A hack-and-slash game with rogue-like elements, Children of Morta unfortunately didn't provide me with any of the satisfaction associated with either genre.

I usually like to start with the positives but they're scarce here. The pixel art looks excellent but even that is squandered in drab and uninspired levels, of which there are mainly only three types: a cave, a desert town and a volcanic industrial area.
The music, although competently made, sounded very unmemorable to me. None of the tracks were catchy or went beyond doing their job.
The programming itself was stable during my playthrough, apart from a bug that prevented me from loading the game right after beating the last boss, forcing me to redo that fight for the save file to register their defeat.

When it comes to gameplay, you have a short campaign with levels that must be beaten in succession but can be revisited at will. The longevity of the game comes from its difficulty, as it's easy to get overwhelmed and die, in which case you must start the level from scratch. Before entering a level, you must choose from one of the unlocked characters to play as; they all have their own gameplay style and skill tree, which can be upgraded by leveling the character up.

During a level, you'll find several ways to improve your character for that run only: Divine items will grant passives, active skills or buffs, obelisks give you buffs that last a short while, and collecting Runes slightly modifies the character skill they're applied to but they have limited charges. Outside of a level, you're able to spend earned gold to permanently boost the attributes of all characters for future runs.

Therefore, you have a considerable pool of options when it comes to making the game easier. The problem here is that none of these options display the depth of the genres they come from. Characters have very limited skill trees and you're not so much making a build for them as you are prioritizing skills that are clearly better than others. Items rarely feel interesting or have gaming-changing impact, acting more like small power-ups. Permanently boosting your characters' attributes with gold lowers the uncertainty factor of every run onward, turning your victory into more of a matter of "when" than "if".

There is no late game, secret bosses, areas, or challenges. There are a few optional quests you can pursue during levels but they'll mostly reward you with an item for that run only, a decoration for the house or a piece of lore. Once you beat the final boss, you've beaten everything the game can throw at you. There is a New Game Plus option available, but all it really means is increased numbers.

So ultimately what this is is a one-and-done, short hack-and-slash game with power-up and character variety. It relies entirely on its core gameplay and plot to retain player motivation, and I have to say both didn't do it for me in the least.

Combat felt like a chore, with enemies that are tanky, pesty, and come in large amounts which is compounded by summoners, dragging combat even further. Skills are often underwhelming. Every level is a bland looking collection of small rooms and corridors. Some of these rooms require you to play a mini-game to get an item and they're all bad, from the awful Pong-like one to another that simply gives you a 33% chance of getting the reward. There is no reason I would ever play a level in this game for fun.

Then, despite allowing you to play as any character in the same playthrough, this is hardly used in a tactical way such as requiring the player to consider who to use and when, since the only real challenges in the game are bosses. Sure, the choice of character adds variety to a playthrough, but since each character represents a time investment you have to consider whether it's worth playing as them at all versus just getting through the level with another, more powerful character. Compare that to the more classic system of having the player pick a character from the start, which allows for distinct playthroughs where challenges must be overcome with a character with their own strengths and weaknesses, thus increasing replayability.

As it is, in Children of Morta I feel it's simply human nature that people will gravitate towards 1 or 2 characters they particularly enjoy playing as and/or have found the most success with. Predicting this, the developers have implemented two mechanics to try and increase the value of this whole system: skill passives called "family traits" that are unlocked from each character and affect the entire roster but, again, represent just one type of small bonus in a pool of them and make you ponder whether it's something even worth pursuing; and, unfortunately, a health penalty for using a character too much, which only goes away after a number of runs with other characters or by spending a rare item. This penalty, if ignored, will eventually grow to unworkable numbers.

Now, this penalty isn't a huge issue if you enjoy playing with more than one character as you can simply rotate between them (though I've found you need to play as at least three for this rotation to completely work), but the principle of it bothers me. It artificially extends playtime by berating the player for having a preference or, Heaven forbid, having found out there's no good reason to switch characters all the time, and it disallows playthroughs where the player limits themselves to a single character in an attempt to generate challenge and/or replayability. It's just generally a negative way to make a system "work". I understand it's also a vehicle to reinforce the family theme, but I don't defend theme over design. It's an unconvincing way of pushing this theme anyway, as it only forces you to play with a couple other characters, hardly the entire family.

Then there's the story. The plot is intriguing at first but becomes real standard fare. Nothing particularly surprising happens, things just move on with little effort. The ending is unsatisfying. Worldbuilding is poor; nothing is given proper development or context. The levels you visit are supposedly located around the eponymous Mount Morta, but because you access these areas via teleporting only, they never feel like real, organic places with interesting landmarks. The player has no freedom to explore, to discover anything interesting; the game's structure just doesn't support it. There are notes you can find containing more information about the world, but those are no substitute for actually experiencing things for yourself. The narration, although made by a good voice actor, gets old since it is the only voice you ever hear and nothing in the game progresses without his take on it.

When it comes to the family of characters, the game fails to develop any of them beyond what can already be mostly surmised by their first impressions: one is young and playful, another is old and wise, etc. The narration robs the characters of their own voices and thoughts, and, thus, much of their ability to express themselves. Instead, we are incessantly told how they feel, how they act, what happened here and there. Instead of being fully-fledged, they feel like tiny actors only there to be observed. Better developing these characters and their bond would have contributed to the family theme far more than any ill conceived gameplay mechanic ever would.

All in all, although I've given it as fair of a shake as I could, there was pretty much nothing in this game for me. I like the premise of a family of characters and being able to play as them, but none of the systems at work here have grabbed my interest. The game does nothing particularly well, and by blending genres without adopting any of what gives them depth, it provides a shallow experience accordingly. It feels overly unambitious. It's a shame, because I can see there was real love behind this game and I fully went into it expecting to like it. But it is what it is.

A hack-and-slash game with rogue-like elements, Children of Morta unfortunately didn't provide me with any of the satisfaction associated with either genre. I usually like to start with the positives but they're scarce here. The pixel art looks excellent but even that is squandered in drab and uninspired levels, of which there are mainly only three types: a cave, a desert town and a volcanic industrial area. The music, although competently made, sounded very unmemorable to me. None of the tracks were catchy or went beyond doing their job. The programming itself was stable during my playthrough, apart from a bug that prevented me from loading the game right after beating the last boss, forcing me to redo that fight for the save file to register their defeat. When it comes to gameplay, you have a short campaign with levels that must be beaten in succession but can be revisited at will. The longevity of the game comes from its difficulty, as it's easy to get overwhelmed and die, in which case you must start the level from scratch. Before entering a level, you must choose from one of the unlocked characters to play as; they all have their own gameplay style and skill tree, which can be upgraded by leveling the character up. During a level, you'll find several ways to improve your character for that run only: Divine items will grant passives, active skills or buffs, obelisks give you buffs that last a short while, and collecting Runes slightly modifies the character skill they're applied to but they have limited charges. Outside of a level, you're able to spend earned gold to permanently boost the attributes of all characters for future runs. Therefore, you have a considerable pool of options when it comes to making the game easier. The problem here is that none of these options display the depth of the genres they come from. Characters have very limited skill trees and you're not so much making a build for them as you are prioritizing skills that are clearly better than others. Items rarely feel interesting or have gaming-changing impact, acting more like small power-ups. Permanently boosting your characters' attributes with gold lowers the uncertainty factor of every run onward, turning your victory into more of a matter of "when" than "if". There is no late game, secret bosses, areas, or challenges. There are a few optional quests you can pursue during levels but they'll mostly reward you with an item for that run only, a decoration for the house or a piece of lore. Once you beat the final boss, you've beaten everything the game can throw at you. There is a New Game Plus option available, but all it really means is increased numbers. So ultimately what this is is a one-and-done, short hack-and-slash game with power-up and character variety. It relies entirely on its core gameplay and plot to retain player motivation, and I have to say both didn't do it for me in the least. Combat felt like a chore, with enemies that are tanky, pesty, and come in large amounts which is compounded by summoners, dragging combat even further. Skills are often underwhelming. Every level is a bland looking collection of small rooms and corridors. Some of these rooms require you to play a mini-game to get an item and they're all bad, from the awful Pong-like one to another that simply gives you a 33% chance of getting the reward. There is no reason I would ever play a level in this game for fun. Then, despite allowing you to play as any character in the same playthrough, this is hardly used in a tactical way such as requiring the player to consider who to use and when, since the only real challenges in the game are bosses. Sure, the choice of character adds variety to a playthrough, but since each character represents a time investment you have to consider whether it's worth playing as them at all versus just getting through the level with another, more powerful character. Compare that to the more classic system of having the player pick a character from the start, which allows for distinct playthroughs where challenges must be overcome with a character with their own strengths and weaknesses, thus increasing replayability. As it is, in Children of Morta I feel it's simply human nature that people will gravitate towards 1 or 2 characters they particularly enjoy playing as and/or have found the most success with. Predicting this, the developers have implemented two mechanics to try and increase the value of this whole system: skill passives called "family traits" that are unlocked from each character and affect the entire roster but, again, represent just one type of small bonus in a pool of them and make you ponder whether it's something even worth pursuing; and, unfortunately, a health penalty for using a character too much, which only goes away after a number of runs with other characters or by spending a rare item. This penalty, if ignored, will eventually grow to unworkable numbers. Now, this penalty isn't a huge issue if you enjoy playing with more than one character as you can simply rotate between them (though I've found you need to play as at least three for this rotation to completely work), but the principle of it bothers me. It artificially extends playtime by berating the player for having a preference or, Heaven forbid, having found out there's no good reason to switch characters all the time, and it disallows playthroughs where the player limits themselves to a single character in an attempt to generate challenge and/or replayability. It's just generally a negative way to make a system "work". I understand it's also a vehicle to reinforce the family theme, but I don't defend theme over design. It's an unconvincing way of pushing this theme anyway, as it only forces you to play with a couple other characters, hardly the entire family. Then there's the story. The plot is intriguing at first but becomes real standard fare. Nothing particularly surprising happens, things just move on with little effort. The ending is unsatisfying. Worldbuilding is poor; nothing is given proper development or context. The levels you visit are supposedly located around the eponymous Mount Morta, but because you access these areas via teleporting only, they never feel like real, organic places with interesting landmarks. The player has no freedom to explore, to discover anything interesting; the game's structure just doesn't support it. There are notes you can find containing more information about the world, but those are no substitute for actually experiencing things for yourself. The narration, although made by a good voice actor, gets old since it is the only voice you ever hear and nothing in the game progresses without his take on it. When it comes to the family of characters, the game fails to develop any of them beyond what can already be mostly surmised by their first impressions: one is young and playful, another is old and wise, etc. The narration robs the characters of their own voices and thoughts, and, thus, much of their ability to express themselves. Instead, we are incessantly told how they feel, how they act, what happened here and there. Instead of being fully-fledged, they feel like tiny actors only there to be observed. Better developing these characters and their bond would have contributed to the family theme far more than any ill conceived gameplay mechanic ever would. All in all, although I've given it as fair of a shake as I could, there was pretty much nothing in this game for me. I like the premise of a family of characters and being able to play as them, but none of the systems at work here have grabbed my interest. The game does nothing particularly well, and by blending genres without adopting any of what gives them depth, it provides a shallow experience accordingly. It feels overly unambitious. It's a shame, because I can see there was real love behind this game and I fully went into it expecting to like it. But it is what it is.