you into this intensity of combat this just lets any number of enemies attack you, which gets significantly worse as you progress though a level - often this is paired with having no healing . No thought appears to have attached to this at all from the looks.

    The developer I am sure will say to you as a response, well go and buy more upgrades to get stronger... This creates a massive grind fest, which over time unlocks more story which is about a family and it's dysfunction.

    The art style and the music is good, just I dont find the grindfest, mixed with the narrative and generic gameplay redeeming.    … Expand
  9. Flyingpigm0nkey
    Mar 25, 2021
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is a fine iteration on rouge style games and would get a much higher rating if it didn't have the heavy handed corruption fatigue mechanic.

    Corruption fatigue is meant to incentivize players using all the characters in the roster but just makes the game less fun. -2

    The slowness of narration and how it is foisted on you at annoying moments is another significant detraction. -1

    It's occasional bugs like chase targets running through walls and being blocked out of progressing in zones are common enough to lose another point. -1

    Ending runs and removing any cool gear you may have acquired instead of letting you transition into a new zone with it is incredibly annoying. -1    … Expand
  10. Archound
    Oct 24, 2022
    7
    Nothing I haven't seen in any other game and neither element of CoM was above average. Mediocre title, if you like the visuals you might play it with a friend if you get it at a decent price.
  11. Sepherim
    Mar 3, 2020
    7
    Sin duda, Children of Morta es un juego entretenido. Una historia más o menos tópica pero bien llevada y con su lado tierno. Un sistema de juego basado en dungeons con combate muy ágil y entretenido y buena variedad de enemigos. Seis personajes jugables con suficientes diferencias entre si como para ofrecer distinta jugabilidad. Y el desarrollo de recursos en las dungeons para mejorar a laSin duda, Children of Morta es un juego entretenido. Una historia más o menos tópica pero bien llevada y con su lado tierno. Un sistema de juego basado en dungeons con combate muy ágil y entretenido y buena variedad de enemigos. Seis personajes jugables con suficientes diferencias entre si como para ofrecer distinta jugabilidad. Y el desarrollo de recursos en las dungeons para mejorar a la familia en la base.

    Gráficamente, nunca he sido amigo del "pixel art" así que creo que es mejorable, pero probablemente aquellos a los que si les gusta lo encontrarán bastante atractivo. El sonido cumple, sin sorprendentes efectos ni música, aunque con una buena voz narradora. Y, al menos en mi experiencia, es un juego carente de bugs.

    El resultado de todo ello es un juego muy entretenido. Un 7.    … Expand
  12. tontonac
    May 16, 2022
    7
    Artistically very strong, but ultimately it is very repetitive like a lot of rogue-likes. Combat has a lot of "feedback" due to timing, animations and sounds, it feels great.

Awards & Rankings

43
#43 Best PC Game of 2019
57
#57 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 48 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 48
  3. Negative: 0 out of 48
  1. GameGrin
    Jan 11, 2022
    100
    Children of Morta is pieced together in such a way that no element feels out of place, and the wonderful roguelite gameplay is backed with a deep and emotional story that kept me engrossed until the very end.
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  2. Riot Pixels
    Feb 17, 2020
    82
    This simple story about the importance of family ties will definitely tug at your heartstrings — if not with words, then at least with beautiful pixel-perfect dungeons.
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  3. PLAY! Zine
    Oct 16, 2019
    90
    Children of Morta presents a really amazing story about an adventuring family out to save the world. Its mix of Rogue-lite and RPG elements make it easily accessible to expert players and new players to this genre. And even with other massive titles, it is a great indie gem that you should have.
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