Momodora: Moonlit Farewell PC review – For whom the bell tolls

I wasn’t expecting Bombservice to make another Momodora game after they pivoted with Minoria. The game will be very familiar to fans of Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight and it sticks closer to the typical Metroid-like formula than some might be expecting. Momodora: Moonlit Farewell‘s gorgeous presentation, tight controls, strong level design, and steady pacing make for a game that’s well worth digging into for fans or newcomers who just want a good genre game to sink their teeth into.

If you’ve played a Metroid-like before, you know what to expect here. Momo is dropped into a large-ish map and you have to explore to find new abilities to reach new areas. As is tradition, Momo fights with a leaf with a multi-hit combo, shoots arrows, and can dodge. Dodging at the right time will give you a perfect dodge which makes you invulnerable for a second or so. Abilities include such classics as running, double jumping, and wall jumping, so Momodora: Moonlit Farewell has few surprises in this regard. It’s a classic entry, more or less.

Momodora: Moonlit Farewell is a notably longer game than its predecessor. It’s not long at all, mind you, but takes several hours to get through. One of the main ways you can affect things is by equipping new sigils. Sigils are found in the environment or purchased from an NPC. These grant passive effects, including ones that series fans will find very familiar, such as doing more damage at low health or increasing the effectiveness of several abilities. It’s a great way to tailor your playstyle. You can purchase more sigils by using currency dropped by enemies.

Upgrade your grey matter

Although Momodora: Moonlit Farewell is a Metroid-like, don’t expect interconnected areas. The map’s sections are mostly separate from each other and don’t have a bunch of wild connections. The areas themselves are usually interesting-looking as far as biomes go and feature different enemies and some unique traits. Perhaps you’ll be slowed down while walking through bogs or have to contend with sharp hazards jabbing out of the ground. The areas are fun to explore and map sections with secrets will be clearly indicated by question marks on the map. This makes it very easy to find everything. I think I missed a single thing in the whole game, as I couldn’t figure out how to reach it.

One significant difference Momodora: Moonlit Farewell has is that Momo just feels weighty to control. There’s a real sense that she’s got a lot of physicality, although she can feel a bit more sluggish than I’d prefer due to how there are no air control abilities. Combat feels similarly weighty, with impactful hits. Dodging feels excellent as well. This is just a strong showing in every capacity. It doesn’t hurt that the pixel art is so vibrant and detailed. Bombservice really outdid itself this time, creating truly impressive art, from the chunky sprites to the detailed, lovely backgrounds.

One aspect fans might be less than happy with is the standard difficulty. Momodora: Moonlit Farewell isn’t a tough game, but it’s mostly fairly challenging. However, it’s got a notably lower level of difficulty than the previous two entries. The bosses, in typical fashion, can be beaten in one or two tries. The final boss is even so easy I beat it on my first try. Once you complete the game you can choose to fight any of the bosses again, as well as nightmare versions of them that have more health and insta-kill traps in the area. I would have preferred to fight them without such gimmicks, though.

Hurts, don’t it?

Enemies do hit quite hard across the board, though. Momo’s health can be eradicated after just a few hits, but she can heal using magic points via her healing bell. As the game progresses, you can use the bell more and more and, with the right upgrades you can heal a huge amount of health, even potentially past the maximum. Upgrades to Momo’s capabilities are obtained by eating plants or praying at flowers which you’ll find in question mark areas. There’s a consistent feeling of improvement, which works well.

As for replayability, beating the game unlocks an arrange mode that mirrors the map and a few other changes. There’s also hardcore mode which makes the experience harder and adds permadeath. Again, I would have really liked the harder difficulty without the permadeath, but it is what it is. Momodora: Moonlit Farewell is another terrific entry in the series that fans will get a lot out of. It’s a very appropriate goodbye to the franchise that will resonate well, provided the sound of this bell ringing its last lines up with personal preferences.

While you’re here, consider taking a look at more reviews:

Cookie Cutter PC review – Tasty but still too doughy | Apocalypse Run! PC review – I’m on the highway to Portland | Tevi PC review – Everybody’s talking at me |