We love it when a studio demonstrates significant growth and improvement with each of its subsequent projects. With Bombservice specifically, the team has always boasted a strong understanding of what makes Metroidvanias ‘click’, and with Momodora: Moonlit Farewell, it’s delivered what may well be its finest game yet.
The latest chronological entry in the series, Moonlit Farewell is a noticeable step up from its already-excellent predecessor, Reverie Under the Moonlight, in terms of scope, visual design, and gameplay. Right from the start, you’re greeted by stunning scenes of pixel-art wizardry, with Bombservice showcasing its mastery of colour and atmosphere. This extends to the characters and enemies, with each and every bizarre creature feeling both alien in design and yet perfectly suited to Momodora’s ethereal world.
Gameplay will feel familiar if you’ve played the previous entries, with main protagonist Momo utilising melee attacks and a long-range bow to deal damage. You obtain new, permanent abilities such as double-jump, sprint, and wall jump periodically throughout the game, while sigils can be found or bought from stores for additional perks. Experimentation to find which sigils best fit your playstyle is encouraged: do you want more potency in your Healing Bells or will you find more success in increasing the strength of your arrows?
Exploring the world and defeating standard enemies rarely provides much of a challenge, but significant difficulty bumps rear their heads when taking on boss characters. Like all good action games, though, success comes when you take a step back, learn your foes’ attack patterns, and wait for the opportune moment to strike. As mentioned in our review of Minoria, however, our favourite encounters came with the ferocious one-on-one battles against bosses of a similar build to Momo herself. Monstrous, screen-filling creatures are great and look fantastic, but they can feel a tad shallow by comparison.
The game does a lot to ensure that you never feel too lost. Friendly characters provide loose objectives to follow, giving a rough idea of where to go. Meanwhile, the map itself separates the various biomes via colour while also including handy icons to designate save points, stores, fishing spots (yes, you can fish!), and hidden items. There's still a fair bit of backtracking involved, but when the game looks this good, we don't mind quite so much.
If we were to describe Momodora: Moonlit Farewell in one word, it would be “exquisite”. This isn’t a game that necessarily attempts to do anything new in what is undoubtedly a crowded genre, but everything it does, it does very well. It’s a slick experience with gorgeous visuals, engaging combat, and challenging, yet fair boss encounters. The soundtrack has also been noticeably improved over the previous game, making this a must-play for fans of the series and, indeed, Metroidvanias in general.
Comments 12
Yeah, I enjoyed it too. One could do a lot worse when looking for a new MV to play. If you're sick of the genre, this game won't change your mind but if you love them (and I do), it's a fine addition to your library.
Thanks for the review, have to play Reverie Under the Moonlight and Minoria first and foremost also considering I already have those, but after doing that I'll definitely play Moonlit Farewell, too!
Oh man, I can’t wait to play this! I’ll give it credit. I’m able to push off my KCD2 fomo just based on my excitement for this one alone… and seeing it review well is icing on the cake! So happy you guys chose to review this one!
Oh my God! This game was made for me! Its pixel art is absolutely stunning. The writer's descriptions of the game in the review also add to its appeal for me. I'll definitely save this game to my wishlist.
Reverie under the Moonlight was amazing, I can't wait for this one. Already preordered in the eshop and ready to play the moment I get back from work tomorrow.
Also Waiting 6-8 months for the Phisical Copy from LRG...
Momodora RutM is a little masterpiece of a game . such vibes
Do I need to pay the others in this serious first, or can I dive right in?
I'm really concerned with length and difficulty. The last one I played while ok was extremely short and very easy,.This is a genre where I like harder standard difficulties otherwise in my personal experience they dont really grab me.
I'll be grabbing the CE off LRG.
Really enjoyed the others.
Finally started Reverie (after buying on sale a year ago) and really enjoying it; it’s quirky, casually challenging, and has lots of atmosphere. The sequel sounds like another step up! Glad to see a positive response here; got my physical copy preordered!
I was tempted to get Minoria, then tempted to get Momodora 1, and now it’s a tempting trilogy. I gave up and went to eBay. 😅
Momo 2 I’ll have to preorder with LRG.
No doubt once I place that order, somebody will announce a physical trilogy pack. 😓
(None of the 3 games ever got a good physical release in Japan, so it could happen.)
Added to Wishlist. Will def give this a look on Switch 2..
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