In today’s gaming industry many genres tend to be plagued with oversaturation; not to say that a particular genre has declined in overall quality, but there is no denying that you need to dig deep within a specific genre to find a gem that’s worth your time and money. That being said, it takes a lot of originality, smart advertising among other things to help make your game stand out from the rest. Despite being in the oversaturated rogue-like genre, Dead Mage’s Children of Morta stands out as one of the games within the genre above that deserves the spotlight.
Initially announced in 2014, Children of Morta was successfully funded on Kickstarter on February 20, 2015, with $108,938 from 3,427 generous backers to help make the game a reality. Set in a fantasy world, players take control of one of the six playable members of the Bergsons, a family who has guarded Mount Morta for generations against a slew of enemies.
Recently, I had a chance to play a demo built of the game; visually the game is beautiful, the pixel art, the animations, as well as the character sprites, look amazingly detailed, while the overall setting is vibrant and colorful. While not much is known regarding the whole narrative, the developer has promised a “powerful narrative of familial ties.”
During my time with the demo, three characters were playable. While I did not spend as much time playing as the other two characters; I did spend a substantial amount of time with Kevin — the younger brother in the family who dual-wields daggers in combat. He is agile and quick which made mincemeat of the enemies I faced; his style of gameplay was immensely satisfying to watch.
From what I also played, the game offers a lot of challenge, so making a balance between offense and defense is crucial, and if you have a buddy to play co-op with, then you shall have no problem fending off waves of enemies. Speaking of co-op mode because there will be three additional members to play as each with their own abilities and moves that stand out from the rest of their family, this will allow players to mix and match with their buddies.
Children of Morta is shaping up to be one of my favorite indie games of 2018; at times, I could not stop myself from playing the game, and this was only the demo build. If this is a glimpse of what we can expect in the full version, then there is a lot of good things coming ahead for the game.
Children of Morta is set to be released sometime this year for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.