Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight

85%
Game Brain Score Based on 7,829 reviews
  • gameplay
  • music
  • story
Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight Game Cover
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight combines the best elements of Castlevania, Dark Souls, and even Shantae to create something great. What it lacks in scale it more than makes up for in attention to detail and care.
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Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is a side-scrolling action platformer set in a cursed land on the brink of destruction. As priestess Kaho, players must journey through hordes of enemies and bosses to seek the Queen's help. With melee combos, dodge mechanics, and various items/spells, players can enjoy the story casually or challenge their reflexes with increased difficulty.

  • Mac OS
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Steam Deck
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Linux
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

85%
Audience ScoreBased on 7,829 reviews
gameplay933 positive mentions
grinding72 negative mentions
  • Beautiful pixel art and animations create a captivating atmosphere.
  • Engaging combat with a mix of melee and ranged attacks, allowing for varied playstyles.
  • Challenging yet fair boss fights that reward skill and memorization of attack patterns.
  • Short playtime, typically around 4-6 hours, which may leave some players wanting more.
  • Inconsistent difficulty spikes, particularly in the early game, can lead to frustration.
  • The save system can be punishing, as dying often results in losing significant progress.
  • gameplay2,095 mentions

    The gameplay of "Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight" is generally praised for its fluid controls, engaging combat mechanics, and beautiful pixel art, effectively blending metroidvania exploration with souls-like elements such as dodge rolls and challenging boss fights. While many players appreciate the tight mechanics and rewarding difficulty, some criticize the game for its simplicity, lack of depth in gameplay mechanics, and occasional frustrating design choices, particularly regarding checkpoints and enemy interactions. Overall, the game offers a satisfying experience for fans of the genre, though it may not appeal to those seeking more complex gameplay.

    • “This game does it perfectly, balancing gameplay and lore.”
    • “Its pixel art is simply beautiful, the gameplay is solid, and it’s actually quite fun to platinum.”
    • “The gameplay is exceptional, offering precise controls and fluid combat.”
    • “The gameplay is very generic and adds nothing to the genre; it's actually a bit worse than average, and boss fights are so bad.”
    • “It's absolutely grim that a game with such nice visual design can have such mediocre gameplay and such player-loathing decisions.”
    • “The gameplay is extremely disappointing: combat is slow and repetitive; boss fights drag on forever; exploring the map is unrewarding; insta-kill spikes on a metroidvania; inconsistent rules.”
  • music2,091 mentions

    The music in "Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight" has received widespread acclaim for its atmospheric and haunting qualities, effectively enhancing the game's emotional depth and immersive experience. Many players highlighted specific tracks, particularly those associated with boss fights, as standout moments that elevate the gameplay. While some noted that certain areas lacked music or featured repetitive loops, the overall consensus is that the soundtrack beautifully complements the game's stunning pixel art and engaging mechanics, making it a significant aspect of the game's appeal.

    • “From the atmospheric environments to the haunting yet serene soundtrack, it creates a captivating world that feels both familiar and fresh.”
    • “Absolutely beautiful music that hit right in the feels, along with fun combat and platforming.”
    • “The emotive and delicate soundtrack perfectly complements the experience, further immersing players in the rich and captivating narrative.”
    • “I wish the music was developed a bit more instead of being short loops.”
    • “Music is boring, map is also boring.”
    • “There are a few bad things about this game that I’m merely going to stand out one of them: I’ve found some rooms that don’t have any soundtrack and it might mess up a bit the experience.”
  • story1,972 mentions

    The story of "Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight" is often described as minimalistic and straightforward, focusing on a priestess named Kaho who seeks to lift a curse plaguing her homeland. While some players appreciate the atmospheric and cryptic storytelling reminiscent of games like Dark Souls, others find the narrative lacking depth and coherence, with many characters feeling underdeveloped. Overall, the game is praised for its engaging gameplay and beautiful art, but the story is seen as a secondary element that could benefit from further elaboration.

    • “Couple that with an absolutely amazing soundtrack, intriguing characters and an engaging plot set in a fascinating world, and you get what is quite possibly one of the greatest games ever made by a group of people you can count on one hand.”
    • “Reverie under the moonlight is a phenomenal game, a great metroidvania with a sprinkle of souls-like in it, with an interesting story, rich gameplay, fun mechanics, a great combat system, a well thought out number of enemies and bosses, and some bombastic music and art direction.”
    • “The story is minimalistic, don't expect Hollow Knight's rich world here.”
    • “The story is very bland and the game is overrated; I was very disappointed when I finally tried and got the bad ending.”
    • “The story of the game didn't really do it for me and feels kind of vague.”
    • “Its main downside is that the story is pretty bad and incoherent.”
  • graphics1,694 mentions

    The graphics of "Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight" are widely praised for their beautiful pixel art style, fluid animations, and vibrant colors, creating a charming and atmospheric experience. Many reviewers highlight the game's ability to blend cute aesthetics with darker themes, resulting in a unique visual appeal reminiscent of classic titles like "Cave Story" and "Hollow Knight." Overall, the game's visuals are considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to its engaging gameplay and immersive world.

    • “The graphics are stunning and the gameplay is smooth and fun.”
    • “The art style is beautiful, the animations are fluid and the characters (even with the small amount of dialogue) have enough personality to get you picking favorites.”
    • “The pixel graphics really work well with the artistic style of the game.”
    • “The first boss has several attacks with vague sprites (as in, they are mostly transparent and circular with minimal indication) and I found myself turning down the graphics options to lower the detrimental graphical effects such as lighting that hides indicators and particles that clutter the screen.”
    • “Overall, the pixel graphics would be okay but from controls to mechanics and gameplay just feels annoying and clunky.”
    • “The game also has generally bland graphics and sound design, but I'd be totally willing to look past these issues if the core gameplay were solid, which it isn't.”
  • atmosphere875 mentions

    The atmosphere in "Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight" is widely praised for its captivating blend of haunting visuals, melancholic music, and immersive world design. Reviewers highlight the game's ability to evoke a sense of eerie beauty and emotional depth, often drawing comparisons to the atmospheres found in titles like Dark Souls and Castlevania. The combination of charming pixel art and a somber tone creates a unique experience that resonates with players, making exploration feel rewarding and engaging.

    • “From the atmospheric environments to the haunting yet serene soundtrack, it creates a captivating world that feels both familiar and fresh.”
    • “The art is staggeringly beautiful in every layer of the screen, the choice of color palettes and filters is godly, even almost six years after I played the game for the first time the resulting atmospheres still leave me with refined sensations of bitterness yet serenity.”
    • “The music, the art, plus the characters, add for a really well done atmosphere too.”
    • “Beware that in spite of the somewhat cutesy visuals, the atmosphere of the game is very somber and often depressing.”
    • “The atmosphere is way darker than what I expected, and this is where the downside of the title kicks in.”
    • “The atmosphere and dialogue are cliché as hell.”
  • replayability272 mentions

    The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with many players noting its relatively short length but highlighting features like New Game+, multiple difficulty levels, and hidden collectibles that enhance replay value. While some find the game lacks depth after mastering its mechanics, others appreciate the challenge of achieving different endings and completing various achievements, making it enjoyable for completionists and those seeking a challenge. Overall, it offers a decent amount of replayability, especially for those willing to explore its secrets and tackle harder modes.

    • “There's also great opportunities for sequence breaking in this game, adding some replayability alongside new game+, alternate endings, different modes of difficulty, etc.”
    • “The game's relatively short completion time to my total playtime should be taken as an upside in showing just how replayable this game is.”
    • “This game is the Chrono Trigger of metroidvanias: a short game that is finely crafted and perfectly replayable.”
    • “The game's mechanics are very simple and unfortunately, once mastered, offer very little replayability and challenge (that is why the hardest difficulty lazily just makes everything kill you in one hit).”
    • “Replay value is limited.”
    • “Once you've finished a playthrough on the harder difficulty settings and found all the hidden secrets, it doesn't have much replayability aside from replaying it years from now for a refresher on the story (not a con per se as this is an inexpensive single-player story-driven experience).”
  • emotional106 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its touching narrative and melancholic soundtrack, which resonate deeply with players, often evoking strong feelings and even tears. While some reviewers appreciate the emotional depth and character moments, others feel a lack of connection to the characters due to insufficient development and frustrating gameplay mechanics. Overall, the game is described as a heartfelt journey that, despite its challenges, offers a beautiful and soulful experience.

    • “A short heartfelt game, one of those dark trips to make you think, but worth the experience.”
    • “The narrative, full of nuances, adds emotional layers to the experience, allowing players to connect even more with the world they are exploring.”
    • “And even though the story isn't anything to brag about in these kinds of games, it gets surprisingly deep and almost heartbreaking at some points in this one, thanks partially to a lot of memorable side characters, which are scattered around the map.”
  • grinding86 mentions

    Reviews indicate that grinding in the game can be tedious, primarily due to backtracking and a lack of fast travel options, which can make returning to previous areas frustrating. While some players appreciate the absence of complex grinding systems, others find the gameplay repetitive, especially when navigating through challenging platforming sections and dealing with enemy respawns. Overall, the game offers a mix of exploration and challenge, but many agree that the backtracking and certain mechanics can detract from the experience.

    • “No grinding required to get the true ending.”
    • “The game is also not super easy, but the game is difficult enough to be challenging, not tedious or frustrating.”
    • “There's wide exploration, but you always feel like you're going somewhere and making progress, so it's not tedious.”
    • “This makes for boring and tedious walks (and many failed dodge rolls) back to where you once were before you can finally continue the game (and walk back again because you died on your way there).”
    • “It takes really damn long to get a fast travel ability - while the map isn't very large, it's still large enough to make backtracking to far away areas tedious.”
    • “While only being a couple of hours long, the game diverges paths constantly, which can become very time consuming, confusing, and tedious to constantly keep track of all the different paths and then backtrack to the diverging point to then explore the next path.”
  • character development70 mentions

    Character development in the game is largely criticized for being minimal or nonexistent, with many players noting a lack of narrative depth and character arcs. While the character designs are praised for their charm and visual appeal, particularly the predominantly female designs, the overall story and character progression leave much to be desired, often reducing player motivation to simply completing the game. Despite the engaging art and combat, the absence of meaningful character development detracts from the overall experience.

    • “The character design was gorgeous, the animation was great and very promising.”
    • “This gives character design more importance and meaning as you take the time to understand each character and their specific needs.”
    • “I'm a huge fan of its character design.”
    • “There isn't a strong narrative, character development, mysteries to investigate, or other internal motivation to drive your actions other than 'I want to beat the game.' Additionally, it's incredibly short, and the difference between the 'good' and 'bad' ending is picking up one item at the end that requires a slight bit of backtracking.”
    • “No character development.”
    • “A criticism I would give is the underutilization of certain characters, as they're only briefly shown or have little to no character development.”
  • humor36 mentions

    The humor in the game is described as solid and often hilarious, with players enjoying quirky elements like fighting with a leaf and amusing boss encounters. While the game balances moments of gloom and spookiness with lighthearted humor, some players feel that the comedic aspects can sometimes overshadow the narrative depth. Overall, the humor is a standout feature that adds charm and fun to the gameplay experience.

    • “Seeing the tight spaces in the beginning of the game, I thought I would just get a dash to go through, but what actually happened was so cute and funny I did not expect it at all.”
    • “The bosses are funny and almost endearing, as are the main characters.”
    • “This gameplay on hard for the first time is hilariously fun.”
  • optimization20 mentions

    Overall, the game's optimization is generally smooth on most systems, with players praising its performance and controls. However, some users have reported fullscreen optimization issues and frame drops on certain screens, particularly on Linux, where switching from x11 to Wayland improved performance. Additionally, enabling vsync in the config file is necessary to address screen tearing and stuttering, which should ideally be a default option.

    • “The game runs smoothly and works perfectly on my PC/laptop.”
    • “The controls run smoothly and there is controller support that is greatly appreciated, but it still plays fine with keyboard and mouse.”
    • “It runs smoothly, boss design is awesome, music is awesome, fairly challenging but not broken hard.”
    • “Does have some fullscreen optimization issues (I have a fairly solid rig and still get hard frame drops on certain screens), but not a problem in windowed.”
    • “If you have problems with screen tearing/stuttering, then you need to enable vsync in the config file - why is this not enabled by default or an official option in the settings dialog?”
    • “The meat of the difficulty comes from boss battles being very punishing thanks to your low health - it's classic gameplay, you die to a boss learning its attacks and then you have to focus on being exactly where you need to be, iterating on your previous performance until you get it right.”
  • stability12 mentions

    The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players reporting significant bugs and audio issues, while others have noted a generally smooth experience with only minor glitches. Overall, the game appears to have a divide in user experiences, with some finding it quite buggy and others impressed by its stability and mechanics.

    • “I'm impressed by the way I found no glitches in the game so far, and the mechanics of the game run solid and smooth.”
    • “It's a metroidvania-style game, it's fairly bug-free, and it features some interesting level design and bosses.”
    • “Quite buggy for me and not entirely worth it honestly.”
    • “Buggy as hell.”
    • “Audio won't load unless it's connected before the game launches... ehh just way too buggy for such a simple game.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

77% average critic score

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Play time

7hMedian play time
6hAverage play time
4hMain story
10hCompletionist
5-8hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 46 analyzed playthroughs

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