Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

 Switch
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 22 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 22
  3. Negative: 2 out of 22
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  1. mbestvina
    Jan 22, 2019
    9
    Momodora simply blew me away! I've known about this game for a while but held off for the switch port and man, I should have played this earlier. Put simply, it’s a MetroidVania with Mega Man Zero’s combat, Dark Souls’ health system and difficulty, and beautiful pixel art and music that took me back to Princess Mononoke and other similar anime. Specifically, if you enjoyed Hollow Knight,Momodora simply blew me away! I've known about this game for a while but held off for the switch port and man, I should have played this earlier. Put simply, it’s a MetroidVania with Mega Man Zero’s combat, Dark Souls’ health system and difficulty, and beautiful pixel art and music that took me back to Princess Mononoke and other similar anime. Specifically, if you enjoyed Hollow Knight, then Momodora should be a really easy sell for you. Momodora actually predates HK by a year but offers a very similar experience.

    The level design is a joy to explore. I always felt like I was finding cool new upgrades as I combed the map. Each area is distinct both visually and from a gameplay perspective. It's also quite open-ended! After the first two levels, you get to a hub area of sorts and then simply need to explore all the corners of the map. If I had one issue with the level design, there's a one-way door that I think should have been removed or altered. There's a fork in the road when you get to the hub area and one of those forks organically makes a circle around the entire map, while the other fork ultimately hits a dead end and you have to go all the way back to the fork and go the other way. This is a bit of a nitpick but the game is so open-ended except for this one instance that it feels like an oversight and a time-waster. This could have been alleviated by putting the fast travel upgrade in the dead-end fork to make the backtracking better but that upgrade (AND the lone exploration upgrade!) are both found on the superior fork. I'm just baffled at why this game presents you with a fork in the road, only to tell you an hour later that you should have gone the other direction. Ok I'm done rambling about level design.

    Anyway, the combat is also fantastic. You have a bow and a leaf that acts as a sword. If you’ve ever played Mega Man Zero (or zero in the X games), you’ll be right at home here. You have a 3-slash combo, a jump slash, and you can charge your bow while slashing for maximum damage. It’s also got Dark Souls rolling, i-frames and all but will cancel your bow-charge for some nice risk/reward strategy. You gain money as you kill enemies which can be used to buy new magic abilities. My only complaint here would be the lack of button-remapping. I don't know if the other versions had that but it's a disappointing exclusion. The default scheme is ok but I would have preferred to have dodge and shoot as my shoulder buttons like Mega Man Zero. There is an alternate scheme but do not use it! You absolutely need to have arrows on a shoulder button in order to charge while you melee. This scheme was clearly chosen by someone that isn't very good at the game.

    All considered, Momodora offers a challenging, immersive experience that I couldn’t put down. I beat it, then beat it on hard mode, and then beat it on 1-shot kill difficulty! It’s a bit short, with my initial running clocking at 7 hours (about 1 hour extra thanks to the fork shenanigan I mentioned) but I'd always prefer to be left wanting more than wanting less.    … Expand
  2. MedusaMadman77
    Sep 19, 2019
    2
    One of the most poorly balanced platformers I've played recently. Maybe worth a dollar. It's really bad. Slow, cheap and ugly as hell.
  3. he110me
    Feb 23, 2022
    7
    I would say this game is The benchmark for an acceptable $15 game. it is crisp, short, and a complete experience. the combat is pretty fun, and the adventuring challenges are decent. there were some puzzles where I genuinely felt proud of myself for solving them, however there were other sections where the design just falls short. there are several sections where you spawn into a roomI would say this game is The benchmark for an acceptable $15 game. it is crisp, short, and a complete experience. the combat is pretty fun, and the adventuring challenges are decent. there were some puzzles where I genuinely felt proud of myself for solving them, however there were other sections where the design just falls short. there are several sections where you spawn into a room where an enemy immediately attacks you. unless you've been to that room already, you will likely get hit. there are also several platforming challenges that require pretty Pixel perfect platforming, and if you fall you hit an insta death Spike that sends you all the way back to your previous save points even at full health. Finally, there are multiple endings, but the good ending path is not intuitive at all. Players will either stumble upon it and finish the game not knowing there was a bad ending, or they will miss it thinking it is an inconsequential collectable. These gripes knock the game down to a 7 for me.… Expand
  4. TomMonday
    Jul 18, 2022
    6
    6.5. If you’re good at Metroidvanias, you’ll have no problem blowing through this one in a day. The game truly feels like it could have been released on an old-school Nintendo console. Yet … it never really grabbed me. The archaic world is incredibly atmospheric, but the lore (another poisoned kingdom where the rulers may or may not be the cause) feels shallow. The progression is on-rails6.5. If you’re good at Metroidvanias, you’ll have no problem blowing through this one in a day. The game truly feels like it could have been released on an old-school Nintendo console. Yet … it never really grabbed me. The archaic world is incredibly atmospheric, but the lore (another poisoned kingdom where the rulers may or may not be the cause) feels shallow. The progression is on-rails – and backtracking through the same environments gets repetitive, especially when there’s little to spend your “money” on. Extra points for changing into a cat. But only buy this one at a discount.… Expand
  5. DecoyDoctorpus
    Jan 27, 2020
    10
    Well, i was a bit sceptical about this. the reviews were a bit all over the place and having a bit of metroidvania fatigue i went into this reluctantly. Pleased i did. One of the best Metroidvanias i played this gen, and perhaps ever (and not ridiculously shot). it is a truly beautiful game, with a true metroidvania concept (a map that expands and becomes more accessible with upgrades/newWell, i was a bit sceptical about this. the reviews were a bit all over the place and having a bit of metroidvania fatigue i went into this reluctantly. Pleased i did. One of the best Metroidvanias i played this gen, and perhaps ever (and not ridiculously shot). it is a truly beautiful game, with a true metroidvania concept (a map that expands and becomes more accessible with upgrades/new items. quite haunting, great aesthetic, good difficulty level (on normal). cannot recommend this game highly enough.… Expand
  6. Felipebatosq
    Jan 18, 2020
    9
    Pra min esse jogo eincrível o único ponto negativo pra min r que ele e curto e os finais não tem uma complexidade como posso dizer você muda o final simplesmente por causa de um item que você até pode fazer final ruim e depois volta e fazer o final bom mas tirando isso o jogo e fantástico
  7. Daisuk
    Jun 20, 2020
    5
    I really wanted to like Momodora, but it's just not designed particularly well, in my opinion! The atmosphere is great, but the controls are so stiff and the enemies are punishing as hell, as well as there being very few save points. In the end I found the game to be more of a chore than something I wanted to spend time playing. It's not terrible or anything, just not really worth playing,I really wanted to like Momodora, but it's just not designed particularly well, in my opinion! The atmosphere is great, but the controls are so stiff and the enemies are punishing as hell, as well as there being very few save points. In the end I found the game to be more of a chore than something I wanted to spend time playing. It's not terrible or anything, just not really worth playing, in my opinon.… Expand
  8. west_polee
    Jun 7, 2020
    10
    Really loved every single aspect of this game besides the length. 6 hours on my first playthrough feels way too short for a game of this type.
  9. PsychopathicTim
    Jun 13, 2021
    10
    I took my time with this game, and ended up spending 8 hours in this game. But I love this game, regardless, it's incredible and one of the best games I've played in a long time. The only complaint I have is with saving being bad.
  10. Piglet
    Jan 25, 2021
    10
    I love this game. I adore the cute little animation I get to do when I collect a power up. The gameplay is challenging but not too much and you can unlock tougher difficulties as well. The story is sufficiently intriguing for me and gives me the feels. I like all the little tidbits of information each item has in its description. Even after completing it a few times, there's still parts ofI love this game. I adore the cute little animation I get to do when I collect a power up. The gameplay is challenging but not too much and you can unlock tougher difficulties as well. The story is sufficiently intriguing for me and gives me the feels. I like all the little tidbits of information each item has in its description. Even after completing it a few times, there's still parts of the game I want to go back to and experience again through fresh eyes.… Expand
  11. magical_gurl
    Jun 25, 2021
    9
    Cute, yet creepy. I appreciated the aesthetic, though I wish the plot and characters were a little more developed. The controls were pretty tight, no major issues like some of the other 2d action platformers at this price point. All-in-all a nice quick little metroidvania. Excited to play more titles in the series!
  12. Ginger_Avenger
    Nov 16, 2022
    7
    I like Metroidvania games a lot these days, and this one was pretty good. I don't think I'm going to dazzle anybody with my gaming skills and intuition, so it took me a little bit to get into a groove with this game. Once I did, I happily powered through the rest of the game. Good games in this genre always have a sweet spot in design where, at a certain point, the game really starts toI like Metroidvania games a lot these days, and this one was pretty good. I don't think I'm going to dazzle anybody with my gaming skills and intuition, so it took me a little bit to get into a groove with this game. Once I did, I happily powered through the rest of the game. Good games in this genre always have a sweet spot in design where, at a certain point, the game really starts to open up and exploring becomes more engaging and rewarding. I think Momodora does a pretty good job in this respect, and I also liked the anime-inspired characters. The story? I'm sorry, was there one? The game is short enough that you don't need a detailed narrative to pull you forward.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. Cubed3
    Feb 13, 2019
    70
    Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is a fine example of the metroidvania sub-genre. Depth-wise, it does not quite reach the heights of Hollow Knight, but it far surpasses the likes of Xeodrifter. It's strengths lie in the action, and its charm. This is a fairly bite-sized affair, when compared to the competition, but it is a bite worth trying. With all the basics set in place for such a polished and well crafted entry, hopefully this will get a successor that expands on such a strong foundation.
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  2. NintendoWorldReport
    Jan 23, 2019
    65
    Momodora is incredible in many ways, and I feel like I can’t recommend it enough. It’s also disappointing in many ways, and I feel like I don’t want to recommend it at all. The act of moving around through the Kingdom of Karst is so well-tuned that I had a lot of fun running through hallways smacking monsters with a leaf. Unfortunately, at the end of the day Karst just wasn’t a very interesting place in which to spend time, and I felt myself wishing for a bit more substance. There is undoubtedly something special going on in Momodora, but sadly I never felt like I was playing anything more than an introduction to a larger game that doesn’t actually exist.
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  3. Nintenderos
    Jan 21, 2019
    76
    The game takes us back to a previous era, and has good images and an accurate soundtrack. However, its difficulty is unbalanced and its 4:3 format may not please all players.
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