Children of Morta is one of those games you encounter every so often where no amount of pre release hype can really prepare you for the depth of experience you will encounter. This is one of those rare games where expectation is exceeded by reality.


The story of Children of Morta centers around the Bergson family, who are the sacred protectors of the realm for all intents and purposes. Every couple hundred years, The Corruption begins to set in over the land and its inhabitants, turning everyone towards anger, jealousy and madness. The Bergsons must find a way to overcome the evil while also truly building depth of relationship between family members, which is an equally important (maybe even more important) aspect of the story.

The writing is truly excellent, and really makes you care about the Bergson family and the lands they are tasked with protecting. Additionally, the lore developed for this game is rich, and you will constantly find new aspects of the realm, and its gods and beliefs, its history, and so on. This could easily be expanded into a book and into further games exploring different aspects of this history soaked land.


The gameplay is on the surface fairly standard real time isometric ARPG fare, with classic twin stick shooting and fast action. However, there are so many wrinkles to this, and on top of that, it is also a legacy roguelike. Or rogue-lite as the developers describe it.

So, what is a legacy roguelike? For me, it starts with the game Rogue Legacy and has expanded from there. While permadeath is generally an aspect of a roguelike, in this case, family members are always revived at their home. However, the legacy part is that you don't lose progress with skills, story, or leveling. In fact, in the case of Children of Morta, not only do you not lose any progress (outside of having to start whichever dungeon you were on from the beginning each time), but in fact, even death often advances the story in this game and unlocks new things.

Loot is an important aspect of this game, and there are several categories of usable items that expand your power, either as passive divine powers, obelisks with cool powers, limited use relics and items with ability timers, some of which disappear after a certain amount of time while others simply reset after an allotted amount of time. Additionally, there are six total playable Bergson's, each with their own unique skill sets (which follow some cool skill trees including both passive and active abilities, that you'll be leveling up) and weapons. However, in addition to that, leveling each member also unlocks family traits that are shared by all Bergson's. A nice aspect to each character is that, while each has a plethora of very powerful abilities, they also will have some sort of weakness that forces you to really add a deep layer of strategy to every run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3m8zpb7Y2c&t=1s

There is also a corruption meter. It allows that, after being directly exposed to the Corruption for an extended amount of time, each family member will need to rest and relax for a while in order to recover from the Corruption. Failure to do so results in increasingly hefty penalties. This definitely encourages you to explore the various characters and use more than just your favorite Bergson.

RNG factors in primarily for loot and special effects. In the case of loot, an especially favorable run (typically one that includes several companion relics that fight or heal along with you) will result in you being pretty overpowered. However, the opposite is also very definitely true. Some runs become more challenging for the unfavorable RNG.

There are also a decent amount of side quests and a few NPC's to be rescued, several of which then become merchants that will appear during your runs. Additionally, there are a couple variations of puzzle rooms with nice rewards, some wave battle sequences, and so on.

I didn't play this with in co-op, but that is available, and should be a good time.

Each dungeon is reasonably short, resulting in, at most, 30ish minute runs, but also potentially being runs that can be wrapped up in 5 or 10 minutes. Additionally, each level is broken up into one to four levels.


Man. The graphics in Children of Morta are stunning. Described as (and yes, that typo is on the product page): "A combination of hand painted pixel art and frame-by-frame animations partanered with modern lighting techniques come to life to create the beautifully dangerous world of Children of Morta!"

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1868421385

It's a great description for this game. The world is a stunner, character animations are actually evocative and on point, and all this using pixel art. The color schemes are vibrant and perfect for the settings presented. Attention to detail is exhibited at the highest level here. As far as use of pixel art and frame by frame animations go, this game is going to set the bar for upcoming games for a while.


This game actually has a fair amount of dialogue, in the form of an AMC style narrator. The thick and rich narration really serves to set a fantastic tone for the game. Since you are watching the things unfold on screen as the narrator is presenting them, it really creates an engaging experience. Beyond that, there is no voice work, but there is a good amount of detail spent with combat and exploration sounds, and in general creating a breathing world of sorts. In addition, that soundtrack is as good as it gets. I think one could describe the music as pretty epic. Definitely the sort of soundtrack you will want to listen to away from the game as well.


Children of Morta may be the perfect convergence of rogue-lite and isometric ARPG gameplay, with excellent storytelling, presentation, and pacing. I really can't find any fault with this game. It is accessible and yet challenging, and thoroughly engaging throughout. My own playthrough lasted around 22 hours, and there is definitely the opportunity to play again, especially in co-op. Also, gamepad support, which is a must for games like this and was appreciated. Anyway, this one is in my opinion a Must Own at Full Price game. Potentially the best that both rogue-lites and ARPG's currently have to offer.

[b]Children of Morta[/b] is one of those games you encounter every so often where no amount of pre release hype can really prepare you for the depth of experience you will encounter. This is one of those rare games where expectation is exceeded by reality. [h1]Story[/h1] The story of Children of Morta centers around the Bergson family, who are the sacred protectors of the realm for all intents and purposes. Every couple hundred years, [i]The Corruption[/i] begins to set in over the land and its inhabitants, turning everyone towards anger, jealousy and madness. The Bergsons must find a way to overcome the evil while also truly building depth of relationship between family members, which is an equally important (maybe even more important) aspect of the story. The writing is truly excellent, and really makes you care about the Bergson family and the lands they are tasked with protecting. Additionally, the lore developed for this game is rich, and you will constantly find new aspects of the realm, and its gods and beliefs, its history, and so on. This could easily be expanded into a book and into further games exploring different aspects of this history soaked land. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] The gameplay is on the surface fairly standard real time isometric ARPG fare, with classic twin stick shooting and fast action. However, there are so many wrinkles to this, and on top of that, it is also a legacy roguelike. Or rogue-lite as the developers describe it. So, what is a legacy roguelike? For me, it starts with the game Rogue Legacy and has expanded from there. While permadeath is generally an aspect of a roguelike, in this case, family members are always revived at their home. However, the legacy part is that you don't lose progress with skills, story, or leveling. In fact, in the case of Children of Morta, not only do you not lose any progress (outside of having to start whichever dungeon you were on from the beginning each time), but in fact, even death often advances the story in this game and unlocks new things. Loot is an important aspect of this game, and there are several categories of usable items that expand your power, either as passive divine powers, obelisks with cool powers, limited use relics and items with ability timers, some of which disappear after a certain amount of time while others simply reset after an allotted amount of time. Additionally, there are six total playable Bergson's, each with their own unique skill sets (which follow some cool skill trees including both passive and active abilities, that you'll be leveling up) and weapons. However, in addition to that, leveling each member also unlocks family traits that are shared by all Bergson's. A nice aspect to each character is that, while each has a plethora of very powerful abilities, they also will have some sort of weakness that forces you to really add a deep layer of strategy to every run. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3m8zpb7Y2c&t=1s There is also a corruption meter. It allows that, after being directly exposed to the Corruption for an extended amount of time, each family member will need to rest and relax for a while in order to recover from the Corruption. Failure to do so results in increasingly hefty penalties. This definitely encourages you to explore the various characters and use more than just your favorite Bergson. RNG factors in primarily for loot and special effects. In the case of loot, an especially favorable run (typically one that includes several companion relics that fight or heal along with you) will result in you being pretty overpowered. However, the opposite is also very definitely true. Some runs become more challenging for the unfavorable RNG. There are also a decent amount of side quests and a few NPC's to be rescued, several of which then become merchants that will appear during your runs. Additionally, there are a couple variations of puzzle rooms with nice rewards, some wave battle sequences, and so on. I didn't play this with in co-op, but that is available, and should be a good time. Each dungeon is reasonably short, resulting in, at most, 30ish minute runs, but also potentially being runs that can be wrapped up in 5 or 10 minutes. Additionally, each level is broken up into one to four levels. [h1]Graphics[/h1] Man. The graphics in Children of Morta are stunning. Described as (and yes, that typo is on the product page): "A combination of hand painted pixel art and frame-by-frame animations partanered with modern lighting techniques come to life to create the beautifully dangerous world of Children of Morta!" https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1868421385 It's a great description for this game. The world is a stunner, character animations are actually evocative and on point, and all this using pixel art. The color schemes are vibrant and perfect for the settings presented. Attention to detail is exhibited at the highest level here. As far as use of pixel art and frame by frame animations go, this game is going to set the bar for upcoming games for a while. [h1]Audio[/h1] This game actually has a fair amount of dialogue, in the form of an AMC style narrator. The thick and rich narration really serves to set a fantastic tone for the game. Since you are watching the things unfold on screen as the narrator is presenting them, it really creates an engaging experience. Beyond that, there is no voice work, but there is a good amount of detail spent with combat and exploration sounds, and in general creating a breathing world of sorts. In addition, that soundtrack is as good as it gets. I think one could describe the music as pretty epic. Definitely the sort of soundtrack you will want to listen to away from the game as well. [h1]Verdict[/h1] [b]Children of Morta[/b] may be the perfect convergence of rogue-lite and isometric ARPG gameplay, with excellent storytelling, presentation, and pacing. I really can't find any fault with this game. It is accessible and yet challenging, and thoroughly engaging throughout. My own playthrough lasted around 22 hours, and there is definitely the opportunity to play again, especially in co-op. Also, gamepad support, which is a must for games like this and was appreciated. Anyway, this one is in my opinion a [b]Must Own at Full Price[/b] game. Potentially the best that both rogue-lites and ARPG's currently have to offer. [code]If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, it would be appreciated. Cheers. https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32549618/[/code]