Momodora 5 is a fitting finale for an amazing series with a lot of soul, that can be picked up as an entry point to it as well. Count about 7 hours of play, 10 if you aim for the 111% completion, more if you want to do the post-game content. It plays similarly to Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, and takes place after Momodora III. If you have missed other titles, the librarian lad in Koho village gives you a set of short notes that summarize (and complete!) their story and put this one in context. Way prettier, more polished, and bad*ss than its predecessors (including Minoria), it also handles better and has more gameplay depth, with the most fun and synergistic perk/item system (sigils) and best feeling powercreep in the series. It further fleshes out the characters, and does a good job at tieing loose ends and referencing the other games, making it even more enjoyable if you are a Momodora fan. Momo is virtuous yet a bit sassy, Isadora mellowed out despite her fiery temperament, godly beings aren't perfect and make dumb mistakes, and as usual, the game's narrative elegantly slithers between light-hearted interactions, gorgeous and whimsical landscapes, and very somber and monstrous events and areas. Oh, and so many cats it could be categorized as one of those "find all the cats" games that've been all the rage lately. I hope you're not allergic. There's one nail I must hammer once more: The art direction and world building are absolutely stellar, insane. Stopping to smell the roses is not really my thing, as my dumb gorilla brain is too too busy trying to brutally annihilate the movement and combat systems of every single game I touch to admire the scenery. But this? This is one of those rare games that make me realize that I, in fact, have been attached with eyes. Additionally, the soundscape goes perfectly well with it, weaving a mystical and immersive atmosphere in every single region of the game. Some tracks are also pretty memorable, with a very strong main leitmotiv and really good boss music. The combat is closer to RUtM than Minoria and it is designed to be enjoyable by both dodgeroll-focused players and those who prefer spacing, air control and positioning. Oh and I guess filthy, arrow-spamming, turtly heathens too but they lost their human rights long ago so who cares! Level and boss design are extremely varied and will always surprise you. No two bosses or areas are alike and it just never goes stale. I would even say that variety is MMF's strongest suit . It is not without flaws, however. There are two things that prevent it from being perfect in my eyes: First, (very minor mechanic spoiler) fast travel not being available for 70% of the game, forcing you to often backtrack over long distances without much to do (especially if you're the type of player who is paranoid about missing things), as the game's level design is that of a "linear", one-region-at-a-time metroidvania (think Metroid Fusion) that focuses on making firsthand exploration feel great at the expense of fun backtracking. Typically the kind of game that immensely benefits from having easily accessible warps. Second, and most importantly, difficulty. The difficulty curve in MF is more consistent than its predecessors, with perfectly placed spikes that are designed to challenge your gameplan in specific areas each. The problem is overall difficulty, and the lack of immediate reward for going beyond the challenge. If you are new to the series or just not used to this kind of game, it'll feel just fine (heck, it even has a Lite mode with togglable adaptive difficulty!). However if you're one of those who quickly catch on to how an enemy or bossfight works, you will breeze through the game with little to no death, and left hungry for more, as there aren't enough threats . In RUtM, this was compensated for in the form of an additional reward if you beat a boss without being hit once. Here, perfecting a boss feels almost as fun (they are overall easier to cheese) but there is no incentive to it and the game even autosaves after beating some of the bosses, making it impossible to retry if you mistakenly end the fight after taking a hit. It still tries to allow you to spice things up (and prevent the aforementioned scenario) in the form of a sigil that leaves you at 1HP but there's no point outside of speedrun builds and it takes a precious grimoire slot away... On the other hand, it does provide you with post-game content to test your mettle with, an arrange NG+ mode and a hardcore permadeath mode, as well as a boss rush , it is just unfortunate that you have to finish the game to get a fitting challenge if you're a brute, a masochist or a fossilized NES/SNES-era monk like me. Mind you, those are mainly the nitpicks of a seasoned player and most people won't even be affected by them. I've been a fan of the momodora series since the second game, contributed to RUtM as a playtester and its french translator, and consider rdein to be my friend. This game was the fruit of much struggle and it came out an absolute beauty. Go and buy it, eyes closed! Thank you rdein, and pkbt, paul, nk, as well as hernanz, elektrobear, daku & co, for making such a great series. You have no idea how much it inspired me over the years, as a game developer. May your future games kick as much ass! I want Sariel to perform her entire moveset on me including her dive-stomp attack
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