The Mobius Machine
- March 1, 2024
- Madruga Works
- 15h median play time
The Mobius Machine is a fine Metroidvania with an emphasis on sci-fi shooting, but its map issues and weak upgrades drag it down.
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store"The Mobius Machine" is a 2D adventure game with 3D visuals, set in a vast alien world filled with hostile creatures and machines. Explore the open world of Isolaria moon, discovering its breathtaking environments through land, underwater and skies. Combat various enemies, acquire new weapons, and evolve your character to defeat epic bosses and uncover the game's mysteries.
PC
Playstation 5
Steam Deck
Windows
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features stunning graphics and a unique art style that enhances the overall experience.
- Exploration is rewarding, with a large interconnected world that encourages players to discover new areas and secrets.
- The combat is engaging and challenging, with a variety of enemies and bosses that require players to learn their patterns.
- The lack of a fast travel mechanic leads to excessive backtracking, making navigation tedious and frustrating.
- Some platforming sections can feel imprecise, leading to cheap deaths and a sense of frustration.
- The map design is confusing, with similar-looking areas that can make it difficult to remember where to go next.
- graphics84 mentions
- 74 % positive mentions
- 23 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their impressive quality and unique art style, with many players highlighting the beautiful visuals and smooth performance. However, some users noted issues with optimization, leading to frame drops and repetitive graphical assets in certain areas. Overall, the aesthetic is described as both appealing and immersive, contributing significantly to the game's atmosphere.
“The graphics are stellar, the soundtrack is sweet.”
“The graphics are beautiful.”
“Smooth performance, gorgeous graphics and great controller response.”
“I had to drop it down to high level graphics to prevent frame drops.”
“The game was also made with a poorly optimized Unity game engine and there is only one graphic setting of low to ultra.”
“One criticism I have is that some graphical assets are repeated way too many times, which makes some areas look boring.”
- music57 mentions
- 51 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as atmospheric and fitting, enhancing the overall experience without being overly distracting. While some players appreciate the haunting and mysterious qualities of the soundtrack, others find it to be generic and lacking in variety. Overall, the audio complements the game's visuals well, contributing to a cohesive and enjoyable atmosphere.
“The final piece to this ornate puzzle is the soundtrack - the audio tracks created for each of the sectors align superbly to their visual counterparts and are genuinely enjoyable and never distracting or annoying, along with sound effects that are satisfyingly crunchy - especially when dispatching your foes or interacting with some of the more deadly environmental hazards.”
“The spherical soundtrack really adds to the atmosphere.”
“The music is haunting, enhancing the loneliness and mystery.”
“The music is uninspired but atmospheric enough to enhance the... ya know... atmosphere.”
“It was fitting and fine, but I would've liked a lot more variety in the music for the different areas.”
“Jeesh, in my opinion, terribly generic music, hyper-generic intro cut scene, same platforms copy-pasted 300 times and recolored makes this feel like a generic asset flip game.”
- gameplay45 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally well-received, featuring polished mechanics, responsive controls, and a variety of enemy encounters that keep exploration engaging. However, some players noted a lack of fast travel and repetitive environments, which can detract from the experience. Overall, it offers a solid metroidvania experience with unique upgrades and a compelling world, making it a worthwhile addition for fans of the genre.
“I think the developers did a fantastic job creating a compelling world and fun gameplay with limited resources (seems like a very small team), and I can only recommend giving it a shot if it sounds like the kind of thing you might enjoy.”
“There's a decent amount of variety in enemy encounters, world design, mechanics, etc. The world overall is highly interconnected with many shortcuts to unlock.”
“Mechanics and movement feel very polished and responsive.”
“The lack of a fast travel mechanic.”
“The traversal mechanics are a little disappointing.”
“Environments and gameplay are very samey/repetitive, but it's a massive map to explore and I had a lot of fun doing that.”
- story32 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely criticized for being minimal to nonexistent, with many reviewers noting that it fails to provide a satisfying narrative or depth, despite some intriguing elements. While the aesthetics and gameplay mechanics receive praise, the lack of a compelling storyline leaves players wanting more context and resolution regarding key plot points. Overall, the story serves merely as a functional backdrop rather than a driving force in the game.
“There is a nice little story, also lighter than your usual 'Metroid' or 'Castlevania'.”
“They did a great job with the aesthetics and I'm interested in seeing how the story pans out.”
“Other noteworthy enemy sprites include the floater broadmother, the 'modified' broadmother, and my absolute favorite, the elite floater host - and its sibling, who you get to meet later on in the story.”
“There is the absolute minimum of story and narrative in this game.”
“The one thing I forgot to mention is that this game has no story.”
“- story is nonexistent.”
- grinding26 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- -8 % neutral mentions
- 96 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, often requiring extensive farming of resources and backtracking through poorly designed levels with sparse fast travel options. The slow movement speed, repetitive combat, and lack of engaging exploration contribute to a frustrating experience, making the game feel more like a chore than an enjoyable adventure. Overall, while the game has its fun moments, the grinding elements detract significantly from the overall enjoyment.
“Grinding in this game feels rewarding, as each effort brings you closer to powerful upgrades.”
“The grind is balanced and engaging, making every resource collected feel meaningful.”
“I appreciate how the game integrates grinding into the overall progression, enhancing the sense of achievement.”
“Unfortunately, this seems to require farming. In my playthrough, I killed almost every enemy I came across and found quite a few of the secret areas. However, after scouring the map, I still had 134 credits to go before I could buy the last upgrade.”
“The game becomes tedious quite quickly.”
“All the fun of exploration is sucked dry by widely spaced save points, tedious endless combat, cheap contact hits with 0 i-frames, stingy power-ups, and general banality.”
- atmosphere16 mentions
- 88 % positive mentions
- 13 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its unique presentation, combining cute characters with grotesque monsters and an atmospheric soundtrack that enhances the experience. While some find the music uninspired, it still contributes positively to the overall ambiance. However, a few reviewers note that the abundance of atmospheric elements can detract from immersion.
“Excellent game with a great atmosphere and music.”
“The spherical soundtrack really adds to the atmosphere.”
“The atmosphere is perfect, and it has all the trappings you could ask for.”
- optimization14 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while it features great graphics and smooth performance on platforms like the Steam Deck, many users report that it suffers from poor optimization issues, particularly due to its reliance on the Unity engine and limited graphic settings. Overall, the performance can vary significantly depending on the system used.
“Smooth performance, gorgeous graphics, and great controller response.”
“Great graphics and performance.”
“Performance - runs great on Steam Deck.”
“Another issue I had is that this game is poorly optimized.”
“The game was also made with a poorly optimized Unity game engine and there is only one graphic setting of low to ultra.”
“The game is not optimized.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game effectively balances humor and seriousness, with players finding the animated expressions of flying squids—especially their reactions after being shot—particularly hilarious. The fluidity of their movement adds to the comedic effect, showcasing impressive animation quality.
“The expression that you get from these flying squid after blasting one from nearby as it realizes you are there and floats its way over to you is hilarious, and the fluidity of movement in the creatures is one of the most thorough pieces of animation I've ever seen.”
“A good balance of humor and seriousness.”
- stability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game demonstrates strong stability, with users reporting excellent performance, particularly on the Steam Deck. Overall, it runs smoothly without significant issues.
“The game runs great on Steam Deck, showcasing impressive stability.”
“Performance is top-notch; it runs smoothly on Steam Deck.”
