Released in September 2019 and developed by Dead Mage, Children of Morta is an action game that blends roguelike elements with methodical and satisfying RPG progression systems. For those that played Hades upon its 2020 release and immediately got hooked and spent the next few months hacking away at its monsters, Children of Morta is the perfect game to pick up next. Though the two have their own unique qualities, Children of Morta will help to scratch that Hades itch, with a similar approach to gameplay and tone. There are plenty of qualities that make Children of Morta a must-play before it’s taken off Xbox Game Pass on July 15.

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Children of Morta’s Approach to Storytelling

Much like Hades, Children of Morta puts its characters front-and-center and lets them carry the narrative forward. Set in a distant land, Children of Morta follows the Bergsons, a family tasked with standing up against the oncoming dark threat known as the Corruption. Though the premise is simple, straightforward, and admittedly quite cliche, Children of Morta handles some impressively deep themes.

With family at the heart of the story, Children of Morta dives deep into themes of love, hope, and inevitable loss. While players dive into the game’s procedural dungeons, they’ll uncover more about the threat they’re facing, and with their family at their side, they’ll have to learn to persevere and fight together as a unit.

This family dynamic is what drives Children of Morta’s story and is carried through to its gameplay, with each member of the family having their own set of skills and proficiencies. For instance, the patriarch of the family, John, wields a sword and shield, acting as the protector, while the family’s quietest member, Kevin, uses stealth to take down his foes. Each member of the family has their own distinct personality, and the more the player learns about them, the more they’ll realize that their powers and abilities line up with their characteristics.

Children of Morta is Great for Fans of Roguelike RPGs

Children of Morta is an action-RPG roguelike that uses a top-down camera perspective. Throughout the game, players will be visiting procedurally generated dungeons to fight off hordes of Corrupted enemies. Before heading into a battle, players will be able to choose a handful of family members to take in with them, each of which has their own advantages and weaknesses. Within just a few hours, players should begin to get a good feel of who complements who ability-wise.

Children of Morta’s RPG elements come in with the game’s progression system. At the end of each run, players will receive a ton of XP, which is awarded not only to the player character, but to the entire family. As RPG fans would expect, leveling up these characters then unlocks a whole host of other unique abilities that can be used in subsequent battles.

In 2019, when Children of Morta first released, the game wasn’t entirely finished. Now, almost three years later, Dead Mage has officially completed Children of Morta bringing a plethora of new content to the game. New characters, new items, new combat mechanics, new story beats, and an entire online co-op mode have been added to Children of Morta since its release, making it a game certainly worth checking out in 2022.

Children of Morta is available now on PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. It leaves Xbox Game Pass on July 15, 2022.

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