If the intro didn't make it clear, I'm not the biggest fan of Momodora. Talking about Reverie Under the Moonlight and now Moonlit Farewell, everyone always says they're so good and the visuals are so great, but I really just think they're only OK. Developer Bombservice's game in between the last two Momodora games, Minoria, is significantly better than either of them if you ask me. And if you really want my opinion on a truly great indie metroidvania starring a hot girl, Afterimage is legitimately one of my favorite games of the last 10 years.
But back to Moonlit Farewell. It's just kind of a by-the-numbers metroidvania, really. You unlock all of the typical movement upgrades - dash, double jump, wall climb, etc. - to help you explore new parts of the map you couldn't reach before. Combat consists of using the magic leaf that might as well be a sword but isn't a sword as well as the bow and arrows the series is known for and that's kinda it. There is some customization in the sigil cards you find that give you more powerful arrows or better healing or things like that, and assigning the right ones in different scenarios does give the game a slight strategic element. But it's all really pretty basic. It's all totally fine, not bad in the least, but nothing new or unique or special.
Moonlit Farewell does set itself apart in a couple of other key ways, though. First, there is an easy mode that lets you absolutely blast through the game. I'm talking literally just stand next to bosses and not dodge anything and just attack kind of easy. The normal mode is a more standard level of difficulty, but I would say it is a little easier than Reverie Under the Moonlight, which was notorious for being very difficult until you get a few upgrades. Moonlit Farewell is much more balanced. I do appreciate the easy mode, though. Options are always a good thing.
The other thing that stands out in Moonlit Farewell is that it's freaking short! You can 100% it in about 8 hours. The map is tiny, collectibles are generally fairly easy to get, and even if you do have to backtrack it's never too bad since the world is so small. You sort of stumble upon the endgame and are headed to the final boss section with little fanfare and then it's over before you know it. It does have some replay value with an arranged mode that unlocks when you beat it the first time, but it's still totally wild how short it is.
One other thing I'll mention is that Moonlit Farewell follows Bombservice's tried and true tradition of making all of the main characters hot girls. And quite a few of the bosses are hot girls as well. You might remember Reverie Under the Moonlight had a giant mermaid boss, well Moonlit Farewell has a giant snake lady boss. And then you meet the fairy queen who is absolutely fantastically spectacular. And the real cherry on top is that even though the characters are mostly just tiny little potatoes onscreen during gameplay, their teeny tiny pixelly chests have very noticeable jiggle. Now that's attention to detail!
All in all, Momodora: Moonlit Farewell is fine. It's good. In fact, I'd say it doesn't have any bad parts at all. It checks all of the boxes of stuff good metroidvanias do. But it's also just super by the numbers and doesn't really do anything special like the series' reputation would have you believe. Even if it isn't going to blow you away, though, it's perfectly priced at just $17, which makes it super easy to recommend.
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