Mortal Manor
- January 15, 2018
- Dogless Head Games
Get on Steam"Mortal Manor" is a challenging 2D Metroidvania game with a focus on platforming. Explore a large game world while fighting or avoiding numerous enemies, collecting 40 weapons and 35 relics. Master the character movement system to discover secrets and complete the quest to find the source of consuming fog. Controller recommended.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a vast world to explore with a rewarding sense of progression, reminiscent of classic Metroidvania titles.
- Once players overcome the initial difficulty, the gameplay becomes fluid and enjoyable, with a variety of weapons and mobility mechanics.
- The game is a love letter to retro gaming, featuring tight controls and a significant amount of content, including secrets and upgrades.
- The game is brutally difficult, especially at the beginning, which may deter players from continuing.
- The music is repetitive and lacks quality, detracting from the overall experience.
- Combat can feel one-dimensional, with many enemies requiring excessive hits to defeat, leading to frustration.
- music27 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received largely negative feedback, with many players describing it as bland and irritating, leading some to turn it off entirely. While there are a few standout tracks, such as the one from Tornado Man's stage, the overall consensus is that a more engaging soundtrack was needed to enhance the gaming experience. Some players noted that the music is decent but not remarkable, with a few suggesting they preferred to listen to other soundtracks while playing.
“However, tornado man’s stage has one of the best soundtracks in the game, and in the midst of my frustrations, my foot was always tapping to that 8-bit beat.”
“First things first, this game was done entirely by one person - coding, graphics, music, everything.”
“It's a game that's impressive in scale, but I find my favorite way to play this is to make a playlist of my favorite classic Castlevania music and put those on repeat while I retry the same section 20 times but finally get past it.”
“The music is abysmal and will irritate you.”
“In order to elevate this game, it needed a proper soundtrack.”
“It was so much not to my tastes, I had to turn the music off.”
- gameplay24 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay features a vast castle to explore with challenging platforming mechanics and instant death elements reminiscent of classic titles like Ghosts 'n Goblins and Castlevania. However, the experience can become repetitive due to a lack of creativity in boss mechanics and the punishing nature of the instant death system, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. The game struggles to balance linear challenges with Metroidvania elements, suggesting a need for more innovative mechanics to enhance the experience.
“High fit – there’s a vast castle to explore, with a dash of instant death mechanics that makes it feel a little closer to Ghosts and Goblins, some of the harder Mega Man stages, or perhaps similar to the original Castlevania.”
“The stage's gimmicks included new platforming mechanics in tandem with the usual death spikes and bottomless pits, meaning that an error often sent you back to the last checkpoint to replay the section, or the whole stage from the beginning when you ran out of lives.”
“I’ve always been an advocate of mechanics and level design being the primary force that makes a game great.”
“Furthermore, and unfortunately, the gameplay that I've praised up until this point started to feel the same way: boring.”
“Even the boss mechanics showed little creativity; the first frog boss alternated between a single shot directed at the hero and a spreadshot in 8 directions, which is similar to the pattern the final boss uses.”
“This lack of variety is exacerbated by the instant death mechanics.”
- graphics14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the well-executed backgrounds and overall aesthetic, while others found the artwork bland and uninspiring. The subjective nature of graphic style led to varied opinions, with some praising the visuals as fitting the theme, while others felt they detracted from the overall experience. Overall, the graphics were seen as secondary to gameplay and narrative quality.
“First things first, this game was done entirely by one person - coding, graphics, music, everything.”
“The graphics and use of backgrounds are well done and fit the overall theme nicely.”
“The graphics are nice, the sound is nice, the controls are nice, I really liked this game.”
“But the graphics and sound did absolutely nothing for me.”
“Had to get a refund on this one, because of some serious game design flaws, bland artwork, bland music, sloppy controls, etc.”
“Graphics, music, and general presentation are secondary to a tightly woven challenge or well-constructed narrative – with narrative being somewhat optional because it is, after all, a video game.”
- story8 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -12 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight a clear divide in storytelling quality among games, with titles like "Hollow Knight" praised for their immersive environmental storytelling and rich narratives, while "Mortal Manor" is criticized for failing to maintain the promise of its intriguing introduction. Many games fall into the lower tier for lacking engaging stories, indicating that narrative depth is a significant factor in player enjoyment.
“Hollow Knight takes every opportunity to use its environment to tell a story, creating a rich world that I wanted to see more of.”
“The story felt disjointed and lacked a coherent flow, making it hard to stay engaged.”
“I found the plot to be predictable and uninspired, which really detracted from the overall experience.”
“The character development was shallow, leaving me with little emotional investment in their journeys.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessive, as leveling up requires significant experience points, which can lead to repetitive gameplay focused solely on gaining experience to increase damage output.
“Then it turned grindy as you literally need experience to level up to do more damage.”
“Then it turned grindy as you literally need experience to level up to do more damage.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features a variety of tongue-in-cheek moments and subtle humor throughout, enhancing the overall experience with its lightheartedness.
“There's plenty of tongue-in-cheek moments and little pieces of humor sprinkled throughout too.”
