This vs. Dead Cells vs. Momodora Reverie Under the Moonlight

[The Spry Wonder Dog]

Fan of difficult games like Hyper Light Drifter, Shovel Knight, Dark Souls, etc. All of these games really intrigue me, but seem to have a lot in common. Was hoping some of you who have played more than one could list some pros/cons or help explain the differences between them. There seems to be a big spectrum of combat, roguelike, and platforming mechanics in these games. I think I will end up buying all of them eventually but I'm not sure which one I want to start with. Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

[Rare]

I haven't played Momodora but I know Dead Cells is great. It's pretty fair, not too difficult, and the unlock system gives you motivation to play.

[Fracastador]

I haven't played most of the games in question, but I can tell you that I found Hollow knight more difficult than shovel knight, as well as a higher quality game overall, and I am quite fond of shovel knight.

Hollow knight has some optional content that gets fairly intense, but the joy from the game is more about the exploration than challenging yourself. Hollow knight is the best metroidvania game I've ever played with regards to exploration and world. That being said, hollow knight's combat and platforming are still quite good. Hollow knight is odd because the game has very little in the way of momentum mechanics, meaning you can very quickly change direction both on the ground and in midair. The game takes advantage of this, providing you with enemies and platforming sections that will require fast reactions.

'Fraid that's all I can offer.

[Morphic]

I have all three lol. I've put in ~20+ hours in each. Only halfway through Momodoria, beat Dead Cells pre-recent patch, getting different Playthroughs in Hollow Knight.

Basically;

Hollow Knight = Classic Castlevania style game. Lots of optional stuff, hidden gear/stuff but has a "Demon's Souls" like story in that you kinda gotta piece it together yourself. It's heavy on platforming and the Combat seems easy and simple at first ... but gets to be fairly complex and intense. Has some of the most "Wtf? How?!" challenging platforming I've seen since Cave Story.

Dead Cells = Pretty much trying to be a 2D "hack n slash" Dark Souls-like. Personally I brand it as an "Arcade version of Salt and Santuacy". It's pretty good, especially with the latest update. However Platforming is rather minimal except in certain locations. The Combat is pretty good and you get to have "Build Variety" so it's more "RPG" than the other two. IMO I prefer the other two because sometimes Dead Cells is jank and sometimes RNG is a B$%^# lol.

Momodoria = IMO, Combat isn't as fluid as the other two but still pretty nice. There's quite a bit of platforming, easy at first but gets more difficult as you progress. The story is pretty solid but is standard fare. There's some optional stuff I've found already but haven't seen any optional Bosses yet. My only "real" complaint with it is that you get special items/equipment from Perfect'ing a Boss; which you have to do it on First Try. Now this isn't like "Ooo Prestige shiny!" type of stuff. I'm talking Enchants Bow attacks to deal Poison that does % damage, Charge Shot becomes multiple homing projectiles, Magic Attack that goes through walls... that kind of stuff. So if you aren't "Good" or feel punished by not getting that stuff, you may want to steer clear. Though Giant Boobs Waifu Boss is a thing so I guess that makes up for it a little bit?

TLDR: Hollow Knight is like Castelvania Symphony of the night. Dead Cells is an Arcade version of Salt and Sanctuary. Momodoria is sorta like a Zelda Cave Story. IMO, Hollow Knight is better than the other two if you want "an experience" but Momo is quite a bit of fun and surprisingly challenging. Dead Cells I'd rank last simply because, IMO, it borrows too heavily from Dark Souls type of gameplay and Artifical Difficulty. That and, as a Roguelike Player, I absolutely hate the RNG in that game.

[Ahmy4k]

Originally posted by Setzway:

I have all three lol. I've put in ~20+ hours in each. Only halfway through Momodoria, beat Dead Cells pre-recent patch, getting different Playthroughs in Hollow Knight.

Basically;

Hollow Knight = Classic Castlevania style game. Lots of optional stuff, hidden gear/stuff but has a "Demon's Souls" like story in that you kinda gotta piece it together yourself. It's heavy on platforming and the Combat seems easy and simple at first ... but gets to be fairly complex and intense. Has some of the most "Wtf? How?!" challenging platforming I've seen since Cave Story.

Dead Cells = Pretty much trying to be a 2D "hack n slash" Dark Souls-like. Personally I brand it as an "Arcade version of Salt and Santuacy". It's pretty good, especially with the latest update. However Platforming is rather minimal except in certain locations. The Combat is pretty good and you get to have "Build Variety" so it's more "RPG" than the other two. IMO I prefer the other two because sometimes Dead Cells is jank and sometimes RNG is a B$%^# lol.

Momodoria = IMO, Combat isn't as fluid as the other two but still pretty nice. There's quite a bit of platforming, easy at first but gets more difficult as you progress. The story is pretty solid but is standard fare. There's some optional stuff I've found already but haven't seen any optional Bosses yet. My only "real" complaint with it is that you get special items/equipment from Perfect'ing a Boss; which you have to do it on First Try. Now this isn't like "Ooo Prestige shiny!" type of stuff. I'm talking Enchants Bow attacks to deal Poison that does % damage, Charge Shot becomes multiple homing projectiles, Magic Attack that goes through walls... that kind of stuff. So if you aren't "Good" or feel punished by not getting that stuff, you may want to steer clear. Though Giant Boobs Waifu Boss is a thing so I guess that makes up for it a little bit?

TLDR: Hollow Knight is like Castelvania Symphony of the night. Dead Cells is an Arcade version of Salt and Sanctuary. Momodoria is sorta like a Zelda Cave Story. IMO, Hollow Knight is better than the other two if you want "an experience" but Momo is quite a bit of fun and surprisingly challenging. Dead Cells I'd rank last simply because, IMO, it borrows too heavily from Dark Souls type of gameplay and Artifical Difficulty. That and, as a Roguelike Player, I absolutely hate the RNG in that game.

Honestly, im scared hollow knight is such a good game i'd never be able to experience the same quality after i have beaten it.

[Morphic]

Originally posted by Ahmy4k:

Honestly, im scared hollow knight is such a good game i'd never be able to experience the same quality after i have beaten it.

I'm starting to feel the same way frankly. I'm working on seeing the different endings I feel there is a lot of "BS" segments that felt great to beat them at the time... but now bum me out.

[Felipi]

I want to give my 2 cents here just because OP's username is Mastopeth and picture is from a Deafheaven album cover (I KNOW THIS IS A WEEK OLD, sorry haha).

I think the 3 games are just top-notch on their niches. As someone said before in this thread, Dead Cells is more arcade-ish, Momodora is like a Zelda Cave Story. But I actually thought that Hollow Knight had a big Zelda influence, mainly in the way inventory works.
In regards to contents, Momodora is the smaller of this games. But trying to speedrun it on insane is fun, because it is not too long. Momodora has the same idea of bonfires and replenishing itens like in Dark Souls, and the atmosphere also reminds me of how a Pixel Muramasa would look like. But combat is very minimalistic.
I have played a lot of Dead Cells 3~4 months agora, I think, and I really like the pace and motion of the game. And being short and diversified, it is very fun to do speedruns or challenge runs, like pacifist, shields only, magic only, stuff like that. But since I last played it, many thinks were not done yet (but still it had lots of contents and variety).
Hollow Knight just left me in awe when I played it, because I was not expecting such a great game. And I surely did not expect that I would spend 40 hours on my first playthrough (99% because I have no patience for the third colosseum). And they just keep adding new content! I haven't tried any of the free DLCs yet. This one hits way harder on the "Metroidvania" thing, being very non-linear and full of exploration and backtracking. Momodora is good on this, too, albeit shorter. Dead Cells I don't even treat as a Metroidvania, but it is a great game anyways.