Momodora III Review Summary

Beautiful pixel art and great music make this a joy, but the short playtime, lack of story, and low difficulty limit its appeal despite high replayability and achievements.

Great music and soundtrack: The music and soundtrack are consistently praised as nice, beautiful, catchy, and even surprisingly awesome, enhancing the overall experience.

Beautiful pixel art style: The pixel art is frequently called beautiful, bright, and well-made, contributing significantly to the game's visual appeal.

High replayability and achievements: Players enjoy the replay value from achievements, multiple playthroughs, and New Game+ mode, encouraging completion and exploration.

Excellent value for price: Multiple players note the game is worth its price, even at full price or as low as $1-$2, providing great value for the experience.

Excellent platforming mechanics: Players praise the platforming as enjoyable, stable, and precise with simple controls. This is a core strength of the game highlighted frequently.

Too easy overall: The game is widely considered too easy, with simple difficulty, trivial bosses, and overpowered items that remove challenge. Easy mode becomes meaningless after upgrades.

Barely any story: Reviews indicate the narrative is extremely minimal, superficial, or nearly nonexistent. Many players found the story vague and not engaging.

Frustrating controls and physics: Controls are criticized as clumsy, slippery, and imprecise, with issues like inability to move while attacking, long knockback, and accidental falls. Screen shake and hitbox problems worsen the experience.

Very short playtime: Players consistently report a very short game length, often 1-2 hours, with some completing it in under an hour. This is a major point of criticism for the game's value.

Bosses too easy: Bosses are generally considered too easy, with simple patterns that can be beaten by spam attacks. Some bosses are frustrating due to cheap mechanics, but overall difficulty is low.

Replayability through achievements and endings: Good replayability is noted due to achievements, multiple endings, and New Game Plus mode for carrying over items.

Short playtime around 1-2 hours: Multiple reviews agree the game is short, with playtime ranging from 1.5 to 2 hours, making it a quick experience.

Metroidvania style with linearity: Players describe the game as a Metroidvania platformer but note it is fairly linear, combining exploration and achievement hunting.

Platformer with fast-paced action: Reviews highlight a fast-paced 2D platformer experience, sometimes described as difficult, with emphasis on action.

Cave Story and Dark Souls inspiration: The game is frequently compared to Cave Story and Dark Souls, blending retro pixel art action with challenging elements.

Fullscreen fix for performance: Several users note that setting the game to fullscreen mode resolves half-speed issues and allows the game to reach 60fps instead of starting at 30fps, suggesting a performance bug related to windowed mode.

Linux and Steam Deck compatibility: Users report the game works well on Proton for Linux and runs perfectly on Steam Deck, indicating strong compatibility with these platforms.

Play earlier games first: Several clusters recommend playing Momodora I and II before this entry for the best experience, though they note it is not strictly necessary. Some suggest starting with Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight instead.

Great value for money: Many reviewers emphasize the low price ($2-3) as making the game well worth purchasing. It is seen as excellent value even at full price, but especially during sales.

Recommended for specific genres: The game is particularly recommended for fans of metroidvania, platformer, and retro indie games. It appeals to those who enjoy classic 2D action with pixel art.

Good for genre newcomers: Players consider the game a great starting point for those new to metroidvania or action platformer genres. It is accessible and helps introduce the style.

Compare to Cave Story and Vlambeer: Fans of Cave Story or Vlambeer games are likely to enjoy Momodora, as it shares similar design sensibilities. These comparisons help potential buyers gauge the style.

Community fair range: $1.00 - $5.00.

Game completion: 4.0h.

Story completion: 1.5h.

Session length: 1.5h.

The game offers addictive gameplay that is easy to start, but a minor learning curve (cannot move and attack together) delays full enjoyment until the player adapts to the controls.

Friction: Learning curve: cannot move and attack at the same time.

Unlock drivers: Practice and familiarity with controls; Progressive item unlocks that expand combat options.

Casual Newcomer: Chooses easy or casual difficulty, explores at a relaxed pace, completes the game in a short session without seeking high challenge. Motivation: To enjoy a short, accessible adventure without frustration or time commitment. Stance: buy.

Challenge Veteran: Selects hard mode from the start, learns boss patterns, aims for speedruns or full achievement completion, and seeks precise mastery of controls. Motivation: To overcome difficult challenges and feel a rewarding sense of mastery through precision and skill. Stance: buy.

Completionist Explorer: Explores thoroughly, uses backtracking and warping to find hidden items, grinds for currency, and actively pursues achievements across multiple playthroughs. Motivation: To achieve 100% completion, find all secrets, and unlock all achievements. Stance: sale.

Steam Deck: The game is not officially verified for Steam Deck but runs well after forcing Proton 8.0-4. Common issues include an initial 30fps cap and occasional controller configuration bugs, but overall the experience is playable with minor adjustments.

Linux and Proton: The game Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight runs well on Proton according to user reviews. No Linux-specific bugs, crashes, or required workarounds are reported. The evidence consistently indicates a smooth experience.

Previous games are free: Players note that Momodora 1 and 2 can be obtained for free from the developer's website. This is a small, informative detail that may affect purchasing decisions.