Children of Morta is a title that fuses narrative and Diablo III-like gameplay with some unique bells and whistles. Those who love fantasy stories with a large emphasis on family morals and epic tales will love Children of Morta. Enjoy a tough roguelike title where no one adventure feels the same as you journeys into dark dungeons and various other locations teeming with threats and various dangers. Level your heroes up and prepare them for a tough battle in Children of Morta. Show your enemies a family that is strong together fights even harder together!

Similar to games like Diablo III and The Binding of Isaac, Children of Morta is an action-RPG with roguelike themes. Fight against numerous baddies in ever shifting dungeons. Death doesn’t mean the end for your character as they will only learn to become stronger. Battle against bosses and other foes in order to save Mount Morta from possible ruin. Can you rise up as a family to save the place you’ve been protecting for generations? Prove you can in Children of Morta.

The safety and well being of Mount Morta has always been the Bergson family’s responsibility. For a while, Mount Morta has only known peace despite the dangers of orcs and various other creatures. However, a strange corruption has spread and begun to create hideous creatures and powerful beings. The Bergson family will have to once more don their armor and magic to ready themselves to do what their family is known for. Keeping Mount Morta safe. Will the Bergson family rise to the call? Find out in Children of Morta!

As of the last decade or so, roguelike games and Diablo III clones seem to pop up everywhere. While most of these games have shown promise, Children of Morta seems to be a step above the rest. From the onset, we here at Honey’s Anime were highly intrigued by the premise seen in Children of Morta and were quite happy to get an alpha build of it so we could do a preview. We’ve put several hours into the alpha—which wasn’t easy as you’ll soon understand—but we think we have a good idea of what to expect when the final game drops in 2018. Here are our thoughts so far on Children of Morta!

Children of Morta doesn’t waste much time setting you up to understand what your mission is in this game. As a member of the Bergson family, you must defend Mount Marta from all that could cause it harm. How do you accomplish this task you might be wondering? Simple folks, you defeat baddies and save lives. Here’s what we mean by that.

In Children of Morta, you will assume the role of one of several Bergson members. We didn’t get the full range of characters in the alpha of Children of Morta but we mostly played as the father John and his daughter Lucy. John is a warrior-based fighter with a shield and sword to combat his foes while his daughter is able to shoot fire as a spellcaster. Both might play easily enough with similar Diablo III-like controls but their playstyles are another thing entirely. John relies on getting up close to his foes to kill them and can also act as a defense with his shield. His daughter Lucy, however, needs to play it safe by being distant and ever moving. In single player, playing as the daughter was extremely tough as the inability to defend much makes her a target for a quick death.

Speaking of death, this is where we had our minor gripes with Children of Morta. We here at Honey’s Anime love tough games as many of us have played games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne and various other titles but Children of Morta is extremely tough alone. Death comes from everywhere and while it doesn’t make you lose gear or items—outside of the runes you and special artifacts you find which give various skills and effects for a limited time—it does make you lose progress in the dungeons. What’s worse is that Children of Morta uses randomized dungeons which means an event found once might not be found in the same location again or even at all. Children of Morta does let you keep your gold or found items upon death though which in turn can be used to level your character up via a workshop. That means every death does actually help you get better, even if it can be slightly annoying to have to face death so many times to make an ounce of progress.

However, what Children of Morta does do well is the combat itself. Battles feel solid and each character handles quite well. Dungeons are worth exploring—despite the dangers—as new runes and gold can be found to help you progress just a tad further. Artifacts are also good as they offer various skills and powers like healing upon reaching a new floor or special attacks that can save you in a dire situation. Children of Morta might feel like Diablo III, but it has its own strengths which keep it from being just a clone.

In terms of the art and graphics, Children of Morta might seem simple but the level of detail is what makes this simplicity so beautiful. The art pops and every detail look wonderful up closely. Though what steals the show in Children of Morta is honestly the sole narrator. Not only does the narrator bring to life every little story element but even the simpler moments when he explains a family’s time together or the struggles they deal with. Helped by a powerful OST, all these elements make Children of Morta feel like a storybook being read to you while you’re playing.

Fast, tough and a ton of fun, Children of Morta exceeded our expectations here at Honey’s Anime. While Children of Morta may gain a lot of inspiration from titles like Diablo III, the idea of a family being the main cast of warriors and the Dark Souls level of difficulty make for one heck of a good time. Children of Morta’s biggest weakness though is that the difficulty of playing alone seems an arduous task of dying over and over to just get a chance at being slightly better later. This theme might appeal to some gamers who love brutally difficult titles, but for others, Children of Morta might seem a tad unfair. Seeing as this is still an alpha title though, it’s quite easy to see Children of Morta reducing some of this difficulty in a final version. We also hope to see some other backdrops in Children of Morta as the gorgeous visuals shouldn’t just use typical environments like caves and dark swamps. Nevertheless, Children of Morta is already showing signs of being an excellent RPG with interesting roguelike elements and a beautifully narrated story. If we can get our hands on the final product this year you can bet we’ll have a full review here at Honey’s Anime.