Children of Morta (2019) [Steam]

“What makes a family?”

Mt. Morta was a peaceful place once, thanks to the ministrations of the Bergsons. This is a family of warriors who stand against anything that might threaten their homeland. Lately, though, the Corruption has emerged – a deadly force that twists animals and conjures evil creatures. It’s up to the Bergsons to band together as a family and resist the nastiness that seeks to destroy the mountain in Children of Morta.

Toward that end, it’s going to come down to each and every Bergson to do their part. Many of them will go into combat fighting the Corruption directly. The Bergsons have various specialties; Father John wields a sword and shield, for instance, while brothers Mark and Kevin represent the monk and assassin archetypes respectively. You begin with John and eldest daughter Linda, an archer, but as you continue progressing through the game – or falling in combat – more Bergsons are unlocked naturally.

 Gameplay: 7/10

Children of Morta is a roguelite dungeon crawler in the same vein as Diablo. It represents a significant step up in terms of combat design from Digital Sun’s previous game, Moonlighter. Each of the many Bergsons has their own combat specialization and functions in a different way, from John’s basic sword-and-board style to Linda’s arrows to martial artist Mark to pyromancer Lucy. You’ll want to try each and every one of them to see if they suit your style; what’s more, you’ll also want to check back every so often as they level to see if investing in each Bergson’s extensive skill tree changes your mind about them at all. Variety really is the spice of life, and it’s one Morta relies on…

…because, well, it’s a roguelite dungeon crawler in the same vein as Diablo. You have to have a taste for that kind of game, because Morta’s gameplay isn’t going to deviate very much from that standard formula. While you can collect and spend money to upgrade your Bergsons as well as progressing through the aforementioned skill trees, it doesn’t change the fact that this isn’t substantially different from something like Gauntlet. If you’re into that, full speed ahead! If you want a little more depth, you might find Children of Morta lacking.

 Multiplayer: 9/10

Still, you know what helps a game continue to feel fresh? Having someone else playing with you! Children of Morta lacks online cooperative play, but if you have someone to play in person (or use a direct connection tool like Parsec) then you’re good to go. Being able to choose different Bergsons and support each others’ playstyles makes the relatively shallow Morta experience a lot more interesting. What’s more, there’s a Corruption mechanic by which characters that are often used will be exhausted and face stat reduction until they’re given time to rest – in other words, you and your friend will both need to learn new characters as your mainstays need to be sidelined. It’s a nice touch.

 Visuals: 9/10

One area in which you won’t find Children of Morta lacking is the presentation department. Go check out a trailer, then come back and tell me how gorgeous this game is. Answer: very. It’s very gorgeous. Pixel art was a tag-along fad for quite some time amongst the indie crowd, an easy way to get a couple nostalgia bucks with minimal effort, but in the modern age, we’ve seen more and more games making the most out of this aesthetic. Children of Morta may be one of the best examples of pixel art done right, thanks to its sweeping vistas, beautiful-yet-minimal animation, and gorgeous character design.

 Audio: 9/10

Graphics alone do not a game make, though, so it’s good that Children of Morta is also no slouch in the sound department. This game leans heavily on an in-game narrator in the style of Supergiant’s games like Bastion and Transistor. It’s a great touch that adds a lot of soul throughout the journey, especially during the between-dungeon cutscenes that set Morta apart from its contemporaries. These are absolutely fantastic vignettes showing the Bergsons interacting with each other and with the world around them. You’ll come to appreciate each family member through these as much as through their little gameplay quirks, but it wouldn’t be nearly as charming without the narrator doing his own “voice” for each of them.

 Uniqueness: 6/10

Children of Morta doesn’t really have any unique ideas, it has some well-trodden ideas that it combines well. A focus on family has been popular since The Last of Us hit it big, pixel art has been popular since indie developers decided they liked money, narrators have been trendy since Bastion hit pay dirt and, well, we’ve always had hack-and-slash games. Everything about this title is done so well, though, that it’s hard to fault it for not covering much in the way of new ground. Innovation for innovation’s sake doesn’t necessarily mean results; if the past couple generations of games have taught us anything, it’s that solid fundamentals and raw fun mean more.

 Replayability: 8/10

Well, it’s a roguelite hack and slash game! Replayability is what Children of Morta’s all about. You’ve got a unique map to explore each time you set out, filled with monsters to battle and random items to collect. That said, Morta’s replayability only goes so far as your patience; if you get tired of the hack and slash style, then it doesn’t matter how many randomly generated maps it’s going to throw at you.

 Challenge: 7/10

Children of Morta is a “roguelite,” and if you’re not familiar with the term, it generally means “any variety of game where health pickups are rare to emphasize avoiding damage because you’ll have to restart from the beginning of a section if you die.” This is more or less effective in different genres. In a Gauntlet-style game as we see here, it’s probably a little less effective; the action is so chaotic that it’s difficult to actually do any avoidance. Children of Morta is challenging, certainly, but there’s plenty of moments where it doesn’t exactly feel fair.

Personal: 9/10

Either way, if you can grab a friend who’s into this kind of game and is also patient enough to deal with the odd frustrating death, you’re bound to have a great time. True to its themes, Children of Morta really impresses the value of connecting with other people to accomplish more than you could do alone. Those themes have the most impact when you’re sitting with someone you appreciate having a good time together. That’s when Children of Morta is at its best, and it’s an experience that hack and slash fans ought to try.

We would like to thank Dead Mage and 11bit Studios for offering a copy of their game in exchange for this honest critique.

Aggregated Score: 8.0

Cory G. believes the pen is mightier than the sword…well, depending on how sharp the pen and sword are. A child of the ’90s and a prolific writer, he strews his work about like Legos made of words, just waiting for your brain to step on them. He enjoys a devilish challenge, so when it comes to talking about some of the more difficult games out there, you might just run into the Infernal Accountant Mage. Some advice: hold on to your soul around this guy, and don’t sign anything. Read more at popzara.com.