Children of Morta

Children of Morta is a turning point for Dead Mage Studios, and from now on expectations are gonna be much higher from them. Definitely one of the best indie games of the year.

The family that slays together, stays together. When it comes to striking a balance between raucous gameplay and dramatic discourse, Children of Morta is an absolute gem.

Children of Morta is a handsomely crafted dungeon crawling effort with a stirring narrative that freshens things up on account of its familial theme and structure. The gorgeous presentation and resolutely solid hack and slash beats are supported by some surprising mechanics and flourishes that help to ensure that Children of Morta is one of the most pleasant surprises of the year.

Children of Morta entertained me during the approximately 15-hour campaign.

Children of Morta is a wonderful rogue-like ARPG, with a lot of deep layers in terms of gameplay mechanics, that does a terrific job of acting as an underlay to the simple, but dark, atmospheric story. Everything intertwines together splendidly, and seeing how each character can help to buff up their family members via their shared abilities, both in each characters unique skill trees, or the household's base stat upgrades, there are plenty of moving pieces here that all contribute towards the family's mission to end the Corruption. No run is ever wasted, with each failed attempt still rewarding the family with some positive enhancements for the next run, until that eventual stage boss is defeated. For those who are looking for a new rogue-like to jump into, this should definitely not be missed.

I really can’t stress enough how absolutely gorgeous this game is, the exquisitely detailed pixel art style and the brilliant narration combine to create a really atmospheric game.

It's not perfect; load times are lengthy, text is painfully small, and there are some unusual graphical glitches here and there. However, Children of Morta is overall a great success, and manages to forge a unique identity.

Taking its inspirations both from Diablo and rogue-lite games, Children of Morta has a nice story to tell, and shows a pretty face with its stunning pixel art visuals.

While the hack and slash gameplay of each individual character is somewhat simple, the variance between each of the six is substantial, keeping things fairly fresh throughout the many runs. Additionally, skill trees and constant stat improvements grant a sense of empowerment and progression. It may not upheave the mechanical norms of roguelikes, but Children of Morta does a good job of weaving storytelling into the well-worn tropes of the genre to create something that feels unique.

Each character feels diverse.