When I first read the description for Children of Morta, I failed to notice one important aspect— that it’s an ARPG with roguelike elements.
That mistake led me to have an uncomfortable experience much later into the game.
Children of Morta is a unique ARPG released back in September 2019. I only had the pleasure/pain of playing the game very recently.
This game is quite different from the usual ARPGs. Unlike other hack and slash titles, Children of Morta revolves around a family. A very big family called Bergsons, a group full of people who are actually pretty good at hunting monsters.
Children of Morta features a very classic dungeon-crawling experience. You enter a dungeon that consists of multiple levels, progress through them to the final boss, and move on to the next. Or at least it makes you think that way.
Children of Morta uses a unique way of keeping you hooked to the game.
Instead of giving you full access to different classes and characters, they are unlocked as you level up and progress through the game. You even unlock vendors and shops the same way.
The game also has a skill tree that’s shared across the family of Bergsons as well as different skills and ability trees for each individual class/character.
It has many different character classes to fit your play style, including the sword-wielding soldier, the quick and swift assassin, an archer with ranged attacks, and many more.
Basically, everything that you’d expect to see in an ARPG is included in this game.
Children of Morta also features some of the most beautiful graphics I’ve ever seen in a pixel game. It’s so gorgeous that you’ll immediately fall in love with it. The color schemes, lighting, and everything about it is so mesmerizing.
I really enjoyed the opening of the game and how it puts you into a magical world in a simple manner. I had so much fun looting and taking out monsters with awesome abilities. And upgrading my gear. At least until I went through the first two caves and met the final boss of the first dungeon.
I’m a bit ashamed to say that I’m yet to go past the first boss. That giant spider is tough as nails and I kept dying no matter what I do. Whenever I die, I’m transported back to the beginning and I have to go all the way through the levels to meet the boss again. All the while maintaining my health, which is tough to do because enemies don’t drop health potions that often and you’re not allowed to carry potions either.
I spent about three days trying to beat this thing. I kept playing, upgrading my weapons, armor, and unlocking new abilities. And I kept dying after reaching the boss. I guess I should’ve seen this coming from the beginning because the game doesn’t have an easy mode. Only normal and hard modes.
I’m sure that I’ll be able to beat this boss if I keep trying. I actually came so close to beating the giant spider once. But then I gave it some thought. I spent about three days trying to beat this one boss. And it’s only the first dungeon. I’d probably have to spend a few months to progress through all missions.
At the moment, I simply don’t have the time to invest in this game. I’m not the rage-quit kind of player but I came so close to it while playing this game. So I decided this game is just not for me.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it. Not at all. If you’re a fan of difficult games that test your skills and gaming abilities, this is definitely the game for you. Especially if you’re a fan of games like Dark Souls or Dead Cells.
Children of Morta is available on all platforms including Steam, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. It recently got a massive update for free as well. So it’s the perfect time to check it out if you’re into this type of games.