Children of Morta

Genre: Top-Down Roguelike Action-RPG

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local) (Note: Developer claims online multiplayer will be added later)

The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

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Review:

Children of Morta is Top-Down Action-RPG with Roguelike elements that takes Diablo-style gameplay and replaces the loot system with a rewarding Roguelike system based on its central conceit of a family working together to tackle the game’s challenges.

This game focuses on the Bergson family, who has become increasingly worried due to the spread of an evil purple goo called The Corruption. Seeking answers to the cause of this problem and hopefully a solution, they venture out into the local caves and forests, fighting off the hordes of monsters they encounter along the way.

I was honestly a bit alarmed playing this game at the complete lack of any sort of permanent loot, one of the key features of the Diablo series that drove the game progression. Players instead find temporary upgrades that last only until the completion of a dungeon, or until death respawns your character back at home. However, here the game leans more in the direction of Roguelikes, in that the gold you gather is used for more permanent stat boosts, and the discoveries you make in dungeons help to open up new possibilities for progression.

One of the more clever things this game does is by using its family mechanic to encourage players to cycle through all of the game’s characters. As each character levels up, they get character-specific bonuses, but they also eventually unlock family bonuses too, that apply to each family member. So while you may prefer Linda’s range with the bow over Kevin’s speed with the daggers, Linda will still benefit from leveling up Kevin to increase the family’s critical hit rate. It’s a clever element that ensures that players not only have a healthy amount of options to choose from, but that they have good reason to explore all of those options.

This variety also really helps the game’s co-op to shine, as two players may prefer different styles of characters, but their choices will ultimately benefit each other as they unlock bonuses for everyone based on their chosen character.

The game’s presentation is really fantastic, with well-animated pixel art graphics and some beautifully illustrated scenery throughout the game. This is often at its best at home – as you’re looking through the various rooms at home to upgrade various abilities, the family will be doing their own things in respective rooms of the house, consumed in their own hobbies, having discussions or arguments about the latest expedition into the dungeons.

This sort of thing does a great job of really adding to the game’s feeling that these are distinct, living characters, and really helps you to care for them. Their story is told via voiced narration, and while the story’s fantasy elements are largely “been there, done that”, the family drama that plays out throughout the story is fascinating, and is a really great way to bring players into the story even if they don’t care about goddess whatshername or any of the other lore the narrator speaks about.

There are a few things I would have preferred to be done a bit differently, however. The game’s randomized dungeons can get a bit repetitive, and while there’s plenty of beautiful art in the game, the dungeons themselves are pretty boring to look at. Also, while I completely understand replacing the loot with Roguelike elements, I wish this game retained something in that vein of discovery, where you can open a chest and find something to get truly excited about instead of, “good, more gold. Add that to the pile, it should be helpful”. It just doesn’t match the excitement of finding a new weapon that outclasses your old one. Also, as can happen in this genre, the gameplay can get a tad repetitive at times.

Still, while there’s room for improvement here, Children of Morta is largely a delightful surprise, and an inspired take on the genre that does some really cool things with its focus on its family of heroes, both in terms of how it affects the story and how it affects the game mechanics. Fans of Action-RPGs and Roguelikes should definitely give this game a try.

tl;dr – Children of Morta is a co-op Action-RPG with Roguelike elements that plays much like Diablo, but instead of loot, the game uses a Roguelike system that has players playing as different members of a family in a way that enhances both the game’s story and its mechanics. While there are areas that could do with improvement, on the whole this is a wonderful Action-RPG and a fantastic co-op experience that fans of the genre should absolutely give a try.

Grade: A-

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

Children of Morta

Genre: Top-Down Roguelike Action-RPG

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local) (Note: Developer claims online multiplayer will be added later)

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Review:

I don’t tend to look at 2D games as likely candidates for improvement on Nintendo Switch 2 because they don’t tend to suffer from performance issues that can be improved on Nintendo Switch 2. However, over on Patreon, Ilya Zverev pointed out this game has a significant one that it turns out I neglected to mention in my original reviews – long loading times.

Loading up the game on Nintendo Switch, I found this to be an apt assessment – Children of Morta’s loading times on Nintendo Switch are indeed pretty nasty, and surprisingly so for a game that isn’t pushing any sort of graphical boundaries. Simply loading the game to the title screen takes 1:43 on Nintendo Switch, loading a game save takes another 19 seconds, and loading into one of the game’s randomized dungeons takes 43 seconds. Can Nintendo Switch 2 improve this?

As it turns out, yes, and quite a bit. Those same times on Nintendo Switch 2 are cut down to 47 seconds, 13 seconds, and 16 seconds, and with this game being a Roguelike, the last of these in particular will make a huge difference, shaving off about a half a minute of waiting for each run you make in the game.

Surprisingly, I did notice one other subtle benefit. While moving around as a faster character on Nintendo Switch, I noticed the screen scrolling could be a bit choppy at times, possibly related to an inconsistent framerate. This issue was not present on Nintendo Switch 2 when I played the game.

In short, Ilya Zverev’s instincts were right on the money with this one, and this lovely hidden gem shines even brighter on Nintendo Switch 2. If you enjoy Roguelikes or Diablo-style Action-RPGs and have not yet played this game, there’s been no better time to give it a try!

tl;dr – Children of Morta is a co-op Action-RPG with Roguelike elements that plays much like Diablo, but instead of loot, the game uses a Roguelike system that has players playing as different members of a family in a way that enhances both the game’s story and its mechanics. While there are areas that could do with improvement, on the whole this is a wonderful Action-RPG and a fantastic co-op experience that fans of the genre should absolutely give a try.

Grade: A-

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