My introduction to the Momodora series came all the way back in 2016, with the fourth entry in the series – Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight. Despite jumping in at game number four, I didn’t feel lost at all – in fact, the lack of context made my journey with the game and its world even more impactful. In the time since that game, there’s been a parallel entry in the series named Minoria, but no direct sequel until now. With Momodora: Moonlit Farewell, plot threads I’m very familiar with, and ones I’ve never even experienced, all come together in a conclusion to the series that isn’t just a culmination of the biggest narrative moments, but also a delightful culmination of the best ideas and mechanics of the five games that came prior.
Momodora: Moonlit Farewell sees you playing as Momo, a priestess warrior from Kaho village who sets out with her fellow priestess Cereza to investigate a sudden demon resurgence in the surrounding area. This entry has a noticeably larger focus on lore and exposition than Reverie Under The Moonlight, making the opening hours just a bit harder to parse if you haven’t played the other games. You’re provided some notes in your inventory that outline the major beats of previous games if you need some help getting filled in, and there were a few early moments that had me feeling like I was watching Avengers: Endgame as my first Marvel movie. Quickly enough, though, the stakes of your current adventure are made clear, the key characters are introduced, and it becomes a lot more thrilling to unravel the mystery that Momo has found herself thrust into.
Similarly, gameplay takes a while to get off the ground. At first, Momo has pretty limited and sluggish movement – you feel less like like a swift warrior and more like a struggling survivor, lost in unfamiliar territory. Traversal takes a long time, and backtracking takes even longer, but combat is a delight from the jump. Your melee combo is swift and reliable, and your ranged arrow attack can make the difference when fighting aggressive mobs. Slowly, things begin to take shape – you unlock a dash, and then a double jump, and eventually fast-travel. Before you know it, you’re the master of your domain, and areas that used to feel insurmountable to explore are now a breeze to glide across as you rush to your next destination.
Along the way you’ll discover a bevy of collectables that contribute to your combat prowess in different ways – Sigil cards can be collected and equipped to give you different unique attack properties, like flame arrows or gusts of wind from your melee attack. You can also collection Companions who will sometimes heal you or attack enemies or find items, and will also look adorable while doing it. But on top of that, there’s a constant drip-feed of berries that upgrade your stats, flowers that increase your attack, and hidden fairies that lead to additional unlockables – you always have something to chase and discover in the world of Momodora: Moonlit Farewell.
The best discoveries, though, are the boss fights. Some optional, many required, and all breath-taking. A lot of the boss encounters in Momodora: Moonlit Farewell have jaw-dropping cinematic moments to them that I haven’t seen in any other sidescrolling metroidvania. One boss dynamically triggers their 2nd-phase and an epic change in music when you clash blades halfway into the fight, while another boss battle is stumbled onto mid-progress as you end up joining a familiar friend to take down a rampaging harpy. While some of these fights aren’t exhaustively difficult (especially if you’ve been diligent about collecting upgrades), they’re always an audio-visual delight.
The whole game, really, is art at it’s finest. These games have cultivated a unique vibe over the course of 6 entries and 14 years – comfy yet mysterious, with a healthy sprinkle of anime girl. I was just as blown away by the haunting sights of a destroyed fairy forest as I was by the sight of a twenty-foot tall elf queen and a preppy pink succubus who’s kisses were projectiles. By the time the credits rolled on Momodora: Moonlit Farewell, I realized why this game and the last one felt so rewarding to me – they combine so many different things that I love, cooking up a game that happens to play just the way I like, sound just the way I like, and look just the way I like, like nothing else ever truly has. Momodora: Moonlit Farewell is a special game, and while it may be the final chapter in this story, I hope it’s just the start of the next one for the incredible team at Bombservice and the games they’re so good at making.
